Requiem for a Dream

Well... that was just... strange.

The only reason I heard about this movie was because of the main theme of the movie. Its a really great theme.

If you haven't heard it here it is. Here you go

But don't worry, you will hear this song about a billion times throughout the course of this movie. And much like the song, going on and on and not really changing the tone, that's kind of how this movie turned out.

The movie follows the story of 4 characters. There's Harry (played by Jared Leto), his mother Sara (Played by Ellen Burstyn), his friend, Tyrone (played by Marlon Wayans) and his girlfriend, Marion (played by Jennifer Connolly).

All four characters find themselves falling into a world of addiction to something. For Sara its for dieting pills, for Harry, Tyrone, and Marion... well its a lot of hardcore drugs. They do so much shit in this movie its hard to keep track of.

Well Harry and Tyrone find themselves in a scheme to sell drugs and make a lot of money, which they do. The beginning of this movie reminds me of the early seasons of Breaking Bad where Jesse and his friends are dealing drugs. They get a lot of money and a lot of drugs that they all eventually get addicted to.

On the other side of the story, you have Sara who receives a very generic phone call saying she's going to be on her favorite television show. She gets very excited because he life is very lonely and she wants some excitement. She becomes very preoccupied with fitting into a dress but she is slightly overweight. A doctor prescribes her what Harry finds out are uppers and downers. She gets addicted to them, shit goes down.

Its kind of hard to describe this movie because as simple of a concept it is, its really complex and delves into the life of addicts and drug trafficking and consumption.

But damn this movie takes a really trippy, dark, and uncomfortable turn.

The main focus of the movie is really the cinematography. The most iconic shots are the ones taken when the drugs are being taken. They're quick flashes of a lighter being flicked on, the eyes widening, things like that and then it does a lot of speeding up and slowing down. I wish I could give the technical terms for all the cinematography in this movie but as I have stated before, I'm not that kind of expert.

But I do know how the stunning visual contribute to the story, a story that is not your conventional story. There are basically three acts to the movie: Summer, Fall, and Winter. Summer, everything goes really well, the drugs seem to have good effects on the characters. Fall comes in, things get tough, addictions are forming and they start doing more desperate things to feed the addiction. Then Winter comes and all hell breaks loose. It gets really trippy and just really dark.

There is little to no comic relief in this movie, especially not in the later acts of the movie. The only chuckle I got out of this movie was from two things. Keith David (but only for a minute of recognition... because he's a really dark part of the movie) and the idea that if you take away the dark music and dark lighting, this movie could have turned out a lot differently.

Which really speaks to the purpose behind this movie. Its an art film. I think it sacrifices a really story heavy script more for the visuals and imagery.

Now if that's your thing, you might watch Requiem For a Dream about a billion times and just revel in the cinematography and just how the movie is made. If you're not, chances are you really only need to see this movie once (if that) and you'll be good.

I don't know if I'd recommend this movie to anybody unless I knew they were really into the type of movie it is. If you want to see an incredibly visually striking and kind of hauntingly dark movie, then Requiem for a Dream is your movie. Just know you will come out of that movie in a complete funk from all the depressing shit in this movie.

So have you seen Requiem For a Dream? What did you think? Let me know. Maybe I'm missing something from this movie.

I'll leave you with this, its proof that the theme of this movie makes everything epic.