Requiem for a Dream
(Roman Catholic Church)
1. A mass for a deceased person.
2. A musical composition for such a mass.
3. A hymn, composition, or service for the dead.
My boyfriend’s sister recommended this movie to me. We were eating dinner at the 99, wondering what to watch when we got home. I was tired of watching mundane movies that did reasonably well at the box office and left me feeling uninspired, so I asked her to recommend something good–really, really good. Requiem for a Dream was the first thing that came to her mind, and it sounded perfect. Dark, depressing, with excellent acting and a story that didn’t wrap up neatly at the end like a Christmas present. I couldn’t wait to watch it.
We headed to Blockbuster, happy to actually have a movie to pick out instead of roaming the “New Rentals” aisle aimlessly, cursing the fact that we’d already seen everything we actually wanted to see. Unable to find Requiem in the Drama section, though it clearly sounded like a drama, we asked a clerk to point us in the right direction, and he led us to the Sundance section. Hmmm, I thought. The Sundance Section. This movie must be no joke. (Note: I was correct. This movie is no joke.) Although the case advertised an NC-17 Director’s Cut, family-oriented Blockbuster only had the edited version available. Slightly disappointed but far from daunted, we grabbed our R-rated movie and were headed for home in under five minutes.
Now, before I go any further, I should stop, and just say this: I hate it when I know the plot of a movie before I watch it. All I want to know is who’s in it, the overall feeling of the movie, and maybe some very general generalizations about the nature of the plot. Emphasis on very general. I went into this movie knowing little to nothing about it except the cast and the tone, and I think that’s the only way to see it. So I’m not going to talk about who said what to who when and where, and why Johnny told Mary about the thing that happened the other day before they went to that place. I think it would spoil the experience of the movie, and it is an experience worthy of not being spoiled.
That said, we got home, watched the movie, and I was mesmerized. Simply mesmerized. It’s been a long time since a movie has mesmerized me. Requiem for Dream was just…for the entire movie, I was silent, completely immersed in the moment, with no clue of what was going to happen next, not really sure if I even cared about later because I was so absorbed by now. For me, this movie was the perfect combination of well-developed, interesting characters, a steadily building plot, an extremely interesting, deep, and relevant message, wonderful storytelling, and amazing direction, with camera angles you’ve probably never seen before and will never see again.
Requiem for a Dream stars Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly and Marlon Wayans, all of whom do a fantastic job. Ellen Burstyn’s performance was particularly moving. The Director’s cut is apparently more vulgar and graphic than what we saw, so the faint of heart and/or prudes may be satisfied with the edited version, although I plan to buy the Director’s Cut to see what I missed. The soundtrack is also incredible, and perfectly suits the mood of the movie. I don’t want to imitate Siskel and Roeper, or Ebert and Siskel, or Roepert and Company, so I can’t do anything with my thumbs, but I recommend this movie with the highest recommendation possible, which in my case will be a “you should really go see this movie as soon as possible if not right now.”
