Requiem for a Dream
You know, the main reason I am seeing this film is that everybody is talking about it. Everyone. It seems the whole world has seen it except for me, and I’ve been feeling for this perhaps 7 years now – that was the first time I have heard the brilliant soundtrack. And now, I am getting this weird feeling that I am too old for it.
“Naked Lunch”, the other drug film, was different – it was random, artsy and in many ways extremely interesting, just like I imagine the book to be that it is based on. Sure, “Requiem for a Dream” has an incredibly intense atmosphere, but I feel like I cannot relate to this at all. To me, they are youngsters with identity problems that I have never had, not even remotely in this way, and everything just screams “Wow, how immature” to me. If this movie were not such a mass phenomena (or is it just because it had a good soundtrack?), I wouldn’t have bothered seeing more than 15 minutes of it. I wonder how “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” would fare. I have heard that you should watch that movie when you’re on drugs. Does that also apply on “Requiem for a Dream”? I doubt it.
Considering the title: This is interesting because everything about him is totally not my type at all. These slightly dumb-looking eyes, the boyish statue, etc. But something about him is intriguing, and I seem to never have noticed when I saw other movies with him? Heh.
But what is much more interesting is actually Jennifer Connelly’s role – it’s shocking. I have seen her in one single movie, as John Nash’s loving and smart but frustrated wife. Back then, I saw “A Beautiful Mind” in the movie theaters (with Richard, btw) and I still remember that role very clearly because she was perhaps the first female character in cinema I really liked, heh. Seeing her playing such a teenage girl with bad taste and nothing to do is just too depressing. Oh well.
If somebody could tell me where the heck the point of this movie is, I will gladly listen. Until then, I probably will put it into the same category as “Ghost World” – the type of movies I can not relate to anymore? I still cannot believe I have just written a long, clearly negative post about a rather highly acclaimed film and it makes me feel like this guy who was wondering about what the whole point of “Match Point” is. But can I help it?
I think it’s a cautionary tale of looking for happiness in all the wrong places but the overwhelmingly downbeat nature made it feel depressing for me. Most films like this are full of ups and downs but this was just down, down, down all the way.
I actually saw Jennifer Connelly in Labyrinth before this, which made her performance here even more shocking and out-of-place! The cinematograpy and music in Requiem… are fantastic but even so it was just too painful and upsetting for me to get much enjoyment out of it. I admire it but wouldn’t watch it again.
She’s such a good actress… and why she would take a role like in “Requiem for a Dream” still fails me. Then again, she also played in “He’s just not that into you” after all, what the heck.
Perhaps this really is what makes this film interesting, in that it is a constant downwards spiral until the end of it. At the same time, it’s also the reason why I personally didn’t like it, I suppose.
The other movie that comes in mind is “Grave of the Fireflies” – I swore to myself to never ever watch it again.
This is actually one of my must watch film list, ever since someone with a very refined taste highly recommended it to me. Name of its title also happens to be same as that awesome LoTR soundtrack!
That’s because the Two Towers trailer actually reused the title theme of Requiem for a Dream. :)
@gaguri: This person is probably between 22 and 27 years old, hahaha. It’s the type of movie that was pretty hyped back then when it just came out and a few years later too. But yeah, the soundtrack is absolutely brilliant.
@Pixelmatsch: Hahaha, you really know too many useless things, but I laughed. XD