Jared Leto, Marlon Wayans, Jennifer Connelly and Ellen Burstyn all star in this incredibly painful film about four people who are chemically dependent. When the film begins, the first three folks are all using heroin yet seem to be reasonably functional. Over the course of the film, their lives begin to disintegrate badly. At the same time, Burstyn plays an older woman who becomes addicted to amphetamines because of an irresponsible doctor who tosses out pills like candy...and she goes from a relatively normal lady to someone who seems like she's crossed over the line from sanity to oblivion.

"Requiem for a Dream" is an exceptional movie and there's nothing else like it. However, it's a film that I am happy did not spur on other similar films, as it's also a visual assault on the senses and very difficult to watch...and I would hate to see film after film made like this Darren Aronofsky project. Using rapid intercutting (far, far more than normal) of scenes, fisheye lenses, exaggerated sound effects, shaking lenses, multipanes, television characters that come popping out of the screen and other strange gimmicks, he makes the viewer feel as if they, too, are stuck in the throes of addiction and, eventually, insanity! It's mesmerizing as well as unpleasant...and it's appropriately so considering the subject matter. In fact, I don't think a better film has ever been made about the hellishness of addiction...it sure captures it in all its vivid awfulness!

In addition to the incredibly clever use of all these films techniques, the movie has a lot going for it. The script, though very episodic, works well...and is made all the better thanks to some amazing performances, particularly by Burstyn. My only complaint about the film, and it's very minor, is that Jennifer Connelly is just way too pretty to be playing a woman who is that addicted. Sure, over time she falls apart...but she still looks model beautiful during most of the film. She would have been better looking skankier...or an uglier actress might have worked better!

So who would I recommend should see this film? Well, anyone who loves films and longs for something different should certainly see the film. Also, despite all the nudity, violence, vomiting and nastiness, I actually recommend parents consider showing it to their kids (especially if the teens have begun dabbling in drugs or thing it looks cool or fun). It will do far more to discourage them from using drugs than any pat message or sermonizing!! It shows drugs in all its sleazy awfulness....no holds barred. I challenge you to find a film THIS difficult to watch and effective when it comes to presenting the effects of drugs. I am not sure how the film received an R rating, as it seems more like something that should be NC-17. Horrible to watch...especially as the film progresses, so don't say you weren't warned!! By the end, I was in tears...

I should note that the Etc (electro-convulsive therapy) they show in the film is similar to the type done decades ago. They do NOT do shock treatment like this today and it is a relatively benign sort of treatment for folks who simply won't respond to other treatments for depression...thank goodness.

Requiem For A Dream is one of the most depressing films I've ever seen in my life. These poor people from two generations are a lot like Anthony Quinn in Requiem For A Heavyweight. As a boxer Quinn in that film saw his career at an end and faced a very unpromising future. These people have no future at all.

I certainly recognized the Coney Island/Brighton Beach area of Brooklyn, an area of projects and an amusement area that has seen better days. Like Atlantic City, some in Coney Island eventually see casino gambling as the gimmick for a rebirth. If you see Requiem For A Dream, imagine it in that kind of Las Vegas type setting.

At one time Brighton Beach was a template for a working class Jewish paradise of sort with families housed in apartments that partially built with the backing of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union. Back when I was doing senior citizens crime claims at New York State Crime Victims Board, I can't tell you the number of claims from men and women who listed a small ILGWU pension as part of their income from that area. Such a woman is Ellyn Burstyn playing Sara Goldfarb.

Things haven't gone right for her. As the neighborhood decayed, so did her life and family. Her one son Jared Leto, a promising kid at one time is now a hopeless addict with an addict girlfriend in Jennifer Connelly and an addict best friend in Marlon Wayans.

I've known a few junkies in my time also. After a while they only have one thing on their mind, their particular addiction of choice and how to service it. Even if they want to rise in the dope trade business, they haven't got a head for business any longer.

Which in a nutshell is the position of Leto and Wayans with Connelly in support figuring her own habit can be taken care of by following their lead. Of course its disaster all around.

As for Ellyn Burstyn she gained Requiem For A Dream's only Academy Award recognition with a nomination for Best Actress. She's not just clueless about her son, she's caught up in her own chemical dependency. She dreams of her 10 minutes of fame on some daytime quiz show and gets herself nicely hooked on diet pills. Unlike her son, she does have some memories of better days and talks about them with her peers on the benches outside the apartments.

I recognized a lot of the Brighton Beach/Coney Island area of Brooklyn where this was all shot on location. Requiem For A Dream is a sad film about sad people, definitely one to bring you down from any kind of high you might be on.

I like Darren Aronofsky, and Requiem for a Dream is one of his better and I think his most powerful film. I love the style in which it is filmed, there are lots of split-screen technique, exaggerated sound effects and huge close ups, and all these manage to be stylishly used. The music is stunning too, Aronofsky directs superbly and the script is brutal and very honest. Requiem for a Dream has one underlying theme, the creeping menace of addiction, this theme is explored in a lot of forms and with chilling and compelling effect. Not only that, the highs and lows of drug-taking are conveyed. The story is hard-hitting, moving and draws you in and the characters feel real. The acting helps with this, Ellen Burstyn is amazing and gives one of the best performances of the decade. Jared Leto and Jennifer Connelly are also excellent, and Marlon Wayans I think hasn't been better. In conclusion, a powerful film, while not all people may like it it is for me one of the most important films on this subject. 9/10 Bethany Cox