Requiem for a Dream

Requiem for a dream is one of the most technically brilliant movies i have seen,made on a comparatively meager budget of only 4.5 million,it manages to incorporate a huge amount of filmmaking and editing techniques. From montages of macro shots cut very fast ,to a fisheye timelapse of a party it uses almost every possible technique known to filmmakers and with precise artistic mastery.The brilliant rotating camera scene has since become iconic in movies relating to drugs and hallucination.Then one cannot ignore the split screen editing technique ,shot and edited very precisely under the master eye of Aronofsky.Other notable techniques used are the long takes,following the protagonists ,also brilliantly crafted.The Clint Mansell background score's intensity varies with the pace of the cuts .Arguably the best background score in modern cinema.

Leaving aside the technical jargon,this movie manages to affect the viewer at a subconscious level.How the seasons are correlated with the the fall and rises of the protagonists lives.It is very easy to categorize this movie as a 'drug' movie,but on thinking deeply it is not.It does not glorify drug addiction,it condemns it,and it manages to do so very successfully.The raw power of this movie is such that it may even compel a hardened drug addict to give it up.Aronofsky starts the story on a normal manner,there seemed to be glow of positivity around the characters till about one third of the film.Then the lives of the four protagonists begins to fall apart in the worst possible way ,finally culminating in a tragic ending.The role of Sara Goldfarb ,the mother of Harry is addicted to slimming pills,whereas her son is a hardened drug addict and dealer.They are both addicts in their own way and both their lives fall apart .Harry's girlfriend Marion played by Jennifer Connely is very impressive to say the least.Her character manages to attract a huge amount of sympathy from the audience.

Aronofsky has made four other films other than this ,the recent ones on much bigger budgets,but for a director who has Requiem For a Dream in his resume ,its very difficult to surpass it.Its a modern classic!