Requiem for a Dream (2000) - Directed by Darren Aronofsky
This film is a human-character-study. Darren Aronofsky's, crazy, rollercoaster, drug-induced Requiem for a Dream (2000). Aronofsky gives that 1980s feel to the viewer throughout the film. It has a fantastic calling to old-Hollywood-style film-making. The best component to the film is the acting.
Ellen Burstyn is Sara Goldfarb, a retired couch-potato, who is addicted to a bad self-help TV show that cons her into believing she can lose weight if she uses certain drugs, Pharmaceuticals that eventually destroy her mind and create a horrible addiction. Meanwhile, her dead-beat son, Harry (Jared Leto), comes up with the brilliantly dumb idea of creating a haven for himself, his friend, Tyrone (Marlan Wayans) and Harry's girlfriend, Marion (Jennifer Connelly), by getting into the street-drug-business. Unfortunately, he and his friends are all now junkies and things don't go so well as planned.
This film is not for the squeamish. It involves many horrible aspects of life, the terrible things humans are capable of doing to themselves and the consequences of such poor decisions. It does manage to pull at the heart-strings and makes you feel very sorry for these people. I won't say anymore, but there is a reason why Ellen Burstyn was nominated for the Best Actress Oscar that year. The directing, camera-work and editing is fantastic and quite fitting for the drug-incited delusions seen in the film. The film is rated R, but could have gone even further. Jennifer Connelly's performance is staggeringly good. She definitely leaves her comfort zone for this film. For myself, this film shocked, brought out many emotions and contained a life-lesson we should all pay attention to.
9.0 (A- MyGrade) = 9 IMDB
This film is a human-character-study. Darren Aronofsky's, crazy, rollercoaster, drug-induced Requiem for a Dream (2000). Aronofsky gives that 1980s feel to the viewer throughout the film. It has a fantastic calling to old-Hollywood-style film-making. The best component to the film is the acting.
Ellen Burstyn is Sara Goldfarb, a retired couch-potato, who is addicted to a bad self-help TV show that cons her into believing she can lose weight if she uses certain drugs, Pharmaceuticals that eventually destroy her mind and create a horrible addiction. Meanwhile, her dead-beat son, Harry (Jared Leto), comes up with the brilliantly dumb idea of creating a haven for himself, his friend, Tyrone (Marlan Wayans) and Harry's girlfriend, Marion (Jennifer Connelly), by getting into the street-drug-business. Unfortunately, he and his friends are all now junkies and things don't go so well as planned.
This film is not for the squeamish. It involves many horrible aspects of life, the terrible things humans are capable of doing to themselves and the consequences of such poor decisions. It does manage to pull at the heart-strings and makes you feel very sorry for these people. I won't say anymore, but there is a reason why Ellen Burstyn was nominated for the Best Actress Oscar that year. The directing, camera-work and editing is fantastic and quite fitting for the drug-incited delusions seen in the film. The film is rated R, but could have gone even further. Jennifer Connelly's performance is staggeringly good. She definitely leaves her comfort zone for this film. For myself, this film shocked, brought out many emotions and contained a life-lesson we should all pay attention to.
9.0 (A- MyGrade) = 9 IMDB