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.

This is one hell of a bleak film, but as long as you can watch it (some people I know couldn’t sit through it), it is an absolute masterpiece. It’s an adaption of a book by Hubert Selby Jr. about the various addictions of four people (an elderly widow, her son, his girlfriend and his best friend) , be they to drugs, television, or even the hope of a better tomorrow, in Brooklyn, New York. So far, so Trainspotting you might think. However, the two films are actually very different, not least in terms of visual style. In this aspect, Requiem For A Dream is streets ahead of it’s British counterpart. The director Darren Aronofsky, a native of Brooklyn himself, has done a first class job here, using a variety of different techniques, including split screens, time lapse photography and speeded up montages. In the commentary on the DVD, he said he wanted to avoid making an MTV-style film, but that’s what it looks like. This is by no means a criticism, though, the film looks absolutely fantastic, but I see no sense in denying its style. As well as the superb cinematography, the film also contains some superb performances from its four stars Jared Leto, Ellen Burstyn, Jennifer Connolly and Marlon Wayans. Indeed, Burstyn was nominated for the Best Actress Oscar, though she didn’t win. It is also nice to see Leto in a role where he has more to do than look handsome. This film is not one to watch when you are feeling a bit down, as it is not in the least bit cheery. I promise it will make you feel worse, as it is heartbreakingly sad to see the lives of the protagonists completely unravelling before their eyes, whilst they keep believing things are soon going to get better. Things don’t get better, they reach rock bottom for all of the characters. No redemption, no happy ending, just one of the best films of the last ten years. Absolutely essential.

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.

Ok, Requiem for a Dream. When I bought it, I thought it would be an extraordinary film, judging by so many five stars. It was good, thought-provoking but not a masterpiece. The story revolves around 3 friends who are trying to live the "good" life by injecting and smoking as many drugs as they can. Ellen Burstyn plays Sara Goldfarb, the depressed mother of Harry (Jared Leto) who's husband has died. Her luck suddenly seems to change when she gets a call from a tv show called "Juice" inviting her onto the show. So, in order to lose weight and look her best, she decides to start taking diet pills. Of course, she becomes addicted and starts to hallucinate. While all this is happening Harry, his friend Tyrone (Marlon Wayans) and Harry's girlfriend Marion (Jennifer Connelly) come up with a way of earning some quick and hard cash by selling drugs on the street. They begin to realise, however, that they aren't the only ones selling and start to receive alot of competition and errr....more violent wake-up calls. The friendship goes to pieces, with Harry having to have his arm chopped off because gangrene or something similar has turned it septic, Tyrone is vomiting and hallucinating in prison and Jennifer starts going mad because there are no drugs around for her. Therefore, she needs to make money by having sex and performing for an audience by participating in a lesbian sex scene to feed her addiction. Sara and Harry's relationship also goes down the drain, with her having to have ECT treatment to get cured and turning 20 years older in the process. The acting is very good, no problems there, and the style of quick cuts from scene to scene is innovative. I especially found the scenes where Sara's fridge is attacking her and Jennifer having sex with another girl at a party particularly effective in demonstrating how drugs can ruin people's lives in the long-run. Good extras on the DVD with deleted scenes, commentaries, interviews, tv spots, trailer, etc. A powerful, ambitious anti-drug film which was just that little bit lacking for me. I found Trainspotting to be a more complete film overall.

My god. Where to start with this? Darren Aronofsky's follow up to indie hit Pi could be one of the most brilliant and emotional films ever. Aronofsky has managed to adapt Hubert Selby Jr's magnanimous novel to the big screen - and he's done a superb job of it. The cast is amazing. Ellen Burstyn's TV addicted, speed taking mother was robbed of an Oscar by Julia Roberts' frumpy, irritating Erin Brokovich. She gives one of the most emotional performances you will ever see, her passionate monologue about what it's like to be old, and her paranoid acting makes you truly believe that acting is an art. Jared Leto, as her drug addicted son, also gives very worthy performance as does Jennifer Connely as his girlfriend. Marlon Wayans, too, delivers an amazing and serious performance that belies his slapstick comedy notoriety. But this is a director's film; Aronofsky pulls out every directing trick in the book to make this a truly original experience. The shot of an overjoyed Sara Goldfarb as she runs out of her apartment and walks across the street with her old female friends as the camera swoons in front of them, creating a strangely eerie shot is one example. But it is the editing that shines, Aronofsky never leaves the viewer board with his unique style of hiphop montage editing and special effects. The music in this film also shines, the classical score is wonderfully composed and highly dramatic in a film which demands it so heavily. Although disturbing, this is a film that everyone should see, it is full of great acting, editing and truly memorable story.

I will preface this with a warning: if you are a particularly sensitive person, I would be very very careful as to when you watch it. If I'm feeling "up" when I start watching it, I quickly get dragged down. If I'm feeling "down", I just get pulled down further. Consider watching with a friend. So the plot. Well, as I'm sure you know by now, it's about drug addiction, obsession, and society - and how those can wreck lives. The main characters are Sara Goldfarb, her son Harry, and his girlfriend (Marion) and best friend (Tyrone). The film opens with Harry stealing Sara's TV so he can sell it to get money for drugs. This sets the scene for a film that starts out fairly bleakly and spirals ever downwards to its inevitable, sickening end. I have to admit that I found it hard to feel a huge amount of sympathy for Harry, Marion, or Tyrone. Although the way they ended up was horrifying and I wouldn't want that to happen to anyone, they all chose to do drugs and (later) start dealing. Their final states are extreme and awful consequences of their actions. But the plotline of Sara makes me cry for the injustice of it all. She's an elderly widower, who lives on her own, has few friends, and spends her days watching infomercials. When she gets a call that she could get to be on TV, she does everything she can to make herself look "nice", including taking diet pills. This of course leads to addiction, further isolation, and ultimately madness. I can never feel anything but pity and empathy for her - and anger at her son, because he SAW what was going on, and didn't make any real effort to save her. The cinematography and music keeps the tension ratchetted up, and you find yourself praying that it'll somehow all turn around, but it never does. This is one of my favourite films, and I think one of the best and most important films ever made, but I can hardly watch it because it feels like being punched in the gut.

This film is one of the best films I have ever seen. It shows the grim and downward spiralling life of 4 people, all related, as they succumb to drugs and the different ways it effects them, each as depressing as the next. The main character is a junkie who, with his friend, sets out to sell cocaine with his friend and plans to make enough to buy him and his junkie girlfriend a designer clothing shop and become normal and happy. Meanwhile his mother, convinced she will soon be on TV goes on a diet, and, going to the doctor is given speed by him. At first everything is good and seems to be going well, the film is cleverly sectioned into three parts called Summer, Fall and Winter, describing the collapse of the lives of the characters as well as the actual time of year. The filming is incredible with numerous special effects which are on the whole extremely well done and amazing musical accompaniment. Overall this film is incredible and at the same time very dark, shocking and depressing. It is very powerful and shows how people start off believing they can control their various addictions, and showing all the benefits they receive from them only in the end to finally succumb to them and be completely destroyed, mentally and physically.

"I'd said we'd got a winner!" "Why you always got to play games with my head?!" Initially, yes this does seem like it will be a depressing film! So I presume he's trying to sell the tv. The credits are playing the depressing music which is well known, (I don't know the name of it). - It has a real sense of urgency to it. So I presume he keeps taking his mum's tv over to the pawnbrokers. I've got a feeling this is gonna be a rubbish film! "I never thought I'd be on television." Its got to be some sort of trick, surely! The acting.. poor! "I got a great diet book!" The young female lead looks familiar. "If this is a red, I want to know what's orange?!" One of them's going to die surely! What's it with the whole self help vibe from that tv show?! I hate that music!! There is a dislike to this film, but I also have a sense of curioristy about it!! I quite like some of the camera techniques. If his mum is so concerned about losing weight, why doesn't she go to the gym?! "I told you ma, one day I'll make it!" What's she waiting for in the mail?! So things are looking up.. but I'm sure things will go wrong! "How come you know more about medicine than a doctor?!" "I'm somebody now Harry. Everybody likes me." Harry's upset after meeting his mum. "I love you Harry, you make me feel like a person." Maybe this is a low budget film. The doctor isn't sympathetic! Obviously they're gonna to destroy their business!! "This is our last chance to get back on track! - We need the bread." I just have no interest in this movie. I've seen this so many times in movies. I think the actress who plays the mum is the best actress, but her storyline becomes totally ridiculous! What I do like about this film is its a certain weird genre that you get. They're very hit and miss as a genre. "Harold! I'm gonna be on television." Actually I think the film gets better as it goes on, (like I say its a certain genre). Its actually quite a disturbing film! Actually is she Liam Neeson's daugther in the film, "Taken?"

Der Film erfordert einen gewissen Mut, aber es lohnt. Geschichten und Szenen wie die hier gezeigten, geschehen tausendfach und sind insofern sehr real. Der Film ist sensibel inszeniert und rüttelt auf. Es lohnt sicherlich, ihn gesehen zu haben.

Article livré rapidement et en parfait état, merci !

Arrivato per tempo, bel film.

must watch for anyone who loves movies that depict real life situations and not some fairy tale bulls***.

rapidez y eficacia como siempre