REQUIEM FOR A DREAM RATING: 8/10 --> Great movie
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Writer/director Darren Aronofsky was turned down flat when he approached Artisan Entertainment about following up the success of his debut film, PIE, with an adaptation of this 1978 novel by Hubert Selby Jr. Aronofsky's reply was simple: "Well, you don't have a choice". The studio wanted something a little more "commercial" from the up-and-coming auteur, but Aronofsky had his heart set on this film since his early days at Harvard. The studio finally agreed but only if they co-financed the film with another production company, which they did. Aronofsky and Selby worked together off the latter's own lost 1979 screenplay draft discovered in his mother's old Brooklyn cellar to create the script for this film, and the rest as they say, is history.
PLOT: A deep, dark look at the conjoined lives of several people whose search for love, happiness and their seemingly unattainable dreams, ultimately gets caught up under the snag of addiction.
CRITIQUE: A harrowing tale about the extreme damage associated with addiction and the pursuit of happiness, this film should be applauded for taking such a familiar subject matter and slapping it around with innovative visuals, a haunting score, undeniably courageous performances from all of its leads and a consistently gripping narrative. And despite obvious comparisons to both A CLOCKWORK ORANGE and TRAINSPOTTING, it's obvious that Aronofsky has managed to create a cult classic of his own here. Reaching deep down into his arsenal of visual gadgeteries, the director makes use of every style utilized by Scorsese, Tarantino, Fincher and Gilliam, and one-ups them all with a visual melange of inspirational creations of his own. This is one movie that you will never be able to forget. It sticks in your mind, no matter what your impression of the final product. In the end, it's about lost, disconnected people. Lonely, beyond belief, searching for an answer within a quick fix solution, a solution, which in itself, can only take them so far. And as their simple dreams get further out of reach, and their addictions to external substances takes over, the film gathers a palpable sense of impending doom, as each character respectively spirals down a hellish experience of their own. All of this leads to one of the most intense denouements that I have seen on screen in years.
The film is also optimized to the nth degree in sound and visuals, as every move, scene, thought and circumstance is attached to an accompanying symbolic effect or another, used to reinforce the chaos of each situation, and to a certain extent, their repetitive and continuous nature. Think addiction. This movie is also filled with unforgettable imagery and a powerful score, which helps beat the film's cataclysmic sentiment right into your brain. I still cannot shake that infectiously morbid sound. The film is obviously sad and very depressing in a lot of ways, but still manages to undoubtedly punch home the obvious anti-drug and anti-addiction message underlying it all. To me, the film also ventured to comment on some of the most obvious effects of alienation and anti-socialization in our society. Everybody wants to be loved, but when you can not attain that love, what do you do? Of course, all the camera tricks and music in the world could never fool an audience unless the film itself stood on a solid script packed with believable characters, and even more importantly, actors who allow you to buy into their parts. This film managed to give us four very strong performances from its leads, each of whom seems to have taken great care in their interpretation.
Marlon Wayans has you completely forgetting about his TV antics after the first five minutes of this movie, with a true dramatic performance deep in symbolism and high on effectiveness. A guy trying to do good, looking for that lost love from his mom, but just falling short every time. Leto also surprised me as the overly industrious guy caught between the love for his mother and his devotion to his girlfriend. Fullfilling the male void in both of their lives, Leto is simply not able to satisfy their lonely patterns, and subsequently succumbs to one of the most horrific separations of them all. But for me, it was the women who held the even stronger cards in this flick. Jennifer Connelly, with the performance of her career, manages to look absolutely beautiful in one scene, and absolutely horrific in the next. Her character's transition from uppity rich girl to down-and-out junkie is remarkably portrayed, as Jennifer bares all for the role and her character's ultimate degradation. A case can definitely be made for each of these wonderful actors to receive a nomination of some sort by the end of the year, but Ellen Burstyn is undoubtedly already seated at the Oscar events of year next. A complete transformation of both physical and mental state, Burstyn takes us through one of the loneliest characters to be showcased on film, with an evocatory performance which lends itself to much pause for reflection. Ultimately, it is the inability to reach their dreams and their love that drives each of these characters into a nightmare of their own.
It goes without saying, that this film is not for everyone. It is sad, depressing, confusing at times and extremely experimental in a lot of ways. In other words, if you're looking for a 1-2-3 movie, this ain't for you. This movie is for deep thinkers. It's also for those who themselves suffer from an addiction of some sort. And yes, ultimately, it is for anyone who has ever felt let down by a dream which they could not grasp, a love which they simply could not attain, or a connection which they just could not seem to make. The characters in this film make the mistake that many of us do when we try to find the solution of our malaise on the outside of ourselves. Almost every time, the solution lies within, but many of us are just afraid to face up to that lonely place.
PS: I still can't get Ellen Burstyn's line of "I'm gonna be on television" out of my head.
Little Known Facts about this film and its stars: Director Darren Aronofsky asked a favor from two of the leads in this film: Jared Leto and Marlon Wayans. Stay away from sex and sugar for a period of 30 days so that you could really feel that need for something you crave. Wayans said that he was "cool" with it until he found out that "no sex" also meant "no orgasm". Wayans was like, "You mean I can't even hump my pillow?" Leto lost 25 pounds during this transformation and after the film wrapped, shaved his head and checked himself into a monastery in Portugal to get his head straight (Entertainment Weekly, #567, p. 46). Ellen Burstyn's role was both physically and emotionally demanding. In addition to having a camera mounted to her for certain sequences, Burstyn spent four hours every morning being fitted with prosthetics, wearing four different necks (both fat and emaciated), two different fat suits (a 40-pound and 20-pound suit), and nine different wigs. Director Darren Aronofsky has been chosen to create the next BATMAN movie, which according to him would be based on Frank Miller's "Batman: Year One" graphic novel. The story details the first year of Bruce Wayne's life as Batman, including the self-doubts and blunders he had to overcome in order to emerge as a full-blown crimefighter. A cool fun fact about this film is that the actual author of the book on which it is based (and co-screenwriter of the film) has a cameo in the movie. Seventy-three year old Hubert Selby Jr. plays the "laughing prison guard" near the end of the film. Ironically, he is laughing at his own characters. Another cool thing to note about this film is its almost complete lack of the color red. Aronofsky did this on purpose, with Sara's hair and dress being the only places where you should find red in the movie. He said, "We did this because the color red was at the core of Sara's dream. We wanted the color to leap off the screen." Aronofsky's mother Charlotte is also cast in this film as one of Sara's yenta friends, and his father Abraham, as the man reading the newspaper on the subway. Most movies contain 600 to 700 cuts. This film contains over 2,000.
Review Date: November 2, 2000 Director: Darren Aronofsky Writers: Darren Aronofsky and Hubert Selby Jr. Producers: Eric Watson and Palmer West Actors: Ellen Burstyn as Sara Goldfarb Jared Leto as Harry Goldfarb Jennifer Connolly as Marion Silver Marlon Wayans as Tyrone C. Love Genre: Drama Year of Release: 2000 ------------------------------------ JoBlo's Movie Emporium http://www.joblo.com/ ------------------------------------ (c) 2000 Berge Garabedian
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