The Great Movies by DrewG

[ChemicalRomance]

Hello schmoes! I originally had posted on this very same section a countdown of my top 20 films. That was derailed because I was unable to keep the same top 20 long enough to write the reviews in order. I feel this new method, a direct page from the book of Roger Ebert, is much better.

These are my own personal essays about the films I love. They are long, sure, but I assure you that they reveal my deepest and most personal insights into the films I cherish the very most. I will try my best to keep this frequently updated, and I hope you will enjoy the things I have to say.

Without further ado, check the next post to see my very first entry in this 'series'.

[ChemicalRomance]

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Requiem for a Dream is a film about wasted dreams and aspirations among many other things. It is about the darkest depths of desperation, addiction and weakness. It is a harrowing and heartbreaking film. I’m sure all of this was the intent of writer and director Darren Aronofsky when he was working to translate Hubert Selby Jr.’s novel of the same name. What I remain unsure of however is whether or not he understands how much he succeeded in doing so.

The characters in Requiem for a Dream are essentially the people we seem to associate ourselves with every day. There’s the rebellious 20-something Harry (Jared Leto) and his old, television dependent mother Sarah (Ellen Burstyn). Harry has a girl he’s madly in love with in Marion (Jennifer Connelly) and a trustworthy friend in Tyrone (Marlon Wayans). Beneath their exteriors of happiness and tranquility however rests a hideous beast: drugs. Heroin, weed, diet pills, cocaine, uppers, downers. The question spirals from ‘what would these people do for drugs?’ to ‘what wouldn’t these people do for drugs?’

Still beneath the pain and sorrow there are the innocence and fantasies of these characters. Harry wants to help Marion open a clothes store to sell her designs. Sometimes Harry and Marion lie staring at the ceiling and simply talk as any couple would. Marion tells Harry she loves him because he makes her feel like a person. To this Harry replies: ‘I always thought you were the most beautiful girl I ever seen. Ever since I first saw you.’ These are two young people with goals, these are two young people in love. Tyrone often thinks about simpler times. He often remembers his childhood days, when he would run through the rooms of his home and rest his head in his mothers lap. We can tell he misses the comfort and the love of his childhood. Harry’s mother Sarah lives through her television. She constantly watches the same paid programming diet show with the eclectic and outspoken leader Tappy Tibbons. One day she receives a phone call telling her that she is going to be on television. Sarah is overjoyed at this opportunity as are her old lady friends who sit in front of the apartment complex in their summer chairs and gossip amongst themselves. Sarah becomes obsessed with being able to wear her red dress on television, a red dress she had worn long ago to Harry’s graduation when her husband was still alive.

Drugs destroy any chance they have at accomplishing their tasks. Sarah becomes addicted to diet pills in order to get the red dress to fit. Harry, Tyrone and Marion believe their only way to get their ideas into motion is to make money by selling drugs. But before they sell them, they must always ‘test’ them. Aronofsky’s unique and flawless technique behind the camera is a hand that grabs us by the wrist and forces us down this wicked path of hopelessness. One day Sarah imagines herself on television with Tappy Tibbons. Television Sarah wears her red dress, her hair perfectly done up. Sarah watches both her beautiful television self and the host of the show leap from the screen into her apartment and begin to ridicule her. The apartment turns into a hellish nightmare. Extreme close ups of Sarah mark her feelings of confusion and terror. Her head swings back and forth. When Tappy Tibbons, the TV host ridicules some of her apartment decorations Sarah replies in a pleading tone: ‘Well what do you expect? Could you do any better? I’m old! Alone! You don’t understand!’ Sarah is wearing her red dress. Since the pills made the dress able to fit on her she has not taken it off. Her hair is dirty and unwashed. She waits, however long, for her call to be on television.

Requiem for a Dream is often criticized for being an outdated look at drug use and addiction. The novel it is based on was written in the 1980s. Is this really an issue? Rarely is a film presented with emotions as raw and abundant as Requiem for a Dream. According to set folklore something out of the ordinary happened during Burstyn’s impassioned monologue to her son about the toils and sadness of being old. Cinematographer Matthew Libatique let the camera drift off target. When Darren Aronofsky called ‘cut’ on the scene and confronted Matthew about the incident Matthew gave an odd but believable response. He said he let the camera drift off target because the lens had fogged up during the take. Why did it fog up? Matthew was crying behind the camera as Burstyn spoke. This was the take that was used in the final cut.

I have often wondered if any film has presented a more agonizing or realistic tale of drug abuse. There is no happy ending. There is no catharsis. The characters are not rewarded but rather punished and forced to live in a world where the consequences of their addictions haunt them forever. One of the strongest points of Requiem for a Dream and a tremendous contributor to the lasting effects of the film is the unforgettable score of Clint Mansell. A perfect blend of ambient noise, techno and orchestra among many other things. The movie’s reprise is one that people directly associate with the film whenever they hear it. When the film ends and the credits have rolled it has an uncanny power to stay in your head echoing over and over again. With that reprise comes the reminder of the film that has just past and the tornado of emotions that came with it.

The film takes place over one year, making the decay and dismemberment of these people’s hopes all the more excruciating. Aronofsky’s careful direction follows this decay. We are comforted by beautiful images in the beginning such as roller coasters in Coney Island, Brooklyn pressed up against beautiful blue skies. Throughout the movie Harry envisions he is running down a boardwalk towards Marion who looks over a pier into the ocean. The camera remains steady, tracks the character’s motions with even pacing and intricate framing. During drug use comes the barrage of style by Aronofsky, but not a barrage without tremendous effect: jump cuts, quick cuts, fast motion. The greatest achievement by Aronofsky in Requiem for a Dream comes in the final 15 minutes when all hell breaks loose in a complex and fascinating montage of devastating power. Marion prostitutes for drugs. Harry’s arm is sawed off due to heroin abuse. Tyrone crawls into a ball in bed yearning for his mother. Electroshock therapy makes Sarah’s brain into nothing.

Shortly before this tragic finale where these poor people are severely punished for their weaknesses there is a scene depicting a phone call between Harry and Marion. Harry and Tyrone have traveled to Florida to score an enormous stash of drugs. They hope to use them but also sell them for a mass profit. Maybe they can finally set their dreams in motion. Harry, nearly completely worn down from the trip and the effects of his drug abuse calls Marion at night from a payphone. The light above flickers, struggling to stay on. Harry tells Marion he misses her. She asks ‘when are you coming home?’ Harry says ‘soon.’ Marion doubts this but Harry attempts to assure her. Marion questions ‘Harry...can you come today?’ Harry beings to cry and weakly replies that he can. We know this can’t be true. Marion cries. ‘You just wait for me alright?’ Harry begs. Marion says she will and accepts Harry’s heartfelt apology for not being there for her. The conversation ends. It is presumed that they never see or speak to each other again.

[Andrew Ratto]

the

[ChemicalRomance]

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat? When'd you see it and /10?

[Sigur509]

Strange. I loved this film the first time I saw it, but told myself I would never sit through it again. I've seen it 6-8 times. Everytime it is shown on IFC, I can't seem to turn the channel.

[Andrew Ratto]

the

[Monotreme]

This movie depressed me for a week after I saw it. I literally sulked all the time and couldn't do anything positive. Obviously, I recognized it immediately as a modern masterpiece, but like Sigur509, I vowed never to sit through the movie again, as no film has ever left me feeling quite as bad as I felt after this one. Since then I have seen it another 3 or 4 times. It's irresistable while at the same time intolerable. I can't believe somebody had the balls to create such a movie, it's really quite amazing.

One of the few movies that gets a 10/10 from me.

Great essay, by the way. I think that what makes this movie so successful is how blatant it is about its subject matter. There are no metaphors, no allegories, no symbols... it's so in-your-face that it's really quite startling. It just says, "look, this is what drugs do to people." It as pure and simple as that.