Requiem for a Dream

I wish I could remember why I picked this movie to watch. I'm going to have to start making a note of that. When I received the movie and the netflix sleeve said it was "not for the squeamish," I worried that it might as well have added, "This means YOU, Kathy!!" So, when I noticed I was 45 minutes into the movie and nothing in it had shocked me yet, I was thinking, This isn't so bad. Well, the last 10 or 15 minutes made up for that. All four main characters (though to the least degree with Tyrone) simultaneously hit rock bottom in their various addictions, and we see the mom receiving electroshock therapy, the son losing his arm, the friend in jail and the girlfriend reduced to committing unspeakable acts in a sequence of cut-scenes that would have made my mom faint and then disown me when she regained consciousness.

On the surface this movie is Trainspotting with American characters instead of Scots. With further contemplation I see more differences. I do remember Trainspotting being quite funny at times. A dark humor, to be sure, but humor nonetheless. Requiem doesn't hold many laughs--in fact, I can't recall any--it just shows a group of losers whose lives briefly improve but then through their addictions all four lives fall completely apart. Maybe Trainspotting was more realistic in a way, because it shows different outcomes for the different characters (kicking the habit, dying of AIDs, absconding with the money) rather than showing everyone's life ruined. Both movies make a pretty compelling anti-drug statement, but perhaps Requiem tries to give the idea that drugs will ruin your life no matter what, whereas Trainspotting seems to communicate the idea that there are both pros and cons to such a life.

For some reason Trainspotting made much more of an impression on me. I remember that movie was on my mind for quite a while after I watched it. As gutwrenching as the last part of Requiem was, it didn't compare to various scenes throughout Trainspotting, the most disturbing of which was definitely the baby in the crib. I can still remember that as clear as day and it's been several years since I watched the movie. Seems like what made it even worse was how they threw stuff like that at you with no warning, and it received the same treatment as something like the soccer game they played. The baby on the ceiling also stuck with me, and the scene where Ewan McGregor is so badly in need of a fix that he fishes the pill out of the nasty toilet. That scene was definitely overdone and not realistic, but it really drove home his desperation due to his addiction.

Oh yeah, this is a post about Requiem for a Dream, not Trainspotting. Back on topic...

At the very beginning of the movie I noticed that the soundtrack was like an orchestra tuning up, and then the orchestra began to play as the movie went on. This fit nicely with the title and theme of the movie, which could just as well (though less poetically) have been called Death of a Dream. I didn't constantly notice the music throughout the movie, but as far as I remember, it was all orchestral score and no pop music.

Very interesting that this movie was based on a book whose author also wrote the screenplay. I assume this means the finished product very closely matched the author's original intent.

The netflix sleeve claimed I would either love or hate this movie. After watching it, I disagree. I'll probably not bother watching it again (which I might if I had loved it, or at least if it seemed like there was more to it that I might catch with another viewing), but I don't regret watching it (which I would if I hated it).