Nick Charles (William Powell, After The Thin Man, 1936)
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Nick Charles (William Powell, After The Thin Man, 1936) |
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Darren Aronofskys follow up to his critically acclaimed movie Pi, comes this brave and haunting journey. The title, Requiem for a Dream, sounds like some kind melodious fairytale of eternal happiness (or something along those lines). In actuality, this is indeed not a hap hearted easily watchable film. It basically implies four addicts and their nightmarish downfalls after entering the world of drugs, sex, and violence. The story is mainly focused on four Coney Island residents- Harry, Marion, Sarah, and Tyrone. Harry (Jared Leto) along with his girlfriend (Jennifer Connelly), and his best friend Tyrone (Marlon Wayans) are all illusive heroin junkies constantly on the search for more goods. Our fourth character is Harry's mother, Sarah (Ellen Burstyn) who receives a call telling her that she's invited to be on one of her favorite television programs. Almost instantly she is overwhelmed at the fact that she will be seen by thousands, so she gets hooked to an extreme dieting program. Her thinking is that if she gets thin enough, she’ll be able to fit into her twenty year old prom dress. Her constant pill popping and coffee drinking leads to nervousness, anxiety, and hallucinations (even one involving a carnivorous refrigerator). Of course, we cannot forget the drugs- their savior and axis evil. They are presented in quite a different perspective here. Instead of watching the person shoot up from the third person point of view, the viewer is shoved right into the middle of it. It is presented in these steps- preparation, boiling, circulation cut, needle tap, insertion, injection, withdrawal, pupil dilation, blood flow, and finally- the immense bliss. And, of course, this is all that they strive for. All the agony, the cash, danger, and time spent retrieving it, is all summed up in a couple moments of artificial happiness. This all happens within a length of about five to ten seconds, each cut accompanied by a sharp noise reflecting the on screen shot. I don't do drugs, nor do I want to- maybe or maybe not, from watching these cumbersome individuals throw their lives away. The technical aspects of this film are quite impressive- from the spine tingling score, to the flowing camera movements, to the sharp rapid drug-taking cuts, to the crisp audio, Kubrick would have been proud. Aronofsky really pushed the limits here- a high definition TV with a 5.1 surround sound system is crucial to receive the full effect. Compared to other past and recent anti-drug movies such as Spun, Trainspotting, and Last Exit to Brooklyn, this is easily my favorite. Though this film is not for everyone- Hardcore druggies might consider it blatant anti-drug propaganda, the faint at heart viewers might be turned off, or people who just hate watching Ellen Burstyn and her awkward (per se Oscar nomination for best actress) on-screen performance. Either way, it's a great watch that’s definitely worth 102 minutes of your life. |
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