"You promised me that everything was gonna be ok, remember?"

The Film "Requiem for a Dream" (2000) is based on a book by Hubert Selby Jr of the same name:

I haven't read the book, so, to be fair, I can't comment on how close it follows the narrative.

One thing I do know is this: Requiem is one of the most relentless movie rides you could ever experience. But you constantly want to get off.

Like wincing at road kill, the use of montage is cleverly interwoven with stark images that, try as you might, you simply cannot turn away from.

I have watched this film several times, and it always has the exact same affect. I sit there slack jawed and tense for a couple of hours, seemingly unable to draw breath - but the other night I watched it with my best friend, who had never seen, or heard of it before: seeing his reaction was almost as hard to watch as the movie itself. It was then that I knew that what this film does so well, is really get under the skin and right smack bang into the centre of the darkest soul of things.

The music just adds weight to everything you're seeing: intense & running the same theme throughout. This has to be one of the most exhausting films ever made - the story itself is not particularly hopeful, but the way the Directory Darren Aronofsky draws you in is like nothing else.....

Ultimately, you could argue that films like this are self indulgent, that movies should be happy, jolly, fun and uplifting affairs. But I disagree; whilst this films messages are essentially seen as;

"Hey!.....Drugs are bad, addiction is bad, we're all doomed, your dreams will diminish to nothing, leaving you empty and wanting"

That's actually OK with me. I don't want to be protected - I want to see behind the scenes, I dig the hideousness;

If you're a little like this too, then this film will have a profound effect. if it's not your bag, then try sticking your head in the sand.