Requiem for a Dream [DVD] [Region 1] [NTSC]

This is one hell of a bleak film, but as long as you can watch it (some people I know couldn’t sit through it), it is an absolute masterpiece. It’s an adaption of a book by Hubert Selby Jr. about the various addictions of four people (an elderly widow, her son, his girlfriend and his best friend) , be they to drugs, television, or even the hope of a better tomorrow, in Brooklyn, New York. So far, so Trainspotting you might think. However, the two films are actually very different, not least in terms of visual style. In this aspect, Requiem For A Dream is streets ahead of it’s British counterpart. The director Darren Aronofsky, a native of Brooklyn himself, has done a first class job here, using a variety of different techniques, including split screens, time lapse photography and speeded up montages. In the commentary on the DVD, he said he wanted to avoid making an MTV-style film, but that’s what it looks like. This is by no means a criticism, though, the film looks absolutely fantastic, but I see no sense in denying its style. As well as the superb cinematography, the film also contains some superb performances from its four stars Jared Leto, Ellen Burstyn, Jennifer Connolly and Marlon Wayans. Indeed, Burstyn was nominated for the Best Actress Oscar, though she didn’t win. It is also nice to see Leto in a role where he has more to do than look handsome. This film is not one to watch when you are feeling a bit down, as it is not in the least bit cheery. I promise it will make you feel worse, as it is heartbreakingly sad to see the lives of the protagonists completely unravelling before their eyes, whilst they keep believing things are soon going to get better. Things don’t get better, they reach rock bottom for all of the characters. No redemption, no happy ending, just one of the best films of the last ten years. Absolutely essential.

If I were you, I wouldn't read too much into the anti-drugs message. It sounds strange, but if you try too hard to find the message behind the film, you will miss the true impact, which lies not as an implicit "drugs are dangerous" ploy, but as the emotional reactions of the main characters as the find themselves in worse and worse scenarios. The film delivers no real clean-cut message, but simply tells the stories of the four characters, and is far more memorable for it. The performances from the leads are absolutely exceptional. Jared Leto suited the role down to the details, Jennifer Connelly was utterly believable in the conversion from sweetheart to whore; their relationship is never less than completely authentic and very emotional. The best performance, however, came from Ellen Burstyn, as the mother addicted to game shows and dieting. A phenomenal speech about her dieting to her son while on pills containing amphetamines shows just how convincing she is, as she manages to convey despondency, grief and hope, all with a frenetic twist to make the scene incredibly hard-hitting. The actors have a brilliant script to work with, the film is brilliantly directed by Aronofsky, and the stylised filmsing is inventive without ever seeming crass or distasteful. Not many directors could handle a fridge coming to life without making it seem laughably improbable. The storyline itself, however, is where the film gains its heart - and its true impact - from. It is flawless, and the climax of the film shows with sickening vivdness the four characters' dreams collapse once and for all; the electroconvulsive treatment, the bloody ampuation, the racial abuse/withdrawal symptons and the graphic sex all come together to give a heart- and stomach-rending finale to the film. The film is exceptional in almost all aspects, and contains some of the best acting I have seen in a long time. The score has become famous, and rightly so. This film cannot fail to move you deeply, as you see the plight of the characters in vivd detail. The DVD is OK, with enough special features, but it doesn't honestly matter when the film is so very powerful.

Der Film erfordert einen gewissen Mut, aber es lohnt. Geschichten und Szenen wie die hier gezeigten, geschehen tausendfach und sind insofern sehr real. Der Film ist sensibel inszeniert und rüttelt auf. Es lohnt sicherlich, ihn gesehen zu haben.

Article livré rapidement et en parfait état, merci !

Arrivato per tempo, bel film.

must watch for anyone who loves movies that depict real life situations and not some fairy tale bulls***.

Requiem for a Dream is a hard film to watch, there is no denying it. I first saw it at a matinee show on a bright sunny day in St. Louis. As I emerged from the Tivoli theatre into the daylight, it seemed impossible that the beauty of the day around me could possibly coexist in the same world as the bleak degradation that the characters in this movie descend into. Since I bought the DVD, I have been avoiding it for weeks, unsure if it was worth facing that descent. It was. Despite being a emotion bonecrusher, the quality of this film is undeniable. Darren Aronofsky has kept his touch for depicting the extremity of human emotion that he demonstrated in Pi. In Requiem, however he makes the characters so rich and engaging that the viewer is drawn along on their voyage of self destruction. This is a big improvement. One of the biggest flaws in Pi was that we have no reason to identify with the obsessive main character. In Requiem, each of the main characters is sympathetic and three-dimensional. It's this that makes the film so traumatizing. Sara Goldfarb (Ellen Burstyn) is a lonely widow living alone in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. She spends her days watching television, particularly the infomercial snake oil of Tappy Tibbons (Christopher McDonald), a guru who sells a three step program to rebuild your life. One day she receives a phone call telling her that she has been chosen to appear on television. Filled with excitement, she tries to make herself over for her appearance on TV, which rapidly becomes her one reason for living. When she finds she can no longer fit into her best red dress, she starts dieting like crazy, with little success. When an unethical doctor prescribes her heavy stimulants, however, the weight starts coming off, although the side effects put Sara on the edge of madness. Watching this sweet and lonely old lady fall into drug addiction and obsession is very hard. As madness starts to creep in, Sara spends her days hallucinating in front of the television and huddling in mortal fear of the refrigerator. Harry Goldfarb(Jared Leto) is Sara's son, a heroin addict who repeatedly steals his mother's television to finance his habit. He and his partner Tyrone Love (Marlon Wayans) are scrambling to climb the ladder of the drug underworld from addict to affluent dealer. While at first glance they look like a couple of scum bags, as we get to know them, they become more sympathetic. Harry is a considerate guy who wants the best for his mother and regrets the pain he causes her. Tyrone's thoughts continuously drift back to his own mother in idyllic flashbacks of his youth. Marion Silver (Jennifer Connely) is a young girl from a rich family who wants to design clothing for a living. She and Harry are in love, and together they scheme to turn Harry's drug profits into a chance for her to open a store to sell her own designs. Marion is also entangled in an unwholesome relationship with her sleazy former therapist. Despite this and her cocaine habit, the depths of which she seems unaware of, she seems like a decent person. The scenes of her and Harry together are sweet and endearing. They make us wish the best for this young couple. The fact that they share these moments in a fog of drug-induced euphoria seems almost irrelevant, thanks to Aronofsky's skilled staging, and fine performances by the Connely and Leto. As the film progresses, the hopes and dreams of the four characters are slowly strangled by their dependence on drugs. As despair encroaches on their future plans, they scramble to hold it all together. By the final sequence, the characters' degradation accelerates out of control like a runaway train. Aided immensely by the feverish compositions of the Kronos Quartet, this is one of the most disturbing sequences I've ever seen on film. Technically, this film is very well executed. Sara's nightmarish hallucinations leave the viewer shaken. The time lapse sequences convey a very believable sense of how out of control a speed addict must feel. Aronofsky uses strange perspectives to great effect. In particular, he seemingly hangs a camera from the character's neck at times, to catch every nuance of expression at their moment of greatest shame. I have to recommend this movie, but I warn you, it will not make you feel good. It will probably make you feel like humans are weak and foul things. Choose well when to watch, or risk ruining a light-hearted evening...