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- "Requiem for a Dream"
(Reviewed September 3, 2000)
- This is a surprisingly faithful (with one exception) translation of the vivid, unforgettable, relentlessly depressing novel by Hubert Selby, Jr. The exception: In the novel, Ellen
Burstyn's character is hopelessly desperate to appear on a TV game show that she envisions changing her life. That game show, for some reason, is rendered as a motivational "infomercial"-type program
(which apparently runs around the clock) in the movie. Considering how ubiquitous "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" and its ilk are these days, the reason for this change is baffling. If anything, the
nationwide
lust for instant game-show riches is more pronounced today than when the novel was written in the 1978. Another criticism: Jennifer Connelly is, as always, so strikingly, jaw-droppingly attractive that her
good looks are almost distracting; one does not expect a junkie's heroin-addicted girlfriend to look like one of the world's five most beautiful women. (In one restaurant scene, she is so glamourously
made-up
and lit that she looks like a supermodel -- only better.)
Even taking those quibbles into account, this film by "Pi" director Darren Aronofsky still ranks among the very best movies of 2000. It is disturbing in the extreme, as a movie about shattered
dreams
and irresistible addictions should be, but also is directed with visual style not seen since last year's David Fincher masterpiece "Fight Club." Ellen Burstyn's descent into madness is a bravura
performance. The soundtrack (written by Clint Mansell, and performed by Mansell and the Kronos Quartet) is sometimes painfully moving, sometimes shocking, and always brilliantly evocative. And the
script, co-written by Aronofsky and Selby, is as straightforward and wrenching as a punch in the jaw. (Also, look for Selby in a cameo as a shouting, racist jail guard.)
At the time this review is
being
written, the studio plans to release "Requiem for a Dream" unrated, because getting an "R" would have required cuts that the filmmakers were not willing to make. I have to wonder if the producers and the
director now wish they had been even more extreme in what they had filmed, since they essentially are branding the movie as "adults-only" by going the "unrated"
route. An orgy scene, for example, could have been much more graphic than what we are shown, in order to more fully convey the extent of the degradations taking place.
The ratings contretemp
proves yet again that the MPAA ratings board deserves the contempt of anyone who believes that movies, like paintings or music or anything else, should not have to be restrictively labelled to avoid the
threat
of government censorship. Joseph Lieberman's "censor yourselves or the government will be forced to take action" version of America is the very antithesis of free speech. If you believe that people should
be
allowed to think for themselves, and that artists should not have to answer to crybabies and busybodies, VOTE FOR LIBERTARIAN PRESIDENTIAL
CANDIDATE HARRY BROWNE!
Back Row Grade: A+
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