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Director Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan, Mother!) delivers perhaps the most powerful anti-drug public service announcement in all of filmdom with Requiem for a Dream. Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, and Marlon Wayans star as Coney Island residents whose lives rapidly deteriorate due to drug use. Burstyn plays a lonely widow who becomes addicted to diet pills until she can no longer discern reality from her nightmarish imagination. Leto plays her son, who succumbs to heroin addiction along with his girlfriend (Connelly) and best buddy (Wayans).
Aronofsky shows us when each of these characters passes the point of no return, and then takes us on their shared downward spiral during the film’s devastating final half-hour. If this were a straight-forward drama directed in the classical Hollywood style, it might be downright unbearable to watch. But Aronofsky turns it into a highly visceral, cinematic experience through inventive cinematography and sound, masterful editing, and a novel score from Clint Mansell and the Kronos Quartet. Aronofsky’s flashy style could have overwhelmed the substance of the piece if not for the actors’ strong performances. Ellen Burstyn’s deep, committed portrayal of a desperate woman’s descent into madness is the single-most remarkable thing about Requiem for a Dream, at turns horrific and heartbreaking. This can be a tough film to watch, but It’s absolutely worth it for one of the all-time greatest performances in all of cinema. (Burstyn was beat at the Oscars by Julia Roberts in Erin Brokovich, a decision widely regarded as one of the organization’s biggest blunders.)
With Christopher McDonald. Based on the book by Hubert Selby, Jr.
Oscar Nomination: Best Actress (Ellen Burstyn)