requiem for a dream

The film depicts different forms of addiction, leading to the characters' imprisonment in a dream world, which is then overtaken and devastated by reality. Specifically, the mother becomes addicted to diet pills; her son, his girlfriend and his best friend become addicted to heroin.

Plot

The story's main characters are mother and son, Sara (Burstyn) and Harry Goldfarb (Leto), Harry's girlfriend Marion Silver (Connelly), and Harry's friend Tyrone C. Love (Wayans). The novel and the movie both deliberately move through three sections: Summer, Fall and Winter.

The story begins in Summer. Sara is a middle-aged woman who lives alone in an apartment in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, spending all day in front of her television watching a repetitive and insipid weight-loss infomercial, wherein the host, played by Christopher McDonald, repeatedly describes three things he did to change his life. Two of them are revealed (Abstinence from red meat & refined sugar), with the third only being heard by Mrs. Goldfarb as she slips into a drug induced stupor (in a screenshot from the movie, the third "life changer" appears to be "No Orgasm"). The sound therefore is represented as digitally distorted speech, unintelligible to the audience. Her husband Seymour is long dead and Harry only shows up at her apartment periodically to steal her television in order to finance his heroin habit.

When she receives a phone call purporting to be from Malin & Block, a television studio, her life gets a new meaning. She believes she is to be invited as a guest on a television show. The dream of being popular and sharing her luck with the whole country overwhelms her conception of reality. She wishes to be able to wear her favorite red dress on the show, a dress worn when she and her husband attended Harry's high-school graduation in happier times. After initially failing her diet, she starts taking weight-loss drugs at the recommendation of one of her friends, as well as dyeing her hair a vibrant red. She gets a prescription and starts to get pills from an irresponsible doctor. Harry later notices while visiting Sara that they might contain addictive stimulants (probably amphetamines, or uppers, as Harry calls them). He mentions this to her, and expresses concern that the pills will do more harm then good, and strongly suggests she stop using them. Sara, in an impassioned monologue, explains to Harry the unhappiness and loneliness she's felt for so many years since the passing of her husband. She explains that the weight she's lost and the chance to be on television instill her with a feeling of importance amongst her friends, that she's "somebody", and that she wishes to spread her newfound happiness to everyone. She goes on to describe how so far her life seemed to be meaningless, with no one to care for anymore, and that this chance to be on television gives her life purpose, and she now has "A reason to smile". Harry promises afterwards to come and visit more often, with Marion. On the ride home, Harry is visibly upset, but erases his despondency by shooting up.

Meanwhile, Harry and Tyrone start to earn their money as drug dealers. The profitable business and the drugs seem to be the fulfillment of dreams for Harry and Marion, who begin making serious plans to open a store to sell Marion's clothing designs. Tyrone views the sudden success as the key to ending his "Hassles", and escaping the harsh realities of the street. He also finds romantic interest, and the future looks bright.

During Fall, Sara becomes gradually more dependent & addicted to her pills, progressively increases her dosage and starts having hallucinations. The unscrupulous doctor then gives her a prescription for valium. Her hallucinations become increasingly more severe and terrifying, and she soon loses what grip she had on her life. The others' dreams burst when Tyrone is arrested, Brody, his friend and main drug source, is killed, and the money they saved is spent to keep him out of prison. After this, the attainment of drugs becomes much more difficult, as uncut heroin is no longer available from regular dealers. They resort to buying enough each day to support their growing habits, gradually forgetting about plans to buy a pound of pure heroin, and in selling it altogether. Marion and Harry lose the close relationship they had as acquisition of drugs dominates their lives, leading to Marion being forced to engage in sex with her therapist, Arnold, to earn money for a supply of drugs. The acquisition of the drugs ultimately falls through.

During the Winter, Harry and Tyrone try to break the spiral by taking a trip to Florida, where they believe heroin is in far greater quantity. During a stop to shoot up on the way South, Harry notices that the arm he injects heroin into is becoming severely infected. Despite this, he shoots into the hole that has formed, choosing to endanger himself rather than risk missing the shot in a new vein. Further along in the trip, Harry is getting seriously sick, and the infection has become markedly worse. Harry wants to call Marion, but Tyrone opts to find a hospital. After Harry checks in, the doctor realizes from the nature of his infection that he is a drug user. Despite the seriousness of Harry's medical condition, the doctor reports Harry and Tyrone to the police without providing treatment and the two are arrested. Meanwhile, Marion pays a visit to a businessman, Big Tim, who she is told has an amount of heroin that he's only parting with for sexual favors. After the encounter, Big Tim informs Marion of a party he's throwing, where she can pick up an even larger amount. At first, Marion declines the offer, but after her initial share of drugs bottoms out, she begins to reconsider. Sara is hospitalized, after a dramatic incident at the television station. While in the hospital, due to poor decisions by the staff about her state of health, Sara becomes incommunicative and is being restrained, drugged and force-fed by indifferent medical personnel. In jail, Harry uses his one phone call to finally contact Marion. The two share a heartbreaking moment of connection, both of them accepting that their relationship has been crushed by addiction, while at the same time trying to deny the cruelty of their reality.

The story climaxes in Winter as the lives and dreams of the four protagonists swiftly and cruelly collapse. Harry has to have his arm amputated in a hospital after his infection, worsened by a refusal of treatment at the hospital and a lack of medical attention in jail, leads to gangrene; Sara receives electric shock treatment and almost completely withdraws from reality; Tyrone is sent to prison, where he suffers from intense and untreated withdrawal and arduous labor at the hands of mocking, racist prison guards; and Marion attends Big Tim's party and is forced to perform degrading sex acts to get more heroin.

Following these scenes, the film concludes with a last look at the four protagonists. We see the effects of the night's events on each of them; Harry awakes in the hospital, asking for Marion. The nurse by his side assures him she'll be sent for, but Harry realizes any hope of getting her back is now gone due to the fact that his new impairment and her new "occupation" have put the final nail in the coffin for their relationship. Sara is now in a mental hospital, where she is visited by Ada and Rae. Sara's appearance--emaciated, red hair shorn to reveal the grey roots, blank stare--drives the two to tears. Tyrone is shown lying down for his first night in prison, obviously in a great deal of pain, dreaming of his long-gone mother. Marion is seen back at the apartment after the party, hugging a relatively large bag of heroin with a haunting smile of acceptance for her newfound means of acquiring drugs. We return to Sara, bedding down in the hospital, dreaming blissfully of winning the game show, and finally getting the prize she wanted most--the love of her son.

Rating

In the United States, the film was originally tagged with an NC-17 rating by the MPAA due to a scene of kinky sex in the film's finale (Marion shares a two-headed dildo as a party of businessmen cheer "Ass-to-ass!"), as well as a a brief frontal nude image of Marion. Aronofsky appealed the rating, claiming that cutting any portion of the film would dilute, if not outright destroy, its message. The appeal was denied, so Artisan decided to release the film unrated. [1] An edited version of the film was released on video, rated R. This version had the sex scene shortened, but kept the rest of the movie identical to the un-rated version. This R-rated version was only distributed in video-store chains such as Blockbuster. The edited version contains an alternate title card featuring the words "Requiem for a Dream Edited Version" ensuring that the viewer is aware that the version they are watching is not the original.

In the DVD commentary, Aronofsky implies the "ass-to-ass" scene was based on something he actually witnessed; in the book the particulars of Marion's prostitution are not described.

Themes

Requiem for a Dream belongs to the genre of the "drug movie" , along with films like Trainspotting, Spun and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. However, the film is not only about substance abuse, but also about addiction in a wider sense: the characters are variously addicted as well to television, impossible dreams, old memories, sex, or to success.

All of the characters in the movie hold on to memories of better times and long for meaningful connection with others. These, along with the fantastic dream worlds they gradually withdraw into, are violently and jarringly shattered in the film's denouement by the bleak and brutal reality of their present circumstances. The hopes they have for connection with each other and with their happier pasts give way as they are separated and subject against their wills to indifferent and exploitative treatment at the hands of strangers.

Style

As in his previous film, π, Aronofsky uses montages of extremely short shots throughout the film (sometimes termed a hip hop montage). While an average 100 minute film has around 1000 cuts, Requiem features more than 2,000. Split-screen is used extensively, along with extremely tight closeups. Long tracking shots (including those shot with an apparatus strapping a camera to an actor) and time-lapse photography are also prominent stylistic devices.

The movie's climactic scenes are cut together rapidly, and are accompanied by a score which increases in intensity. After the climax, there is a short period of serenity during which idyllic dreams of what may have been are juxtaposed with portraits of the four shattered lives.

The movie's montage style has been widely imitated and parodied since the film's release. The Simpsons parodied the effect in the episode I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can in which Homer becomes addicted to Krustyburger's new sandwich, the Ribwich; it was also aped in an episode of Drawn Together, and a commercial for Nescafé.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Clint Mansell and performed by the Kronos Quartet. It is notable for its use of sharp, 'un-vibrato-ed' string instruments to create a cold and discomforting sound from instruments frequently used for their warmth and softness (an effect pioneered in film soundtracks by Bernard Hermann).

The soundtrack has been widely praised and has subsequently been used in various forms in trailers for other films, including the The Da Vinci Code. More specifically, a version of "Lux Æterna" was re-orchestrated for The Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers trailer[2]. This version is often known as "Requiem for a Tower," but has never been commercially released, despite being featured in many popular film trailers. The song was also sampled in Lil' Jon & the East Side Boyz' album Kings of Crunk. A version of "Lux Æterna" by Fiachra Trench was featured in an Enda McCallion-directed advert for the 2006 AIB Ryder Cup.

One of the tracks, entitled "Crimin' & Dealin'" is most likely a reference to the Beastie Boys song "Rhymin' & Stealin'" from their album Licensed to Ill. In the commentary for the film, the director, Darren Aronofsky, spoke about listening to hip-hop music as a teenager, which makes the connection even more plausible.

The soundtrack was used by AIB Bank in Ireland in their advert to highlight their sponsorship of the 2006 Ryder Cup, and the film's haunting ending string portion has been used by NASCAR when depicting the two events at Talladega Superspeedway.

Tracklisting

Summer

1. Summer Overture
2. Party
3. Coney Island Dreaming
4. Party II
5. Chocolate Charms
6. Ghost Of Things To Come
7. Dreams
8. Tense
9. Dr. Pill
10. High On Life
11. Ghosts
12. Crimin' & Dealin'
13. Hope Overture
14. Tense II
15. Bialy & Lox Conga

Fall

1. Cleaning Apartment
2. Ghosts Falling
3. Dreams II
4. Arnold
5. Marion Barfs
6. Supermarket Sweep
7. Dreams III
8. Sara Goldfarb Has Left The Building
9. Bugs Got A Devilish Grin Conga

Winter

1. Winter Overture
2. Southern Hospitality
3. Fear
4. Full Tense
5. The Beginning Of The End
6. Ghosts Of A Future Lost
7. Meltdown
8. Lux Aeterna
9. Coney Island Low

Remixed Soundtrack

Tracklisting

1. Clint Mansell - Tappys Intro (Film Score)
2. Plant - In The End Its All Nice
3. Psilonaut - Ghosts In The Machine
4. Paul Oakenfold - Aeternal (6:50)
5. Clint Mansell - Seacoast Towers (Film Score)
6. Jagz Kooner - Coney Island Express
7. Clint Mansell - Seacoast Alarm (Film Score)
8. Wish FM - Haunted Dreams
9. Kronos Quartet - Tense
10. Josh Wink - Full Tense
11. Clint Mansell - Food (Film Score)
12. Delerium - Deluxed
13. Clint Mansell - Island (Film Score)
14. A Guy Called Gerald - Body And Fear
15. Clint Mansell - 112 (Film Score)
16. Ils - Overturned
17. Clint Mansell - Sara (Film Score)
18. Hive - Hand Jive
19. Clint Mansell - Arnold (Film Score)
20. Clint Mansell - Ghosts (Vocal Version)

Cast

Trivia

• A scene from the anime Perfect Blue is referenced shot for shot, within a similar thematic context in Requiem for a Dream. The scene is where Mima / Marion is curled up naked in a bathtub and both characters yell underwater. Thematically the two scenes are similar because both characters in the scenes are mentally distressed over being the subject of sexual exploitation in both films. Darren Aronofsky purchased the U.S. remake rights to Perfect Blue for $59,000 and is in current ownership. [3]
• Giovanni Ribisi was the original choice of Darren Aronofsky to play Harry Goldfarb. The reason for this was his resemblance to the look of Harry in the novel (I.E., curly blond hair). [4]
• Because of the movie's graphic nature and depiction of the destruction drugs can cause, it is often shown in rehabilitation clinics to former addicts.

External links

• Official website
• Darren Aronofsky Requiem fansite
• Requiem for a Dream at the Internet Movie Database
• Toy Story 2: Requiem - mashup of Toy Story 2 and Requiem for a Dream