Boosting the careers of many now-famous performers including Jared Leto, Marlon Wayans, and Jennifer Connelly, this film is absolutely brilliant in almost every way. I consider this to be Darren Aronofsky's best film, as it plunges the audience into the harsh world of drugs and shows the gritty reality of it all in a great way. This film does not hold back when it comes to showing what these characters go through, and I believe that is the most important part. The performances in this film were so great and could not have been portrayed by better actors.
One of the most gripping parts of the film was the world that was created by Aronofsky. In many films, the stereotypical drug users are bums that come from off the streets and are typically African-American. What was so innovative about Requiem for a Dream was it showed that drug addiction can happen to anyone. It showed the downfall of multiple types of people, from a middle-class man and his mother, to his girlfriend and best friend. They were all hooked on different types of drugs, ranging from heroin to marijuana to prescription weight-loss pills. While this film was not meant to be an anti-drug PSA, it really showcased how dangerous drugs can be and the awful consequences of them.
The actors and actresses involved all did a phenomenal job of selling their characters to the audience. One of my favorite performances was from the now-popular Jared Leto. This was his first breakout role in film, and continues to be one of his best. I really felt for his character Harry, especially seeing the development in the relationship with his mother. They went from extremely connected to even more extremely distant, and all because of the effects of the drugs they had gotten mixed up with. While Harry's mother Sara was obsessed with being a big TV star on the infomercial she had kept seeing, she was more focused on that than maintaining the relationship with her only son. The TV show ended up driving her insane, however, and her life spiraled down as she took weight-loss pill after weight-loss pill, attempting to fit into the same red dress that she had worn for Harry's graduation. This dress had become a sort of motif throughout the film, as it was the final goal of Sara throughout the entire film. This same red dress was also seen in Harry's dream sequences, but being worn by an unfamiliar face at the end of the dock. This might have been my only concern with this film was the woman on the dock. It was never explained who she was or why Harry was dreaming about her. It was simply a piece of his imagination that was never fully uncovered. The use of music in this film was genius, however, as its overtures and symphonies used helped the tone very well. And the film's use of punchy editing and camera tricks to convey the rush that drugs bring to the characters was very powerful.
There is not much to say about this film because of its trippy editing and peculiar plot patterns, but I would absolutely suggest you watch it and form an opinion for yourself. One thing that is not debatable was the spectacular performances by the cast and their development over the course of their drug-fueled and dwindling lives. It was so new for the time, and continues to be one of the best examples of fantastic and attention-grabbing filmmaking. I would definitely recommend this film, just not if you have epilepsy of any kind, as those constant flashing lights and drug transitions can be a little too much to handle.
My Rating: ★★★★
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