Requiem for a Dream

[MarcusGHedwig]

Hilariously late to the party on this one, but I just watched this for the first time last night on a whim, what a roller coaster ride. I thought it was incredibly well-shot and directed, with countless really effective and memorable scenes and sequences - but at the same time, I also am a newcomer to the genre (Traffic is really the only similar "drug dangers" movie I've seen), so I'm interested in just getting you guys' impressions on it, cuz it sure hit me hard (that climactic torture montage, holy fuck).

I've been scouring reviews of it this morning, and critical consensus seems to be divided - many feel it's an overly visceral exploitation flick without much character development, and while I thought they defined pretty well the mother's situation, I agree that it would've been nice to learn more about the "dreams" the kids had (which we're witnessing the "Requiem" for, har har) and the circumstances that led them to their lives of desperation (we only get one recurring shot of Marlon Wayans as a kid having a kinda vague moment with his mother, for example, and we don't really learn much of anything about Harry, though at least for Marion they mention her estranged relationship with her financially but not emotionally supportive parents).

But that said, I can also see how they wouldn't necessarily need some horrible trauma or shittiness in their lives to try smack (and all the other drugs they do), just boredom and the availability of drugs, and then just getting hooked in a purely physical way after their binge summer. And also, I know a girl who dated a Russian guy in Brooklyn (and lived with him and a couple of others in his illegal basement apartment/drug-den for a summer) who from how she described him was probably very similar to Harry (he even had a single Mom who was apparently few cards short of a deck) - overall an ok guy, but apparently just a total fucking junkie for all manner of vices, chiefly heroin (and they even lived near Coney Island) leading a bleak life of quiet desperation, so it's certainly not beyond the realm of possibility.

So yeah, sound off guys!

 

[Sloan]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0138704/

I remember the guy at the video store saying he heard/read that Darren Aronofsky was going to direct the new batman movie(s), I thought it was gonna be great, then we got this Dark Night with Christian Bale bullshit shoved in our faces. fuck.

 

[Skinny Viking]

Darren Aronofsky was supposed to do the new Wolverine movie

Anyway ..."Yeah I know its pretty but I didn't take it out so you could look at it"

great movie

overall as disturbing to me as the baby scenes in Trainspotting

oh yeah, if you're truly and epically late to the party, check Trainspotting ... takes about 5 minutes to acclimate to the accents (ELEVEN!!!!) but once you do its full on madness

 

[MarcusGHedwig]

Yup, that one's probably next on the list Carlos (and Pi as well, Sloan) - and also, yes, Keith David is the fucking man haha, he's played so many awesome characters in so many awesome movies and games - The Thing, They Live, Halo 2/3 (Arbiter), Mass Effect (Capt. Anderson), Modern Warfare 2 (Sgt. Foley), so good at playing every conceivable type of character, from pimps to thugs to diplomats to Shakespearean-types!

 

[Line666]

*Spoilers ahoy*

Requiem is probably one of my least favourite films - the pretense of it is rubbish; Jared Leto injecting into a gangrenous leg is probably the stupidest anti-drugs advert ever, I'm sure even junkies have the common sense to inject somewhere else if your leg is going black so you don't have to get it chopped off. It just seemed to clawingly patronising; yes prescription medication is drugs too we get it; it was just an overbearing "drugs are bad mmkay" message packaged in some mindfuck visuals without any real explanation or real character development beyond that of complete desperation.

 

[Skinny Viking]

ASS TO ASS!!!!!

 

[MindMunch]

I´ve seen this movie a long time ago, but from what I remember it was an obvious junkie movie with excellent direction. I believe most criticism was because it pictures drugs as an end game. It goes to the extreme of every scenario with every character, which is very unlikely but, well, it´s a movie! At least it shows how somewhat legal drugs like amphetamines are just as toxic as illegal ones. The cameraplay during the amphetamine high scenes were an amazing video recreation of how it really feels.

 

[MarcusGHedwig]

I dunno, having never done it (or known anyone who's been actually hooked on it), I can't say I know much about heroin, but from what I've heard about withdrawal symptoms I thought the movie depicted pretty accurately, and if it gets its teeth in you, I can totally imagine your only options being a) try to kick it and endure days of violent illness and misery or b) just go for the next fix and worry later (never). Or I suppose c) go to rehab/NA, but that never seemed to even enter the characters' minds, maybe it doesn't for addicts IRL either, I'm the wrong guy to ask!

 

[Terminus]

Yup, that one's probably next on the list Carlos (and Pi as well, Sloan) - and also, yes, Keith David is the fucking man haha, he's played so many awesome characters in so many awesome movies and games - The Thing, They Live, Halo 2/3 (Arbiter), Mass Effect (Capt. Anderson), Modern Warfare 2 (Sgt. Foley), so good at playing every conceivable type of character, from pimps to thugs to diplomats to Shakespearean-types!

And Dead Presidents. Great flick.

 

[Skinny Viking]

Every motherfucker in town knows I only have one leg

 

[MindMunch]

I dunno, having never done it (or known anyone who's been actually hooked on it), I can't say I know much about heroin, but from what I've heard about withdrawal symptoms I thought the movie depicted pretty accurately, and if it gets its teeth in you, I can totally imagine your only options being a) try to kick it and endure days of violent illness and misery or b) just go for the next fix and worry later (never). Or I suppose c) go to rehab/NA, but that never seemed to even enter the characters' minds, maybe it doesn't for addicts IRL either, I'm the wrong guy to ask!

I´ve done amphetamine and I don´t think I could film the visual effects much better than they did on this movie. But as I´ve said, the movie is an extreme. I know a very famous actress that do amphetamines for decades and, while I wouldn´t call her normal, it´s far from "shock therapy zombie".

I never did heroin but I´ve used a long list of narcotics, including pure morphine which is very similar. In the end they all turn into morphine once you inject them. I got out of it cold turkey, but some people use metadona. I just wanted it to end as quickly as possible even if it meant to suffer more while doing it. Actually, looking back it is relatively fast. Just two weeks. In hell, but still, two weeks.

The thing about narcotics withdraw is that you don´t have hallucinations (like the dead baby on Trainspotting), but it´s a pain that won´t go away with anything. Not only headaches and psychological pain, but also physical pain. You feel it on your muscles, like after a massive workout followed by a Mike Tyson beating.

 

[egan.]

I think it's over the top and but I think it's successful in that if you watch it it makes you feel bad. My issue is that it's far more focused on shock value than story. It's certainly the antithesis of a feel good hollywood movie but I think it's a little too much. I liken it to bands who will only play minor chords. Also, that CSI through-the-veins stuff was ridiculous even at the time this movie was made.

 

[MarcusGHedwig]

I liken it to bands who will only play minor chords.

You know I have the utmost respect for you and appreciation of your band's music Egan...but wouldn't DD kinda qualify there?

 

[updog]

*Spoilers ahoy*

Requiem is probably one of my least favourite films - the pretense of it is rubbish; Jared Leto injecting into a gangrenous leg is probably the stupidest anti-drugs advert ever, I'm sure even junkies have the common sense to inject somewhere else if your leg is going black so you don't have to get it chopped off. It just seemed to clawingly patronising; yes prescription medication is drugs too we get it; it was just an overbearing "drugs are bad mmkay" message packaged in some mindfuck visuals without any real explanation or real character development beyond that of complete desperation.

the movie isn't like that overall though, so i think you're just clinging onto that one credibility issue for some reason.

furthermore, i'm not nitpicking but i believe it was his left arm, not leg. i would imagine switching arms would prove more difficult than a drug addict would be willing to go through in an immediate need for a fix, not to mention shooting anywhere else for the first time. i've never been addicted to a drug but i could see myself doing the same in the character's situation, even though it's stupid as fuck.

 

[Line666]

Been a year or two since I watched it my apologies if it is actually an arm, I couldn't remember.

Still didn't like it, seemed like a load of artsy wank with pretensions higher than it's station.

 

[Skinny Viking]

You know I have the utmost respect for you and appreciation of your band's music Egan...but wouldn't DD kinda qualify there?

Had the same thought

 

[updog]

along the lines of the subject; anybody seen the documentary about the guy who had been addicted to heroin for a looong time, goes through rehab, and dies from the withdrawal symptoms in the end?

i've only heard about it, and i'd like to see it. just hearing the guy's story was shocking as fuck, i never knew you could actually die from withdrawal to a drug.

anybody know the name of the documentary?

 

[updog]

Been a year or two since I watched it my apologies if it is actually an arm, I couldn't remember.

Still didn't like it, seemed like a load of artsy wank with pretensions higher than it's station.

fair enough, just found it weird anybody would find the movie having an obvious and absolute anti-drug message, like in some scaredy-video for school kids.

 

[kaomao]

dildo scene is a must, considering there's jennifer connelly doing it lol
Besides all jokes, it is one of my favorite movies
from a photographer perspective this movie is a must! perfect surreal pictures! well balanced scenes kinda art photography (I mean how the actors are put on the scene)
if you don't like it then lick my sack lol

 

[Line666]

fair enough, just found it weird anybody would find the movie having an obvious and absolute anti-drug message, like in some scaredy-video for school kids.

But that's exactly what it is, there is no other message about this film; no emotional development, no real plot; it's just a bunch of lives being torn apart by heroin and medicine with some fucked up visuals.

If the defining message is not "drugs are bad" then it has absolutely nothing to say for itself whatsoever.