Requiem for a Dream (2000)

The drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island people are shattered when their addictions run deep.

Director:

Darren Aronofsky

Writers:

Hubert Selby Jr. (based on the book by), Hubert Selby Jr. (screenplay)

Stars:

Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly

Top Rated Movies #82 | Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 33 wins & 62 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ellen Burstyn	...	Sara Goldfarb
Jared Leto	...	Harry Goldfarb
Jennifer Connelly	...	Marion Silver
Marlon Wayans	...	Tyrone C. Love
Christopher McDonald	...	Tappy Tibbons
Louise Lasser	...	Ada
Marcia Jean Kurtz	...	Rae
Janet Sarno	...	Mrs. Pearlman
Suzanne Shepherd	...	Mrs. Scarlini
Joanne Gordon	...	Mrs. Ovadia
Charlotte Aronofsky	...	Mrs. Miles
Mark Margolis	...	Mr. Rabinowitz
Michael Kaycheck	...	Donut Cop (as Mike Kaycheck)
Jack O'Connell	...	Corn Dog Stand Boss
Chas Mastin	...	Lyle Russel

Storyline

Sara Goldfarb (Ellen Burstyn) is a retired widow, living in a small apartment. She spends most of her time watching TV, especially a particular self-help show. She has delusions of rising above her current dull existence by being a guest on that show. Her son, Harry (Jared Leto) is a junkie but along with his friend Tyrone (Marlon Wayans) has visions of making it big by becoming a drug dealer. Harry's girlfriend Marion (Jennifer Connelly) could be fashion designer or artist but is swept along in Harry's drug-centric world. Meanwhile Sara has developed an addiction of her own. She desperately wants to lose weight and so goes on a crash course involving popping pills, pills which turn out to be very addictive and harmful to her mental state.

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Plot Keywords:

drug addiction | heroin | sex show | female nudity | addiction | 

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Taglines:

From the director of [Pi]

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for intense depiction of drug addiction, graphic sexuality, strong language and some violence

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 December 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Requiem for a Dream

Filming Locations:

Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$4,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$64,770, 8 October 2000, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$3,635,482

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$7,390,108

Company Credits

Production Co:

Artisan Entertainment, Thousand Words, Sibling Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

(At around 1 hour 3 minutes) The man peeling the orange (and the orange truck) in the scene where the characters go to receive a new shipment of drugs not only indicates their next destination, Florida, but also serves as a nod to the Godfather films, where the presence of oranges indicated disaster.

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Goofs

(at around 12 mins) When the paper airplane is made it is snub nosed (there is no point on the front), whereas when it is thrown from the tower it has a pointed nose.

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Quotes

[last lines]
Tappy Tibbons: We got a winner, I said we got a winner, we got a winner! Our next winner is that delightful personality, straight from Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, please give a juicy welcome to Mrs. Sara Goldfarb!
The Audience: Juice by Sara, juice by Sara, juice by Sara oh, Sara's got juice, Sara's got juice, ohhhhhhhh Sara!
Tappy Tibbons: I'm delighted to tell you, that you've just won the grand prize!
Sara Goldfarb: [elated] Oh, no!
Tappy Tibbons: Now let me tell you what you've won. Your prize has a sweet smile, and his own private business. He just got ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

Ending Credits look like a syringe while scrolling.

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Alternate Versions

The edited version replaces the shot of Marion and another woman having sex with two men with a shot of Marion partially clothed climbing on top of a man. Also, all the shots of the double-ended dildo and the shots of Marion and the woman having sex on it have been replaced with alternate camera angles and shots that hide any indication that the two are having anal sex on it. Some shots were also re-used to hide the close-ups of the two butts slamming together.

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Connections

References The Running Man (1987)

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Soundtracks

Summer Overture
by Clint Mansell

User Reviews

"Requiem" Is a Heavyweight

You will not so much as want to take a sip of wine after watching this mesmerizing film about the horrors of drug addiction. I was not a fan of director Darren Aronofsky's debut film "Pi," but with this movie he proves to be a filmmaker of unlimited vision and style. Four characters in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn are all driven to despair due to their drug abuse, the saddest being Ellen Burstyn as a nice Jewish widow who unwittingly becomes addicted to prescription diet pills that help her lose weight but drag her into a world of hallucinations and paranoia. Burstyn is superb. It is so refreshing to see such a great veteran like her in such a challenging leading role, one in which she goes through a hell worse than that in "The Exorcist."

But this is a director's film if there ever was one. Aronofsky knows how to tell a story in a way that is dazzling in its use of sound, editing, and cinematography. The score by the Kronos Quartet and Clint Mansell is the most striking movie music I have heard in a very long time.

"Requiem for a Dream" is not a movie for everyone. It is the essence of independent filmmaking, a daring, engrossing, artful film that stays with you long after you leave the theater. Hollywood bubblegum this ain't.