Requiem for a Dream [US Import] [Blu-ray] [Region A]

If I were you, I wouldn't read too much into the anti-drugs message. It sounds strange, but if you try too hard to find the message behind the film, you will miss the true impact, which lies not as an implicit "drugs are dangerous" ploy, but as the emotional reactions of the main characters as the find themselves in worse and worse scenarios. The film delivers no real clean-cut message, but simply tells the stories of the four characters, and is far more memorable for it.The performances from the leads are absolutely exceptional. Jared Leto suited the role down to the details, Jennifer Connelly was utterly believable in the conversion from sweetheart to whore; their relationship is never less than completely authentic and very emotional. The best performance, however, came from Ellen Burstyn, as the mother addicted to game shows and dieting. A phenomenal speech about her dieting to her son while on pills containing amphetamines shows just how convincing she is, as she manages to convey despondency, grief and hope, all with a frenetic twist to make the scene incredibly hard-hitting. The actors have a brilliant script to work with, the film is brilliantly directed by Aronofsky, and the stylised filmsing is inventive without ever seeming crass or distasteful. Not many directors could handle a fridge coming to life without making it seem laughably improbable.The storyline itself, however, is where the film gains its heart - and its true impact - from. It is flawless, and the climax of the film shows with sickening vivdness the four characters' dreams collapse once and for all; the electroconvulsive treatment, the bloody ampuation, the racial abuse/withdrawal symptons and the graphic sex all come together to give a heart- and stomach-rending finale to the film.The film is exceptional in almost all aspects, and contains some of the best acting I have seen in a long time. The score has become famous, and rightly so. This film cannot fail to move you deeply, as you see the plight of the characters in vivd detail. The DVD is OK, with enough special features, but it doesn't honestly matter when the film is so very powerful.

It's 2015 now, and I've only just seen this. So this review is that far out of date. Having seen Trainspotting, Limitless and others like, 'H', how does this 'drug' movie compare. This stands out on its own. There's no comparison to Trainspotting, but I wouldn't say this is a superior movie at all, Trainspotting is more depressing than this and had a much better soundtrack. This is just beautifully surreal and more about pure addiction -b/c the other person (Ellen Burstyn) is addicted to diet pills - as fed to her by the TV advertisers who are addicted to consumers who are in-turn addicted to consumption and around in circles we go as the tax payers foot the hospital bills. One thing I would say too, is that this is called Requiem for a Dream, and not Requiem from a dream - I think that's a crucial thing too.Ellen Burstyn is trying to lose weight. She sees this show on tv and gets addicted to it, and what it's offering. She starts taking four different coloured diet pills. But before she knows it, she's hooked and her life slowly but surely turns upside down. I loved the fridge with the teeth scene. Then we have junkies Jennifer Connolly, pretty boy Jared Leto (who lost massive amounts of weight to play the part) and the super cool Marlon Wayans. Their lives slowly come apart as the drugs mess with their heads. They think they can stay in control. But it never works out that way and we get to see the consequences right here.This movie is more about consumption addiction, as well as plain old drug addiction. As well as showing the downside in a horrible way of how drugs can screw you up in every way. I've previously worked in an A&E, and I've seen first hand what this movie shows. It wasn't pleasant to say the least.But this movie was fantastic to watch, even though it was harrowing and surreal. I am glad I bought it, and will watch it many times over. The other thing is I found that this is not preachy in any way, it's the least formulaic or documentary sort of thing, 'the dangers of drugs' etc. there's none of that at all. This was an experience watching the movie, like there is drinking too much booze, the movie itself is like a drug, we watch it, it effects us, and we discuss it in a profound way. But it's just a movie. It's not bad for our health in the same sense as the subject matter of it.The manic nature of the close-ups of Burstyn scenes and how the TV penetrates every aspect of our lives, locked in every corner in every fornt room, in every household - is that TV - with its advertising. The sense of panic generated in the faces of the addicts is something to behold. We see in graphic detail of a dead vein in Leto's arm, we see the things they have to do to get a hit and a fix. The sweating, the compulsion, the obsessiveness of them and how they eventually lose it.We are the consumer, being consumed. I could go on and on.... but will stop there...it's painful and harrowing to watch, but enjoy.