Requiem for a Dream

Darren Aronofsky

USA

Runtime: 102 min
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 (English)
Cast: Ellen Burstyn (Sara Goldfarb), Jared Leto (Harry Goldfarb), Jennifer Connely (Marion Silver), Marlon Wayans (Tyrone C. Love)
Music: Clint Mansell
Screenplay: Hubert Shelby, Jr. (from his novel), Darren Aronofsky

Review © 2002 Branislav L. Slantchev

After reviling (in public) the "critically acclaimed" yawnfest that was Aronofsky previous feature, the mathematically and logically challenged Pi, I was repeatedly reassured that his second film, Requiem for a Dream, is a must-see, a nightmarish descent in the bleak world of people who cling to... I can't even remember now what the claims were. Anyway, I bought, I saw, I did not like.

The good things first. There is no doubt that Requiem is a well-crafted, stylish film with incredible music and stunning performances all around. Aronofsky's disdain for MTV notwithstanding, the quick abrupt cuts, the pacing, the soundtrack, everything betrays the undeniable influence of that particular culture. It is one thing to use the tools to craft features that are 1mm deep, and it is quite another to use it to create visually impressive films, like Romeo + Juliet. Aronofsky knows his stuff, that's for sure. There are several haunting scenes that are sill with me, and that I very much doubt I will forget. Take, for example, Sara's (Ellen Burstyn) mad dash through the winter streets of New York on her way to find out why she has not "received the call" yet. The camera is positioned at an angle above and in front of Sara, tracking her confused progress through the street with only the glimpses of shadows of passersby. She walks, she turns around, she is in a world of her own amidst crowds of unseen people. The jagged editing gives the illusion of a painting, Sarah with her shabby red hair flowing, like so many torn veils. The contrast is amazing.

The acting. Mrs. Burstyn is unbelievably good. In fact, she should have won at least an Academy Award nomination if these bastards knew a tiny bit of what they are doing. The other performances are good, but nothing exceptional. Of course, Jennifer Connely's talents show, but she was better in A Beautiful Mind (otherwise an atrocious feature), and deservedly won the Oscar there. Pretty boy Jared is too wimpy to be interesting, and the louder and uglier of the Wayans brothers does a credible job of the pusher.

Clint Mansell's music is astounding. Rarely has there been such an apposite soundtrack (well, except for Pi's only saving grace... Mansell again). The music not only enhanced the visuals, but carried emotion all on its own, a very rare thing indeed these days of cookie-cutter soundtracks.

After all these accolades, one must wonder why I disliked the film. I did not because of the film, which is technically without blemish, but because of Aronofsky, and his pompous claim to be making a truly deep substantive film. Some blame must be laid on Shelby, Jr., who is no Dostoevsky, contrary to the uninformed claims of many critics. Shock value does not make one deep, otherwise Guts of a Virgin 2 would have been profound. Describing homosexuals, gang rapes, orgies, and addiction may have been revolutionary... something like 100 years ago (maybe still is in puritanical America) but does not make the author great UNLESS said description somehow relates to a philosophical statement. There is no such statement in this film and I don't care what Aronofsky, Shelby, and 10,000+ people on IMDB say about it.

First, and most obviously, Requiem is not about the various forms addiction can take, and its destructive consequences. Why? Because everyone in this film suffers from chemical dependency, even Sara, who starts out addicted to TV and the possibility of seeing herself there. Eventually, it is the pills her quack doctor prescribed that are her undoing. The other three characters are just junkies, plain and simple. I don't care how much "baggage" they have, or how "good" or "loving" they are, they knowingly have chosen to destroy their lives. This is not tragedy, this would be farcical if it were not pathetic.

I don't know who these people are who claim to be moved to tears by the film (there are many, just check out the thousands of reviews on the net), but I can never connect to any of the characters and I fail to see why anyone should. I have no sympathy for people who take the easy way out. Yes, it was the easy way out to tell your girlfriend (who you claim to love so much) to go fuck her shrink to get some cash. There is no dilemma there, they are not pressed by the circumstances. No. Recall that Marion complained at the beginning that her parents just "threw money" at her when "she needed something else." Geesh. Why not take some of that and open the damn design store?

Don't even get me started on Harry (Jared Leto). The sniveling, pathetic excuse for a human being. The ungrateful son of a bitch not only spends years mooching off his mother by repeatedly pawning her TV (the only bright presence in her miserable life), but has the temerity to say he loves her? The filthy scoundrel also forced his girlfriend into prostitution without even trying to battle out their mutual addictions. Yeah, like whimpering on the phone "I am sorry" will help.

Am I missing something here? Why were these characters supposed to move us? They are just disgusting, there's no life left in them, and they don't deserve to live. By the middle of the film, I was going "Come, overdose already! Just die!" Why is Shelby a bad author and why is Aronosfky a bad scriptwriter? Because they do not understand the meaning of tragedy. Tragedy is when your best just is not good enough. It is when you struggle and fail, it is when you fail but refuse to sacrifice what defines you as man (or woman). These characters were subhuman to begin with, so there was no integrity to keep. Witness just how fast Marion and Harry turn on each other like rabid dogs when he fails to score their next fix.

This film is emotionally bankrupt and the problem is that this was not the intention of Aronofsky and Shelby. They aimed to create a nightmarish film that shows the destruction of helpless human beings who cling to each other while simultaneously pushing aside each other's dark dreams. They failed. Requiem for a film.

April 1, 2001