Film of the Week #33 - Requiem For A Dream

Karl Hungus

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0180093/

Sorry guys, no big blurb about how great the film is, because I've not actually seen this one myself. Honestly, I don't know why, because both this, and Pi have been on my to do list for a very long time.

Anyway... Discuss!

feylya

Fantastic film. Seriously ****ed up

johnny_ultimate

Great that this film actually got in.
It's a film nearly impossible to describe in words - the actual experience is just so intense, so disturbing, so shockingly well made. The editing is the star of the show - it is slow when it needs to be, and fast most of the other time. The film constantly has you on the edge of your seat, especially during the last act, when everything goes to s**t.

The performances are amazing - Jennifer Connelly playing an addict forced to make some spectacular sacrafices for that brief kick being extremely memorable, and the powerhouse performance of Ellen Burstyn which has recieved so much deserving acclaim already it isn't worth going into.

This is not a film for the weak hearted (that syringe in the arm scene is one of the nastiest in film history) but if you think you can take it, it is by far the most memorable and powerful drugs drama I am familiar with. Aronfsky's best, and one of the best of the new millenium.

humanji

Personally, I think this is one of the worst films I've seen. Jennifer Connolly is good in it, but other than that I can't think of a single redeeming point. I simply don't know why so many love it. To each their own, I guess

Jello

This is one of the few films that I actually felt physically sick while watching. I mean there was so much to take in the last quarter to leave anyone breathless by the end credits.

But what a fantastic film it is. As johnny_ultimate summed up the editing is superb. There are excellent performances from everyone involved, and what a soundtrack it has - despite the countless times it's been used in commercials, trailers etc it still remains one of the most powerful soundtracks used in such a powerful film.

Just don't expect a happy ending though...

Necronomicon

Deserved winner. Been a long time since I saw it so can't write a very long paragraph, but very powerful and very moving. I can't think off the top of my head another movie that made me feel as much genuine sadness for the main characters as this did. Complimented by a terrific soundtrack which, as mentioned above has been stolen by just about every advert and television station, but it remains a fantastic score and one that really adds to the movie.

ixoy

We got a winner! Weeeee got a winner! We got a winner! Weeee got a winner! All the way from the mind of Darren Aronofsky - Requiem for a Dream! Juice by Darren, juice by Darren, juice by Darren! woooooooo! Darren's got juice, Darrent's got juice, Darren's got juice woooohhhh!

I first saw this movie in the IFC (as it was named back then) and really nearly shaking at the end, such was the feeling of having been steam-rolled by the visceral graphic kinetic bleak punches that it used to throttle the viewer.

Lots of great things about this movie for me, although it's the directing itself that stands foremost. DA used a lot of techniques combined with an extreme number of cuts to give a pacy, unsettled feel to the movie. The frequency of these edits increased as the tension and pain rose, making the viewer feel similiarly uneasy and off balance. The use of the snorricam ws a great invention on DA's part to literally strap ourselves onto the protaganist, stuck right in their face and their hurt with no escape.

The musical score by the Kronos Quartet should be noted too - unfortunately it's been lifted (or a mix of it) too often nowdays for trailers and TV shows but it's still a powerful mix, greatly enhancing the mood of the scenes (imagine how "Meltdown" would be without it).

Acting's all good too, with a standout from Burstyn, as the sympathetic neglected lonely mother.

It's a movie that's not, all things considered, entertainment in the strict sense - it's too raw, too bleak for that. I know people who haven't been able to watch it a second time as they found it too depressing. Yet I think that being pulled through an emotional wrangle, in such a manner, is something we rarely get to feel from a movie and that alone, along with its inventive techniques, makes it very deserving of the Film of the Week.

Carcharodon

I dont think its a really great film but i think the thing that makes it stand out are the performances from Leto, Connolly and the Mom, which are outstanding.
There is also a certain amount of shock value in the film and its not the most light hearted film to say the least.

BlitzKrieg

its good enough, but i enjoyed Pie alot more.

I liked the visual style alot, fantastic editing, a technical achievement.

But the story was such a...Cliched drug story, i guess it was the hype that got me, I thought it would have broken new ground, but it was very typical story wise.

And while there was some great characterisation in it (the mother) some of it was also quite dull.

Its not a bad film, and I guess it should be film of the week at some point...But I would have expected and perferred PIE to be film of the week before this.

Peyton Manning

Seriously rivals City of God as my favourite film of all time.

MrMojoRising

brilliant, brilliant, brilliant film. music, visuals, acting, story.... all top notch. plus a great cameo by selby jr

nacho libre

MrMojoRising wrote:

brilliant, brilliant, brilliant film. music, visuals, acting, story.... all top notch.

I concur...

PWEI

ixoy wrote:

The musical score by the Kronos Quartet should be noted too - unfortunately it's been lifted (or a mix of it) too often nowdays for trailers and TV shows but it's still a powerful mix, greatly enhancing the mood of the scenes (imagine how "Meltdown" would be without it).

.

The musical socre was by Clint Mansell btw,the Kronos Quartet just played on it.Here's an article on the Requiem theme finally been retired from movie
trailers but Clints music from The Fountain is now been used;

http://www.chud.com/index.php?type=news&id=11632

bluto63

Just watched this last night and it blew me away. It was very depressing alright, but brilliant at the same time. All the notable points have been said before, the editing, the score etc so there's not much else I can say. But what a film.

BenjAii

I've never been pounded into submission by a film as the last 10 mins of this did. Ellen Burstyn was the standout performance for me. Her mental fragility and vunerability the most touching of the main characters.

MisterAnarchy

I've seen both Requiem for a Dream and Pi in the last few months and both were hugely underwhelming nay garbage.
It has a good soundtrack but the story is cliched and extremely repetitive.
That scene with the fridge coming alive must have lasted 5 minutes.Insane.

Hypnotoad

I love this film.Acting is great,soundtrack is great and the editing is brilliant!

MagicMarker

ya see... I appreciate just how well this movie was put together. I have nothing but respect for the acting, especially Burstyn, and editing etc. It was an extremely powerful movie. But i can't say i love a movie that leaves me feeling depressed. It's an experience to see it and everyone should see it. But it's a movie that won't get too many views from me. I've seen it twice and probably won't watch it again. Not for many a year anyhoo.

BaZmO*

Watched it last night for the first time. Overall I enjoyed it, well that's if it's possible to enjoy a movie whose overall objective is to make the viewer feel uncomfortable and edgy throughout which I feel it definitely succeeded at.

As has been said already, the real winner was the editing and the music. It took me a while to get used to the quick editing and being constantly bombarded with repetitive clips. It didn't help that I was ridiculously hungover and feeling on edge anyway.

The overall story was quite weak but the acting is fantastic. But I felt that style of editing and the music really worked tremendously well together for the final scenes. Personally I wouldn't have picked it for a FOTW week spot but I enjoyed it nevertheless.

shatners basoon

BlitzKrieg wrote:

its good enough, but i enjoyed Pie alot more.

I liked the visual style alot, fantastic editing, a technical achievement.

But the story was such a...Cliched drug story, i guess it was the hype that got me, I thought it would have broken new ground, but it was very typical story wise.

And while there was some great characterisation in it (the mother) some of it was also quite dull.

Its not a bad film, and I guess it should be film of the week at some point...But I would have expected and perferred PIE to be film of the week before this.

+1

Also thought the ending was way over the top especially the prison bit. As said though everything is excellent in it bar the manner in which the story pans out.
He's a great director though the fountain left me pretty bewildered didn't know what to make of it and thought Jackman looked pretty silly throughout. Does DA have any other projects coming up? I heard somewhere he's done stuff before Pi (short films or something probably?)

Retr0gamer

As I said before it's nothing more than a stylised and well acted 'drugs are bad, mkay kids' film.

Aaron M

I must be honest and say that this was one of the few films that actually managed to live up to all the hype that I had heard prior to viewing it. I figured that it couldn't be as good as people were making it out to be, but after watching it on tv one night, I thought it was fantastic.

Deserves all the praise it gets I think.

big_show

personally thought it wasn't THAT good, wasn't a big fan of the editing, probably one of the best lines in film though " ass to ass.. ASS TO ASS! "

Call Me Jimmy

Absolutely class film, although if you're feeling a little suicidal, this will push ye over the edge - really depressing.

Wacker

Retr0gamer wrote: »

As I said before it's nothing more than a stylised and well acted 'drugs are bad, mkay kids' film.

This might sound wierd, but I don't think the drugs was really what the film is about. I see it as being more about characters being unable to let go of their dreams (hence the title) even when chasing a dream is working to their detriment. The mother is the abvious example.

Call Me Jimmy

Retr0gamer wrote: »

As I said before it's nothing more than a stylised and well acted 'drugs are bad, mkay kids' film.

Well unless you're saying that the only reason the film was made was to deter people from drugs then that doesn't make too much sense as a criticism of it.

humanji

Wacker wrote: »

This might sound wierd, but I don't think the drugs was really what the film is about. I see it as being more about characters being unable to let go of their dreams (hence the title) even when chasing a dream is working to their detriment. The mother is the abvious example.

I see that as being the point of the film, but the "drugs are bad, mmkay" message drowned it out.