Requiem for a Dream – A Repulsive Masterpiece

         Requiem for a Dream A.K.A only one of the most intense yet enthralling movies I have ever laid eyes on. If I could only recommend one movie for every person to watch at some point in their life, it would have to be……. you guessed it! Toy Story 2. To be honest I don’t think many people could handle Requiem for a Dream. I watched it for the first time over 4 years ago, and here I am still in deep thought and uneasiness about what the hell I just watched. Most chatter about the film just talks about it being depressing and dismal. 

While that may be true, once you get past the dark cloud that forms above your head, you get to the heart of a twisted yet real storyline that everyone can somehow relate to. If you don’t know anything about the movie, it’s essentially the story of four drug users who continuously fall deeper into their addictions throughout the movie. 

Sounds like a basic film about substance abuse, right? So wrong. Aronofsky’s take on the formally written 1978 novel, is absolutely more than just watching people do drugs. It effectively makes you feel for and actually understand why the addicts do what they do. I think this was the first (and only) time I sat through an entire movie without thinking to myself “Oh GOD, why would they do that?!”. I was put so far into the characters’ shoes that I didn’t even question why Harry would shoot heroin up his festering wound for the third time. 

If I had the time to write an entire blog about this movie’s editing, I would. The editing is probably about 90% why such compassion is created while watching. The hyper cut scenes (which Aronofsky coined as a “Hip Hop Montage”) of drugs being prepped and taken, are what really take you into the characters’ world. The repetition of this drug abuse cycle gives you the first-hand experience of a drug user.

                    

Split scenes are also effectively used throughout the movie. The idea of having split scenes of characters who are in the same room, talking to each other, and even touching, gives me chills. It makes it feel as though they’re separate even though they’re merely inches away from one another. This fallacy of intimacy only makes you feel more sympathetic for the addicts’ downward spiraling lives. 

                                 

    

And lest we forget the soundtrack! Soundtrack is one of the most powerful elements that can make or break a movie, but just so happened to make this one even more kick-ass than it already was. The popular “Lux Aeterna” by Clint Mansel is the main song chosen for this film and has you biting your nails for the entire 3 minutes and 54 seconds of it, just in case the storyline, actors, or filming wasn’t intense enough already! 

Overall, this repulsive masterpiece truly makes you put into perspective the toll that drugs can take on not only you, but almost everyone around you. Seeing the lengths that the addict’s will go to try and fill the insatiable need for drugs is heart-wrenching and will make anyone think twice about what they’re putting in their bodies. That being said, a little popcorn never hurt nobody!! So, bust out a bag and go watch yourself some seriously sad piece of art.