Product Details

• Actors: Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Marlon Wayans, Christopher McDonald
• Directors: Darren Aronofsky
• Writers: Darren Aronofsky, Hubert Selby Jr.
• Producers: Ann Ruark, Beau Flynn, Ben Barenholtz, Eric Watson, Jonah Smith
• Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Artisan
• DVD Release Date: August 14, 2001
• Run Time: 102 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (950 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005Q4CS
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,475 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Requiem for a Dream (Director's Cut)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Employing shock techniques and sound design in a relentless sensory assault, Requiem for a Dream is about nothing less than the systematic destruction of hope. Based on the novel by Hubert Selby Jr., and adapted by Selby and director Darren Aronofsky, this is undoubtedly one of the most effective films ever made about the experience of drug addiction (both euphoric and nightmarish), and few would deny that Aronofsky, in following his breakthrough film Pi, has pushed the medium to a disturbing extreme, thrusting conventional narrative into a panic zone of traumatized psyches and bodies pushed to the furthest boundaries of chemical tolerance. It's too easy to call this a cautionary tale; it's a guided tour through hell, with Aronofsky as our bold and ruthless host.

The film focuses on a quartet of doomed souls, but it's Ellen Burstyn--in a raw and bravely triumphant performance--who most desperately embodies the downward spiral of drug abuse. As lonely widow Sara Goldfarb, she invests all of her dreams in an absurd self-help TV game show, jolting her bloodstream with diet pills and coffee while her son Harry (Jared Leto) shoots heroin with his best friend Tyrone (Marlon Wayans) and slumming girlfriend Marion (Jennifer Connelly). They're careening toward madness at varying speeds, and Aronofsky tracks this gloomy process by endlessly repeating the imagery of their deadly routines. Tormented by her dietary regime, Sara even imagines a carnivorous refrigerator in one of the film's most memorable scenes. And yet... does any of this have a point? Is Aronofsky telling us anything that any sane person doesn't already know? Requiem for a Dream is a noteworthy film, but watching it twice would qualify as masochistic behavior. --Jeff Shannon

Product Description

REQUIEM FOR A DREAM - DVD Movie

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

178 of 185 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You may try to forget this film. "Try" is the key word here., April 18, 2001

By 

Kitten With a Whip "kittenwithawhip" (The Hellmouth) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Requiem for a Dream [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I was tempted to title my summary "Drugs are bad, mm'kay?" because this movie was so sad I was desperate to inject a little humor. Man, what a sad, scary, excellent, grim, disturbing, well-made movie. The more I read about this movie and learned about it, the more fascinating it seemed. I also am one of those people who, when they hear a movie is extremely shocking and disturbing, get a burning urge to see it as fast as I can to see if it shocks me (especially if it's unrated or NC-17), since I am pretty jaded. So, I eagerly anticipated seeing it.

The plot concerns four addicts. Jared Leto and Jennifer Connelly play a young loving couple, Harry and Marion, who dabble in heroin and plan to make a big sale along with their friend Tyrone (Shawn Wayans) so they can be set for life and Marion can open up her own (legal) business. Unfortunately, their recreational drug use turns into day-to-day addiction, and things start to get ugly. REAL ugly. A couple shots even kind of give a whole new definition of the word 'ugly'. Ellen Burstyn plays Harry's mother Sarah, a lonely widow who wants to lose weight to fit into a red dress so she can appear on her favorite TV show. She starts out by being addicted to TV and candy, but has the bad luck to go to a doctor who gives her an RX for 'diet pills', that turn out to actually be the old-fashioned kind they gave to women in the 50s- speed.

I found her story thread the most memorable and heartbreaking. Sarah takes pills and starts losing weight, as well as suddenly becoming very energetic and chatty. Like any addictive drug, her happy blue pills stop working after prolonged use so she ups her dose more...and more...and things slowly start getting very weird and scary. In one of the best scenes midway through the film (one of the few that had a tiny bit of comic relief) Harry visits her --the only visit he makes during the movie where he doesn't openly steal her TV to pawn for dope money. He is briefly riding high (in more ways than one) and tells her he bought her a big screen TV-he wanted to do something nice for her and figured out that "TV is her fix". He looks like he's getting a bad feeling when she's babbling happily about how she has a reason to get up in the morning, and then he hears her grinding her teeth, and figures it out. This is the first time in the movie you see real fear in his eyes. Sarah soon starts having very scary strung-out hallucinations-starting out with subtle things like time woozily slowing down and speeding back up, and when her refrigerator suddenly starts moving on its own, the real nightmare begins. An aggressive fridge with a mind of its own sounds Monty Python-esque when you first hear about it, but trust me, you won't be laughing by the end of the movie.

One review I read said that the movie not only pulls the rug out from under you, it drags you and the rug down a long flight of stairs into a very dark basement. Another reviewer compared the experience of watching the film to a drug, and that's not too far off the mark either. Whenever a character gets high, there's a slam-bang fast cut montage of the same images over and over; a sigh, a pupil dilating, cells changing color. The scenes where Sarah hallucinates are pretty close to the real thing. The description I probably agree with most came from Darren Aronofsky himself-he compared the film to a jump from a plane without a parachute, and the movie ends three minutes after you hit the ground. The last few minutes that show the gruesome, depressing, worst-case-scenario fates of all 4 characters are just as intense, hard to watch, and nightmarish as I heard they were.

My only complaints would be that I wish it were longer, with more time for character development. I would have liked more scenes of what these people and their lives were like before they were addicts, as well as their relationships with each other. The cast is great- Wayans shows that he has the most range and talent of the Wayans bros- I laughed so hard at him in Don't Be A Menace that I ended up buying it, but here...wow. I would have liked to see more of his character. I never liked Leto much before, but he is excellent and also almost unrecognizable (he said he dropped 1/5 of his weight for the role and boy does it show). Connelly I disliked so much before that I would actively avoid seeing movies she was in, but I was very impressed and convinced that she can act. Burstyn gives the performance of a lifetime- not only convincing, but she was dedicated enough to let the filmmakers make her look like absolute and total hell, which many actresses over 50 would probably not be brave enough to do.

Not recommended if you're easily shocked, squeamish, or upset. If you only like movies that take you to a happy place, stay far away. Everyone who left the movie theater looked like they had just been hit over the head with a very large board. And we were all people who knew what we were getting into. Recommended for those who want to see a movie that will completely overtake you and involve you emotionally. In addition, this film should be required viewing for everyone in the fashion industry that supported and glorified that whole hideous 'heroin chic' trend. Also a good movie if you are having some problems in your life and want to put them in perspective VERY fast. And even though I keep my weight down the old-fashioned way, I'll probably never look at my fridge quite the same way again...

47 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very heavy, important film, May 27, 2001

By 

Matt Hamer (Burlington, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Requiem for a Dream [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Words can hardly describe the experience of watching this powerful film. It's about different forms of addiction, and it pulls no punches in its depiction of the inevitable downward spiral of its four main characters. Not only should you see it for the message, but for its cinematic inventivness. Visually, I've never seen anything like it. The cinematography, sound, editing, music and visual FX are top-notch and will blow your mind. The acting honors here go to Ellen Burstyn, who gives an incredible performance as the poor, naiive Sarah Goldfarb. Watching her deterioration (both mentally and physically) is heart-wrenching. Burstyn gets great support from the rest of the cast as well, particularly Jared Leto and Jennifer Connelly. Also, those familiar with Marlon Wayans' comedy roles will be very surprised with his subtle, convincing portrayal of enterprising heroin addict Tyrone. Director Darren Aronofsky has created one of the best films of the new century; I can't wait to see what he does next. The last 20 minutes of this wonderful, haunting film will leave you breathless. A must-see.

52 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Requiem for a Dream, January 17, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Requiem for a Dream (Director's Cut) (DVD)

Addiction-what it is, what is does, who it affects, how it progresses, and how it feels is very hard conceive-especially for somebody who has never suffered from an addiction or been close to someone who has. Requiem for a Dream is not a documentory or historicaly acurate depiction of drug use. What it is, is a graphic, shocking, disturbing, and most of all-VERY REAL-representation of addiction, through the eyes of an addict. I know this because I used drugs and alcohol for more than 20 years, in the end I nearly completly destroyed myself and I caused great pain and undue suffering to my family with my addiction to cocaine . I am not what the general population perceives as a drug addict. I live in a small town in the upper Midwest. I have a wife and two children and make about $30,000/yr. Few knew of my use. I was selling drugs to support my own habit, and yet ended up more than $20,000 in debt from just credit cards. I know what a "road to nowhere," irrational, out-of-control, empty and sickening feeling addiction is. Requiem for a Dream portrays this feeling in a way words could not begin to decribe. I have been clean and sober for seven years, but after I viewed Requiem, I emotionally broke down as memories came flooding back. This is not a movie for entertainment. If you want to know what an addiction is like (especially to highly addictive drugs like heroin, cocaine, or amphetamine)see this movie. If you think "that will never happen to me," watch this movie again and see how you will give up ANYTHING and EVERYTHING as your whole life revolves around ONE thing-to obtain that chemical and use it. This movie is so good, I will never watch it again.