Requiem for a Dream (2000)

You would be hard pressed to find a more exhausting movie to watch than Requiem for a Dream. Director Darren Aronofsky pulls every conceivable trick out of the bag to mercilessly hammer home the reality of addiction. This is not a subtle movie. If Trainspotting was a razor sharp scalpel for dissecting the issue of addiction, then Requiem for a Dream is an electric carving knife.

The movie revolves around four characters. Ellen Burstyn (The Exorcist) plays Sara Goldfarb, an aging widow living in Brighton Beach. She spends her days watching her favorite show, some sort of game show/infomercial hybrid, and chatting with the other ladies in her building. The monotony is broken only by the occasional visit from her son Harry (Jared Leto), who stops by to steal her TV so he can hock it for drug money. He and his friend Tyrone (Marlon Wayans) dream of becoming drug dealers so they don't have to worry about money anymore. Harry also wants to support his girlfriend Marion (Jennifer Connelly) in her dream to become a fashion designer.

One day Sara gets a mysterious phone call informing her she could appear on her favorite show. Excited she goes looking for her favorite red dress to wear for the show. Disappointed when she can't fit into it anymore she goes on a diet. It proves too hard so she takes a friend's advice and sees a doctor for some diet pills. The quack doctor literally doesn't even look at her before prescribing the pills. Unprepared for what is essentially just speed, Sara is soon buzzing about her apartment in a frenzy of cleaning. The pounds start melting off quickly but so does her grip on sanity.

Meanwhile Harry and Tyrone are well on their way to becoming real drug dealers and are starting to feel pretty good about life. Marion is designing away like mad and none of the three seem to notice that they're using more and more of their product. The rest of the movie follows the rapid and horrifying out of control spiral that consumes all four of their lives.

Aronofsky breaks down the drug use into fast paced quick cut montages of images and sound that highlight each of their particular addictions. Sara's pill popping and coffee drinking seem little different from the heroin preparation of the others. The actual effects of the drugs are seen in high speed, indicating just how quickly the effect lasts and fades away. What really makes this movie amazing is how it captures the essence of addiction so perfectly. Other movies have focused on how others view drug addicts but this one instead goes for the exact feel of addiction from the inside. It captures how disconnected they are from the world and how getting to the next high becomes the all consuming drive in their life.

Aronofsky finds a unique use for a split screen in scenes where Harry and Marion are lying together and talking. Each one has their own side of the screen but they can cross over into the other's side. It might sound strange but it shows how alone they are, even when they're with someone else. There are shots of Sara where she seems to be operating at a completely different speed than the rest of the world. Again we see how separated the addict is from society.

The performances in this movie are all excellent. The already thin Jared Leto dropped 25 pounds to look particularly gaunt for the role. Marlon Wayans shows for the first time that he can really act. He is so different here from anywhere else you might have seen him perform that you might be hard pressed to recognize him. Jennifer Connelly had to be willing to go very far for her role. Let's just leave it at that. Finally, Ellen Burstyn is nothing short of brilliant. Her descent from kindly old mother to crazed and physically ruined addict is horrifying. Not only does she pour her soul into the role she was willing to look truly awful at the same time. The transformation she goes through is actually startling and disturbing.

The movie's last half hour intercuts rapidly between the four as they plunge completely out of control to slam hard to the bottom. Sara becomes so crazed as she pops pills faster and faster that she hallucinates that her refridgerator is attacking her. Marion completely degrades herself to earn more drugs. Harry develops infections from needles that will turn your stomach and Tyrone ends up in a horrible spot. The hyperkinetic sequence continually builds in intensity becoming harder and harder to watch. I found myself slowly pushing back into my seat as if I could escape through the back of it.

Requiem for a Dream is probably the harshest, grimmest movie you will ever see on drug addiction. It would serve very effectively in dissuading teens from ever getting involved with drugs in the first place. There are no happy endings here or even a glimmer of hope to raise the spirits. Think very carefully before seeing it. It's about the cinematic equivalent of being locked in a closet with an angry Mike Tyson. If that doesn't scare you off you'll be rewarded with an amazing but exhausting experience.

- John Shea