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 #92 | Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 35 wins & 69 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 | sex scene | 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

Did You Know?

Trivia

(at around 44 mins) During Ellen Burstyn's impassioned monologue about how it feels to be old, cinematographer Matthew Libatique accidentally let the camera drift off-target. When director Darren Aronofsky called "cut" and confronted him about it, he realized the reason Libatique had let the camera drift was because he had been crying during the take and fogged up the camera's eyepiece. This was the take used in the final print.

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Goofs

(at around 1h 7 mins) When Harry and Marion get in to a fight, at the exact moment that Marion says "You promised me that everything was going to change", the shot is clearly flopped, as indicated by her bangs and the angle of her head compared with the rest of the scene.

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Quotes

Tappy Tibbons: Now we come to step three. This... drives... most... people... crazy.

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Crazy Credits

The man on the train who says "You're whacked" to Sara when she tells him that she's going to be on TV is credited as "You're Whacked".

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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

Referenced in Lucia (2013)

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Soundtracks

Summer Overture
by Clint Mansell

User Reviews

The film-making quality is secondary- this film makes you FEEL

Often hype about films lead to disappointment and after waiting 14 months after release for my local cinema to show this film, I was done thinking about it. Thank goodness too, rather than challenge my brain (not hard to do unfortunately) this film went straight for the heart, ripped it out and kicked it around the floor for 90 minutes. As the addictions plunged further into the depths of Hell, I felt myself more and more arrested by the film. I've never left a film shaking or feeling physically ill- not including Pearl Harbour, of course :) You want to look away, but cannot.

This movie is by no means flawless, but then again I would like to hope that the flaws add to the gritty reality of the film. The ending was truly the most frightening thing I have ever seen in film- forget the cheap scares of The Exorcist, Psycho and the endless bile of the 'slasher flick', this stuff is REAL.

In a country amid a 'war against drugs' this is a powerful film which could do more to turn kids away from drugs than any measly government "task-force" or classroom lecture.

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

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 Surround 7.1 Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1