Requiem for a Dream Movie Review

Requiem for a Dream (2000) is a film by Darren Aronofsky, which is incredibly complex psychologically, sad, sometimes vile, but truthful and instructive. Each person has their own dreams, someone is ready for anything to achieve them: takes risks, turns a blind eye to something, perhaps even crosses the law, or forgets about morality. Dreams are blinding, and it seems that it is already close, a little more, but suddenly one can find themselves in the abyss, falling, and not understanding what went wrong, it is good if a person can still get up. 

The Film and Its Analysis

The topic of addiction is not a pleasant one, and it is not just about drugs, a debilitating diet, diet pills, show addiction, or a thirst for big money. Probably, there is not a single person in the world who does not suffer from some kind of addiction. But they do not make us weak, but the lack of love, attention, and warmth of a loved one. The desire to please someone, to become needed, to prove something to someone makes us a little stupid, perhaps that is why we do not always choose the right path to achieve our dreams. That is why the characters in the film evoke pity, rather than condemnation (Lodge). Although the main idea of the film revolves largely around addiction, the themes are also largely layered throughout. The film questions the meaning of life and well as the idea of human functionality overall, hence, being largely effective from the psychological viewpoint.

The whole film is divided into three symbolic stages. Summer is the major the plot, Autumn, the part when it becomes clear that the characters have crossed the point of no return, and Winter, the outcome. Maybe now it will seem too banal to someone, but it is worth remembering that the film is over twenty years old, this is not the only symbolism in the film, in the last episode you can also notice some symbolism (Aronofsky; Lodge). Just as the themes, the symbolism and metaphors are also layered prominently in the film, evidencing a strong and comprehensive work by the scriptwriters, one of which was the author of the original 1978 book.

Requiem for a Dream is a film with an effective and emotional musical soundtrack. It creates a feeling of growing anxiety and a masterpiece finale that cannot leave anyone indifferent. There are only four main characters, and the actors all played wonderfully, very believably. I would like, of course, first of all, to highlight the game of Ellen Burstyn (who portrayed Sarah Goldfarb), her confession to her son, a drug addict, touches to tears, so strong was her desire and desire to earn his love and attention, to stand out somehow among her friends, it felt very good through the screen. Her son Harry in this film is played by Jared Leto, the band 30 Seconds to Mars, in which he is the vocalist, was famous at the time. Jennifer Connelly, who played his girlfriend perfectly, becomes an example that if one has rich parents, this is not a guarantee of a happy and bright future (Lodge). Aside from the aesthetic component, which is highly developed in the film, Aronofsky managed to work effectively with the set and cast to create one of the most iconic movies of the 21st century.

Conclusion

There is nothing good in this film, it seems like at the beginning some hints of something bright still slip through, but these are only dreams, dreams that are not destined to come true. After revisiting it many years later, one can feel even more strongly all the tragedy that lies in this picture. And if earlier it might have seemed that the film is about drug addiction, having matured it seems that it is more about loneliness. A film that should have been what it is, realistic, heavy, and thought-provoking about how we and many people live. Already from the name itself, it is clear that nothing good will happen in the film, but even despite this, you need to watch it, because today the film Requiem for a Dream is a classic of modern cinematography.

Works Cited

Aronofsky, Darren. Requiem for a Dream. Artisan Entertainment, 2000.

Lodge, Guy. “Requiem for a Dream at 20: Aronofsky’s Nightmare Still Haunts”. The Guardian, 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/oct/27/requiem-for-a-dream-at-20-aronofskys-nightmare-still-haunts.