Generic [SPOILER ALERT]
Make no mistake: drugs can consume people in such a way that not only is their life destroyed, but the lives of others around them enter the desolate void as well. Requiem for a Dream is unapologetic in its depiction of drug use. The movie showcases this very real possibility through stellar direction, editing, and acting. Since watching this film I have no desire to come near addictive substances due to the despair they could potentially create for myself and my loved ones.
The movie opens with Tyrone (Marlon Wayans) and Harry (Jared Leto) stealing the television from Harry’s mother Sara (Ellyn Burstyn) to score more money for their latest fix of heroin. The two agree to become dealers to make some money to improve their lives, especially Harry, who wants to help start a fashion business with his girlfriend and fellow user Marion (Jennifer Connelly). Sara also is addicted: she loves a self-help TV program hosted by Tappy Tibbons (Christopher McDonald) that encourages people to be better. When Sara gets selected to be on the show, she starts taking dietary supplements to lose weight and look her best. However, all of their best laid plans nosedive once the drugs start to impose their will.
Requiem for a Dream’s power lies in its relatability. At some point, each person will be tempted by some type of mind altering substance, and at some point, you have to hope you have the will power and circumstance to not let it dominate your life. These characters all face similar choices, and just make wrong choices or end up in bad places. In the beginning, we see the temptation for everyone. Tyrone wants to get power and money, Harry and Marion want to get money to open a clothing business, and Sara wants to be on TV. So the drugs are their outlet to do so. The high (through Darren Aronofsky’s amazing editing, which I will get to later) is quick and fast and then you’re left with…time. Early on, these people are driven, so they put that time into their clothes business, or working out for their TV appearance. However, that high wanes over time, and each person starts taking more drugs to get the same feeling. Not helping is the fact that heroin goes scarce, or that weight loss pills make you start hallucinate. So characters stretch themselves to dangerous means, and lose all that momentum they created at the beginning, relying on just the high, and forgetting all their other dreams. I’ve seen versions of this happen to friends and family, and this movie shows you just how the quest for the high can delude anyone into desolate melancholy slowly and scarily.
Enter Darren Aronofsky, master editor. This slow awful decent into drug madness crescendos into the haunting conclusion of the movie. Much like Spielberg’s D-Day landing, this is about as perfect of a movie scene as you will see. After a final heartbreaking phone call where we see the end of any hopeful future for these people, we are treating to a montage of the consequences of a drug addicted life, each scene more horrifying and awful than the rest. That montage ends into a fading dream referenced earlier in the film, and then we’re back to the despondent end, with every character lying like children in the fetal position dreaming of what used to make them happy, as the terrifying foreboding Clint Mansell score reaches its apex. I usually give extra credit to a movie that sticks its landing, and Requiem for a Dream will probably have you, like me, vow to never even consider taking a drug like herion, ever.
This movie requires actors that do NOT get more beautiful as they approach their mortality, and Aronofsky found 4 great ones. Marlon Wayans was probably making Scary Movie when he turned up in this. His performance here made me rethink what the Wayans brothers could be other than just funny guys. Jared Leto was the pretty boy from My So-Called Life, and here, he’s really good at changing from the glue guy to a terrified little kid. The women here are the standouts though. Jennifer Connelly shows most subtly how drugs can completely change someones personality, going from a beautiful elegant lady early to to a shell of a person once she starts selling her soul for heroin. You she basically no longer exists as Marion, but as some feral animal doing what they have to to survive. However, few of you will be able to get Ellen Burstyn’s face out of your head after seeing Requiem for a Dream. Burstyn comes across as naive but good hearted early on, just wanted to be on TV and do right by her son Harry. Then the hallucinations start, and we see her play the lead in a horror movie, culminating in the heartbreaking end, where all signs of her personality are gone, replaced by an exasperated crazy person if you just saw her on the street. Acting in a movie like this takes guts, and kudos to Leto, Wayans, Burstyn, and Connelly for giving their all to the movie.
After Requiem for a Dream ended, I left the group of friends I was with without saying a word, went to my dorm room, shut the door, and just sat there, with my thoughts. I thought about all these people, Darren Aronofsky’s amazing direction and editing, and how easily what happened to these people could happen to me, if I wasn’t careful. To this day, this movie will pop in my head as if a reminder of how dark a path I could be leading if I were not so fortunate or made good choices. Special movies have the ability to affect and stay with people for a long time, and Requiem for a Dream, sad as it is, is about as special as they come.