Requiem for a Dream - Review

As a minor quibble, Marion was addicted to cocaine not heroin; she was the only protagonist to use it in the film.

This film is utterly haunting in its portrayal of the degredation of the human spirit. Despite fleeting periods of brief hope, the entirity of the film is a steep drop into hell. Each of the characters are confronted with with their flaws, but refuse accept them. The film uses seasons to indicate periods of change, and each season is heralded by a harsh crashing transition, often placed poignantly inside a critical moment or scene.
The ultimate factor that seperates Darren Aronofsky's from other such films is his unbelievable use of editing. This film's editing becomes more frequent as the plot progresses, and each edit is used to jar the viewer away from the actions of the characters in order to keep the audience focused on the characters themselves. During the final 5 minutes of the film, the director uses frenetic editing to instill a type of frenetic terror and revulsion in his viewership, often evoking intense discomfort. With the impecable editing, the director is able to create a lasting sense of contemplative fear in his audience.
Clint Mansell, the composer of the film's score, also provides tracks perfectly complementary to the mood of the piece. In the final scenes of the film, Mansell's "Meltdown" drives the film's disturbing images home with shrieking strings and a discordant snare line.
This film is not pleasant by any account, and it is often critically reviewed poorly due to it's intensely graphic nature. However, it is still a film that has merit, because it serves to show how far people can fall from happiness; it conveys how addiction to anything can ruin lives.

The only person responsible for everyone's demise in this movie was Harry. He ruined everyone's life, beginning with his own. By even contemplating becoming involved in the enevitably dooming drug business, he was able to jeopordize each character's life with that one single decision. His mother, being the motherly mother that she was, consumed herself with the notion that her son was not the true failure that he had become. He knew this going into the drug scene, yet had no regard to anyone's feelings or life, for that matter. Desperatly seeking her son's attention and love, she had no choice but to focus her repetitive , boring life on an even more pathetic fantasy that her life may eventually become more than that. Even after Harry learned that her prepetual obsession with her fantasy had led to drug abuse in order to acheive her goal of becoming the "attractive" woman that she had once been, his own fixation and addiction allowed him to ignore her condition.

The second person's life that Harry was able to destroy was his best friend, Tyrone. Tyrone had his own problems, indeed, but without the assistance of Harry, his problems would have haulted at never being able to have a successful relationship with a woman, and possibly never being able to successfully hold down a credible job. Because of Harry's selfishness and plain stupidity, Tyrone was sentenced to not only a life, no doubtedly in prison, but also a life without the hope of sobriety.

Lastly, and most devistatingly, without blinking an eye, Harry was able to sit back and watch while his obviously loving girlfriend sold her body to a disgusting pervert of a human being, leading her fate to none other than a lifetime of prostitution. What kind of a monster lets someone they "love" do that? A drug addict, that's who.

Aronofsky does an absolute suberb job in depicting the life of drugs. This is quite simply how it is and nothing about a life filled with drugs is glamorous, which is why this movie is so truthful and wonderful. I rented this movie from Netflix, but immediately bought it. I loved it. Everything from the acting to the camera work to the requiem was amazing, and surprisingly uplifting for me. I am thrilled to know that I am not as naive as some of the people who get involved with drugs; naive to believe that I would not get addicted and naive to believe that they might actually bring something positive to my life.

I highly recommend this movie. It was awesome.

yeh no shit
this movie made me and my brother cry
my uncle got shot becouse of drugs

i still do drugs but just when i first watched this movie
i thort i was going nowere i felt like the charactor
all the emotions all the shit they been though i can relate myself to
i only have my dad but never spoken to him in years
we dont hardly know each other
this is the kinda shit we go through and this movie shows beyond my state of drug addiction
it makes me scared to think and i always asked myself refering back to this movie
du i have to keep dealin drugs nowing that one day sumfin bad will happen
like i get shot or sumfin
u gota ask urself
and u gota watch this movie
this aint to entertain u
it prepares u to see beyond the life of a drug addict
but the society of addicts and the circle or death sex drugs dealing and the gangs that control the druggame
if you do drugs like me and watch this movie u will realise and ask ur self questions it mite only last 2 minutes of thinking becouse u wanna snort the coke and forget about it
but try to think about it
peace