“You know, I think it's a modern horror film. We always saw this as a monster movie except that the
monster was invisible. The creature was invisible. It was addiction, living in the character's head, and the only
other difference is that the creature wins.” -Darren Aronofsky
In Requiem for a Dream all four characters (Harry and Sara Goldfarb, Marion and Tyrone) go
down similar paths, first being seduced by their various addictions, then becoming completely drawn into the
delusional state of a reality ruled by dreams, and finally being beaten by dreams of the future that destroy their
present lives.
By the end of Summer (the film is divided into three sections: Summer, Fall, Winter), the movie has
attained a hopeful atmosphere; things are looking up for young Harry Goldfarb (Jared
Leto) and his girlfriend Marion (Jennifer Connelly), while Harry’s mom Sara (Ellen Burstyn) has finally been given
the opportunity to be on TV. Life is good, and the movie has developed a nice and even comforting pace. Harry and
his buddy Tyrone (Marlon Wayans) have a shoe box filled with drug money and a future full of possibility. Sara is
going to be on Tappy Tibbon’s show “Juice By You,” (We got a Winner!) and will finally become the woman she has wanted to be all of
these years. Be Excited! Be, Be Excited! This may be the last bit of excitement for Harry, Marion, Tyrone and
Sara. “I’m going to be on television” becomes a kind of mantra for Sara, as she begins to obsessively re-shape
her life.
Slowly, the base of support begins to crumble beneath the characters as they decline further and
further into their addictions. Sara, in order to thin down and prepare herself to live out a fantasy has started
taking prescription speed as a diet pill, and in doing so begins to loose her grip on reality, and destroy the
small life she does have. She becomes a fragile, withered old lady who has, by the end of winter, aged years in
only a few months time. Be Excited! Be, Be Excited!
It is easy in the uplifting first section of the film to forget that drugs are in fact bad for you,
but as the characters begin to loose footing in their own lives, the film itself begins to spiral out of control.
Requiem stylistically illustrates all of their descents into addiction, utilizing rhythmic jump-cuts,
“Hip-Hop montages,” and a continually intensifying sound design and score to set the feel.
Having traversed the territory of the film along with the characters, it becomes almost impossible
to watch by the end, yet even harder to pull away. The film has an addictive quality, and even as it begins to
loose its fun and easy-going feel as its characters destroy their lives more and more, its pull keeps the viewer
attached to the screen and unable to stop watching.
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