Requiem for a Dream

[catscradle]

SPOILERS below for Requiem for a Dream.







Okay, just saw this film the other day and now I find myself frighten of the NyQuil in my medicine cabinet. Darren Aronowsky, if you're goal was to scare the living shit out of every human on the planet on the true terror that is drug addiction, you've succeeded. I promise I will never do heroine. And for that matter, cocaine, morphine, valium, super glue, NyQuil or aspirin.

I don't want to scare people away from this film, it's a work of art, but it's not for the timid. Everything in this film from the directing, cinematography, writing, and acting, was superb. Those of you that might be interested, Darren Aronowsky also directed Pi - or as my friend Cindy calls it, Adventures in Migrains (Actually a mathematical thrill which makes me wish I would have gone beyond Trigonomety in high school). But then, Cin likes cute films about British aristocrats. She can go see Gosford Park while we take a look at this film.

There are four main charaters in this film. Drug addict, but good natured son. Girlfriend of the son (also drug addict). Bestfriend of son (again, also an addict) And finally, the mom.

All of these characters have varing degrees of sympathy attached to them, though some moreso than others. The son and his bestfriend are perhaps the least sympathetic. They have one dream: to score the big haul that's going to put them on easy street. One problem, they do most of what they buy. For a while you think the son is going to get his drug act together to really accomplish something, but then come the Great Heroine Shortage of 2000 and he's back to dipping into the stash till there's nothing left. Granted, the girlfriend kept hounding him for it, but were he not so pussy whipped he could have made good money on what he had. So there goes the dream of son and best friend.

The girlfriend is kinda interesting. She really loves her drug addict boyfriend. Seriously - you never have a doubt that they love each other. And the best friend is rather loyal too, which is perhaps why you feel for them as they through their lives down the toilet. Normally, I'd cite darwinianism and move on - but genuine friendship these people have make you want to stick by and see why they hell they don't care about their lives. Anyway, the girl wants to be a fashion designer. Her father owns a business that has something to do with fashion - so she could possibly make something of herself if she got off the dope. Unfortunately she so addicted to the stuff she'll do anything to get it. Yes, this includes sex with people she has no desire to sleep with. It starts out mild, with a friend of the family who likes her (though he's married - and Pi fans out there, this guy plays the lead role in that movie. He looked better as a crazed math genius than a psychologist yuppie in my opinion though.) But from there it gets progressively worse once the heroine shortage reaches an all time high. Let's just say, Block Buster doesn't carry that version so lets all use our imaginations.

I guess I feel bad for her because *she* could have done something. She had an actual dream that went beyond the drugs. We don't find out how she got hooked - maybe the boyfriend - maybe she already was. But the title fits her more than the men. In fact, it fits the women of this film far more than it fits the men in general. Her dream really does get snuffed out completely. By the end of the film you know she's not going to make it long in life.

Now mom tears my heart out. Sweet, warm, old Jewish lady who has finally found something else to live for. She's been invited to be on a TV show as a contestant. Her husband is dead, her son is grown (and a loser drug addict), so all she has to look forward to is this show. She pulls out an old red dress she wore that her husband seemed to have loved, and she's going to wear it on the show. Problem: It doesn't fit. So mom needs to go on a diet. She tries and fails. So mom calls a doctor and before long mom becomes a Speed Freak. She looses the weight and then some, but the little side effect that came with that is she also lost her mind. One of the most powerful scenes in the movie is of mom running through the streets in her now tattered red dress looking for the TV station. The never did call her back.

Aronowsky shows the lives of the four paralleling each other in frightening ways. Mom's hallucinations and sons shooting up begin to roll into one, till the lives slide together in a horrific ending.

This movie frightened me. This movie was also one of the best artistic portraits I've ever seen. So if you're not very squimish, I recommend seeing this film.

Comments

them lil things that make you feel good.

[versailles-rose.livejournal.com]

Tell me does the guy harp on CHOCOLATE too? ;D

IT does sound like a reality-in-the-face sort of movie.

I think I'll join Cin for a Merchant/Ivory flick!

[silverthoughts.livejournal.com]

I saw this last year and it completely blew me away. I really liked it a lot. All the performances were solid which was surprising because this was the first film I saw of Jennifer Connelly since Labrynth (gah! Can't spell today. Sheesh). I did a complete double take when I saw her.

It's highly depressing, but I'd completely watch it again.