Requiem for a Dream (DVD)

When I was encouraged to watch 'Requiem For A Dream' by another member of DooYoo, I honestly didn't expect anything as visually stunning or heart rendering as the reality. In simple terms, the film is about the effects of drug abuse on a select few people. It follows the lives of these people and captivates you in every sense, by showing certain aspects through their eyes. The battle with the phycological and physical dependence on the drugs which have destroyed the lives of the characters, and the ending which the viewer is submitted to, is shocking enough so that it puts you off drugs for life. The characters are generally very well played by the actors, and almost a ...  Read the complete review

This is a film I came across during a standard trip to my local video shop about three years ago. I had heard good things about the film and was aware that it was a little unconventional, which suits me fine. 'Requiem For A Dream' takes a fresh and raw look at the lives of four addicts of different sorts and how their addictions fuel their own minds delusion as well as exposing just how much they are prepared to degrade themselves in order to attempt to satisfy unattainable goals. Ellen Burstyn, puts in a terrific performance in the twilight of her acting career, playing Sara Goldfarb, a woman whose solitary life is changed by the offer to appear on ...  Read the complete review

I felt compelled to write a review of Requiem For A Dream simply because it blew me away. I had vaguely heard of it for a while; I knew that it was about drugs, it was supposedly good, and that was about it. However, I recently stumbled across it on my trusted font of cinematic knowledge, IMDb, and discovered that not only is it by the director of Pi (another critically acclaimed film); not only is the director, Darren Aronofsky, married to Rachel Weisz; not only is he the guy who's made The Fountain (that film which got booed off at the Venice Film Festival); but that it was also voted as one of the top 58 films of all time. I also read that the last fifteen minutes of ...  Read the complete review

Requiem for a Dream is not a film for the faint-hearted. If you are offended by graphic scenes of drug use, exploitative sex, or mental and physical breakdowns, this is not a film that you would want to watch or enjoy watching. Similarly, strong language is frequent and it certainly deserves its 18 certificate. That said, this film is stylistically brilliant, and contains a plot that draws so many elements of modern living into sharp focus. Essentially a story of addiction, Requiem follows several story lines ranging from the ubiquitous to the extreme. It should be pointed out that the film was born from the book of the same name, written by Hubert Selby ...  Read the complete review

"Requiem for a Dream" is an experiment which, unhappily, doesn't quite come off, an all-too-predictable downer which isn't salvaged by the director's effortful razzmatazz. The script derived by Hubert Selby, Jr., and Aronofsky from the former's novel focuses on four doomed characters: Sara Goldfarb (Ellen Burstyn), an aging Brooklyn widow who obsessively watches what appears to be a cross between a game-show and a self-improvement infomercial on the television in her dingy flat near Coney Island; her dissolute son Harry (Jared Leto), who alternately uses drugs and tries to market them at a profit; Harry's girlfriend Marion (Jennifer ...  Read the complete review