Rating: 
Summary: "You should tell me when I'm going to be on television."
Review: "Requiem for a Dream" is 102 minutes of pure hell, torture, agony, sadness, and pain. And yet.... I loved every minute. This is filmmaking at its best. This is a film that wasn't made for the sole purpose of making money, hence why this is not a "Hollywood Movie." Directed by the man who brought you "Pi," Darren Aronofsky, "Requiem for a Dream" is about how the path to happiness and success isn't always the right one, and how some people are willing to do just about anything to get it.The main focus of this film is addiction. We are presented the day and life of addicts and what they go through when they either have their fix or don't. Harry, his girlfriend Marion, and his best friend Tyron, are drug addicts. They need their fix 24:7. And when they don't get it, the results are pretty bad. They come up with a scheme to sell cheaper drugs for more money so they can purchase more drugs and purer drugs. To them, this is how they can succeed. If they save enough money, they can purchase the better life. Well, that better life is going to come with a price tag, and the price isn't money. The more they use, the more they need. And the more they need, the more desperate they become, doing whatever it takes to get their next fix. The film isn't only about drug addiction. It's about addiction in general. Anything can become an addiction. Take for instance Sara Goldfarb, Harry's lonely mother. Her fix is chocolate, sugar, and television. When she gets a call that tells her she has been chosen to appear on television at a later date, she immediately runs for her red dress. Unfortunately, with the passing years that have endured her life, she doesn't quite fit into it anymore. So she goes to a doctor and gets a variety of diet pills. They make her peppy and hyper. But soon, she's adapted to them, and she wants more. The more she takes, the more brutal affect it has on her body and mind. For these characters, what seems to be the path to absolute happiness turns into a gut-wrenching nightmare. The last 15-20 minutes are the minutes you will NEVER get out of your head, no matter how hard you try and no matter how hard you want to forget them. I was so blown away by this movie. I had heard so many good things about it and after seeing "Pi," I knew that it was something I would have to see soon. The movie may be pure hell and torture to watch, but it is done in such a brilliant and enriching way. The camera movements, shots, and cuts are all so well-executed. Aronofsky uses his camera techniques to get you right inside of all of the characters' heads, allowing us to experience exactly what they are going through. People have complained about how all over the place the camera is during the movie, but the whole point is to make you go through exactly what the characters are going through. It also shows us how fast a fix can take place and how short it is lived. It wouldn't had been effective if it were done in any other way. The acting was great. Ellen Burstyn is so great in her role as Harry's mother. I don't think there's anyone else who could've gotten the job done. Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, and Marlon Wayans are also terrific in their roles. You could tell that they were absolutely determined to get their characters down in order to make the story work. As disturbing and unsettling as this movie is, I feel it is an important one for people to see. Sure it's unrated, but this is something I think they should make mandatory viewing for junior highs and high schools. Anyone who is thinking of using or experimenting with drugs really needs to see this movie. I'm sure they'll have second thoughts. I myself have never done drugs, and seeing this movie reinforces the fact that I will never, ever do drugs. EVER. The DVD is great and really does the movie justice. (The menu's hilarious. It really had me fooled. I know some of the other reviews gave it away, but I'm not going to. You'll see what I mean when you get to it.) The picture and sound quality is sharp and breathtaking. Some of the extra features are commentary, making-of documentary, deleted scenes, "Anatomy of a Scene," trailers, and much more. I know I've said this before about some other movies, but I think this time it's going to stick: This is possibly the most disturbing movie I have ever seen in my entire life. Be warned, this is not a happy film to watch. You're going to go through hell and back. You're going to feel pain, sadness, and sickness. You're going to want to turn it off, but deep down something is keeping you from doing so. As disturbing as this movie is, it is an important one to watch. "Requiem Dream" is a beautiful nightmare, and a trip worth taking.
Rating:
Summary: A Beautifully Disturbing Classic
Review: Anyone who seriously dislikes this film is without the ability to feel. I will stand by that whole-heartedly until someone can tell me why I'm wrong. If not, they're just squeamish. Requiem is a glimpse of what happens when hope clouds the mind and narrows one's line of sight. The message of the film, much misinterpretted by the majority of the reviewers on this site, is not blatantly anti-drug. All four protagonists are driven by dreams, working toward happiness the only way they know how. None of them stops to think about the means by which they are trying to get there; the ends they desire will justify anything they have to do along the way. Or will they? Aronofsky's cinematography is fantastic. His "hip hop montages" that string together the parallel plots are aurally and visually refreshing, although semi-reminiscient of Pi's pill-popping sequences. The soundtrack is gorgeous and deeply moving, most notably the chilling "Summer Overture" that begins and ends the film. Everything about the movie is beautiful. Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, and Jennifer Connelly pull off their parts superbly. Hell, Marlon Wayans is surprisingly incredible as Ty, Harry(Leto)'s right hand man. I can't say enough about the quality of this film. There are scenes that, no matter how often I replay them, strike a chord within me that brings a wave of tears to my eyes. The emotion is the real star of the story. Do yourself a favor and watch it. If you are not deeply moved, scarred, or changed by it in any way, please tell me how, because I simply cannot understand.
Rating:
Summary: THE BEST MOVIE EVER MADE
Review: IF ANIBODY HERE IS A DRAMA CINEMATIC FAN, YOU WOULD FEEL IDENTIFY WITH THIS FILM. THE CAMERA WORK ARE WONDERFUL, INCREDIBLE THE EDITION DON'T HAVE ANY ERROR THE PERFOMANCES ARE REALLY TREMENDOUS THIS MOVIE IS LIKE A ROLLECOSTER RIDE OF EMOTIONS (YOU NEVER STOP TO BE AMAZED) DEFINITLY THIS MOVIE REFLECT THE CRUEL REALITY OF THE ADDICTION IN EVERY AREA OF LIFE
IN WICH THE END OF THIS ROLLECOSTER IS THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOWS, THIS WOULB BE THE BEST ENDING, BECAUSE THE OTHER ONE IS THE DEAD
Rating:
Summary: Brutal, Effective, and VERY Memorable......
Review: Requiem For A Dream is just one of those movies. It is one of those movies that sticks with you for days, weeks, months, and years after you watch it. As you watch it, you become hypnotized and can't think of anything but this blur of images pounding on your brain, one image after another. It is an experience like no other.
Requiem For A Dream, based on the novel by Hubert Selby Jr., is the story of 4 people; A woman, her son, his girlfriend, and his best friend. This woman, Sarah Goldfarb, played amazingly by Ellen Burstyn, is the lonely, T.V. addicted mother of Harry Goldfarb, played by Jared Leto, a drug addict who wants to make it big in the dealing business, Tyrone C. Love, played surprisingly well by Marlon Wayans, his best friend and partner in crime who misses his dear mother, and Harry's girlfriend Marion Silver, played well, as usual, by Jennifer Connolly, a severely depressed artist who plans on starting her own business. During the summer, everything was perfect; Harry and Tyrone were making hard cash, Marion had ideas for her store, and Sarah had a place in the sun outside with the other old ladies of the apartment building. Life was sublime. Total bliss. Then Sarah recieves a phone call from her favorite game show, which says that she is going to become a contestant. She is very excited, not knowing that she will never ACTUALLY be on the show. She decides she is going to wear her favorite red dress but cannot fit into it. After several diets, she decides to try diet pills. Then comes the winter. Harry and Tyrone's business is failing due to a shortage of drugs and money to buy drugs. The money gradually disappears, and everything falls apart. Now Harry, Tyrone, and Sarah are all hopelessly addicted and dependent on drugs. Marion is performing sexual favors for people in order to make money for Harry's business. All this leads up to a disturbing and shocking conclusion. This movie is truly a masterpiece. This movie is the one thing that really convinced me, never in my life, to do drugs. Not some cartoon they might show you in health class, or one of those pointless "this is your brain on drugs" commercials. A remarkable film. Truly remarkable. Requiem For A Dream (Unrated Version)
Released in 2000
Starring Jared Leto, Ellen Burstyn, Jennifer Connolly, and Marlon Wayans
Rated R for intense depiction of drug addiction, graphic sexuality, strong language and some violence.
Originally rated NC-17, uncut version is UNRATED.
Rating:
Summary: Blistering, Brutal, and In Your Face!
Review: This film should be required viewing in high schools and colleges across the country to show young people the consequences of using and abusing drugs. Does this film have a point? Hell yes, it does: THIS IS WHAT DRUG ADDITION CAN DO TO YOU! As our society tries its hardest to whitewash and sugarcoat the negative effects of drug addition ("Say no to drug [yawn]"), this film provides the most realistic depiction I've ever seen of the ugly consequences of shooting up and popping pills. It can either kill you or make you wish you were dead. This film boasts 4-star performances across the board from Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Marlan Wayans and Jennifer Connelly. Kudos to director Darren Aronofsky and Artisan Entertainment for greenlighting it. I hope to see more realistic films like this made in the future.
Rating: 
Summary: An Intense & Disturbing Ride
Review: 'Requiem For A Dream' is one of the many films that I have been wanting to see for a long time. It must be because of the wild controvercy surrounding the film. To tell you the truth, I have not seen Darren Aronofsky's other films, but, after seeing 'Requiem', I'll try to get a hold of his other movies (such as Pi). His directing style is very chaotic, but seems to flow very well with all of the Frightening things that are happening on screen. I have got to agree, with other viewers, that the last 20 minutes of the film is the most Shocking scenes you will see in a movie, for a while. The film starts out easy, giving us tame shots of what each character goes through to get their daily 'fix' or to make their 'wishes' come true, but as the film runs along, be ready. Also, speaking of Performances, the actors and the actresses are Excellent! In particular, Ellen Burstyn. She handles her role (Sara) very well. In one part of the film, she is talking with her son (Harry) and just explaining what it is that makes her 'smile'. That scene is very heartbreaking, where we notice that she just wants to be loved.
The supporting cast (Jared Leto, Marlon Wayans & Jennifer Connelly) are Outstanding. They capure their characters in a way that is very real. Each of them put their best performances forward, and it showed, GREATLY. Worth mentioning is the Effects of the film. It's a star all on it's own. Filled with strobe lights, handheld cameras, quick editing and split screens, these effects really highten the theme of the film of being in a high or hallucination. After watching 'Requiem For A Dream' I have noticed that even though it's Shocking and Scary, it's at times Beautiful. Each of the characters wanted to get something out of life and that is what they got, but they paid in a high price. Overall, the main message of the film, as we all know by now is DON'T DO DRUNGS.
Rating: 
Summary: Soley Toying With Depressing Emotions
Review: First, If you are going to show this movie to someone warn them what it is about. Let me also be a bit critical of previous reviewers. The camara work in it was just as any camara work would be in a movie like this, nothing spectacular. For good camara work I recommend The Graduate or Psycho. It also only plays on the depressing emotions. In that respect it's like What Lies Beneath in which the whole movie is a series of cliff hangers. This movie's sole purpose is to bring out the bad of drugs but in the most depressing way possible, and to play that emotion out in the viewer. That alone doesn't make for a great movie. See the Basketball Diaries, which is this movie, just toned down, and actually better. This is the type of movie where I would have been better off to not have watched it. There are only two movies I know of like that, this being one of them. This seems to be the formula for what it takes to be a good movie today: Pick an emotion (whichever) and play on it as much as one can in 2 hours. I just happen to disagree.
Rating:
Summary: Commentary on the assortment of opiates for the masses
Review: Requiem for a Dream was not only a commentary on the chemical addiction which plague a minority of the US's population, but rather on the large scale addiction which plagues the country as a whole - television. The woman was addicted to tv (there was not one moment in which my disbelief was not suspended - proof of the first calibre acting which swept this movie along). She saw herself in a distorted light not only on the tv but in her waking world as well (when she was not sitting in front of her addiction) . . . the lengths to which she wanted to merge with that medium (dieting) are seen in many examples in our own waking worlds - how many people do we know who have eating disorders? They are more out there than they let on. TV is a drug. Through excellent directing and surreal cinematography (sp?) the screen appeared to shriek at the viewer while the actors were tormented in their own fantasy worlds. TV and drugs are not community binding for the actors were protrayed as individuals with their own problems from which there was no support from any outside party. They were alienated from society, social rejects. (The authorities in the film never related to the characters as people, but rather as objects taking up space). In television there is a perfect world which does not reflect our waking realities, people watch it and yet, truly, what do they get from it? A thirty-minute to an hour high from which they come down when they realize that they're hungry. Is a sitcom truly different from heroin...or coke? Which one is the more productive, the most longer lasting, the most worthy to society.
None of them.
Think about it.
Rating:
Summary: Sad, tragic and memorable
Review: One of the saddest films I have seen in recent years is this film with an outstanding performance from Ellen Burstyn. A movie that shows the real tragedy of drugs and doesn't leave anything to the imagination. It had me thinking for days afterwards. A must-see for those who like to count their blessings!
Rating:
Summary: A 5-Star Deterrent to Using
Review: Requiem for a Dream may be the kind of movie appreciated for its effective camera techniques, but it's not the kind of movie one likes, at least not in the sense of liking a feel-good, thrill ride, or big-fun kind of a movie. Requiem for a Dream is, at its core, about the horror of drug addiction and the degradation of the using life. Only the purist masochist would choose this life if he knew what it held in store for him. The characters in this tale unwittingly go down the gradual but steady road to hell and complete derelection, a decline that becomes more steep and takes on greater speed until it hits its inevitable bottom. Take the most intense moments of Leaving Las Vegas, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and Jacob's Ladder, and roll them all up into one to get an idea of the movie's climax. Thank God this is the edited edition. I can't imagine how much more sordid the director's cut is. Requiem is a modern-day object lesson for those who would glamorize drug addiction and its captives. The subject matter is quite grim, and on its own, the story is not particularly original. What gives Requiem its appeal to critical acclaim is the incredibly effective camera techniques that director Darren Aronofsky gives this work. Truly, it is an elegant piece of work in the way that many have called Einstein's Theory of Relativity "elegant"; once you see it written down, it's so obvious, so clear, so simple. And so dead on the money. In fact, Aronofsky's effective filming of the story to bring to life, for the viewer, what it feels like to be caught up in that drug-addicted hell, is so perfect and so right-on that it must have already been done, but I can't remember when or where. For students of film making, this movie is a definite must see. For those pondering the idea of relapse, this movie may very well take the wind out of your sails, and for that reason alone, it is worth the price of admission.
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