Requiem for a Dream

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🎙️ EPISODE 705: 04.20.23 ραɾƚ σϝ ƚԋҽ DARREN ARONOFSKY ԃιɾҽƈƚσɾ ϝσƈυʂ ʂҽɾιҽʂ I hadn't seen this in probably 20+ years and my only lasting memory of it was that A) it was comically bleak, and B) "ass to ass." Of course, B is a reflection A, and both recollections proved to still be true distillations of the movie as a whole. What I was in search of this go-around was some deeper meaning behind the vivid, ultra-depressing descent suffered by all four major characters, beyond some kind of "End of the 90s" sophomoric bullshit. But Requiem for a Dream, released 10 months before 9/11, doesn't really offer much beyond the surface-level hell it presents from start to finish (even the "positive" second act is laced with dread, as everything good is only happening as a result of drugs/drug use). In some sense, Requiem could be seen as the fitting punctuation on the mid-to-late 90s "drug movie" craze (The Basketball Diaries, Trainspotting, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, among others).

But what do I know? I am a squirrel™ I think it's rare, for me anyway, that a film registers as too pessimistic (in general) because I can be kind of a Debbie Downer and I can appreciate the dark shit as much as the next guy. So an even bigger complaint from me would have to be the acting by the two dudes of the film: Jared Leto and to a lesser extent Marlon Wayans. Both are such weird casting choices in retrospect and the former's NY accent is so gratingly bad, it ruins nearly every scene he's in, which is a lot of them. Jennifer Connelly — one ass of the aforementioned "ass to ass" connection — does an admirable job working primarily alongside Leto and in, let's say, "interesting" scenarios.

The absolute 100% bar-none reason this is successful at all is the performance and arc of Ellen Burstyn's Sara Goldfarb character. Nominated for an Oscar but losing to Julia Roberts (Erin Brockovich), this is really one for the ages. I suppose, we needed to have her son (Leto) there, as its essential to the contour of her plight, but I would have watched 90 minutes of just Burstyn, her nutty Coney Island apartment building neighbors, a haunted refrigerator and the constant pixelated drone-sermons from the great Chris McDonald in the role of TV infomercial guide / gameshow host / self-help huckster, Tappy Tibbons (that name alone...). Somehow, this whole insular and demented world was much weirder than I remembered. It's awesome, both visually and conceptually. It's hard to make something so strange that also has heart but Burstyn/Aronofsky pull it off remarkably, making you feel something deep and real for Sara in spite of the outlandish and flashy exterior.

Unfortunately, we still have to check in with Leto/Wayans and their heroin-addled quandary. And, as tough as it is to watch, it's also equally as uninteresting. Drugs are bad, etc.

CHRONOLOGICALLY
⫷ EPISODE 704 - (YOU ARE HERE) - EPISODE 706 ⫸

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Requiem for a Dream is a 2000 American psychological drama film directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher McDonald, and Marlon Wayans. It is based on the 1978 novel of the same name by Hubert Selby Jr., with whom Aronofsky wrote the screenplay. The film depicts four characters affected by drug addiction and how it alters their physical and emotional states. Their addictions cause them to become imprisoned in a world of delusion and desperation. As the film progresses, each character deteriorates, and their reality is overtaken by delusion, resulting in catastrophe. It was released on May 14, 2000.