Requiem for a Dream (Screenplay) [Paperback]

Darren Aronofsky (Author)

Book Description

Series: Screenplays | Publication Date: November 2000

From the writer/director of the acclaimed film Pi, the screen-adaptation of Hubert Selby Jr. 's classic cult novel.

Requiem for a Deam is a modern-day fable set on the rusted mean streets of Brooklyn's Coney Island that follows the stories of four people desperately in pursuit of a better life. Oscar-winning actress Ellen Burstyn stars as Sara, a widowed mother obsessed with her waistline and addicted to diet pills and the thought of appearing on television. Her son Harry (Jared Leto), his girlfriend Marion (Jennifer Connelly), and his best friend Tyrone (Marlon Wayans in a surprising dramatic debut), are junkies in search of the American dream-only in their world fortunes are won through a successful score and sell operation and the three long to lay their hands on the pound of heroin that, once unloaded, will finance a legitimate business of their own. Soon enough, though, their earnest pursuits begin to take on horrifying dimensions; and, even as their world crumbles around them, Sara, Harry, Marion and Tyrone refuse to let go, plummeting with their dreams in a nightmarish freefall not soon to be forgotten.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Aronofsky made a lot of industry noise in 1998 with Pi, his critically praised low-budget indie hit and debut feature. For his second film, he collaborated with one of his literary gurus, Hubert Selby Jr., to adapt Selby's 1978 cult classic Last Exit to Brooklyn. Set on the scarred and bleak streets of Coney Island, Brooklyn, the story follows heroin addict and twentysomething Harry Goldfarb (Jared Leto), his smack-snack gorgeous girlfriend Marion (Jennifer Connelly), and running buddy Tyrone (Marlon Wayans) as they conceive a way to score pure heroin. An illuminating interview with Aronofsky prefaces the script, which in the Faber & Faber vein, unlike the Newmarket "Shooting Script," has less detailed camera shots and reads more like a play. For more specialized cinematic collections.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

In 1998, Darren Aronofsky won the Best Director Prize at the Sundance Film Festival for his debut feature Pi. He lives in New York City.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Faber & Faber (November 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 057120631X
• ISBN-13: 978-0571206315
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,420,352 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Dark, Sobering Whirlwind of a Book, September 10, 2001

By 

Mark Coffey "austindeadhead" (Austin, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Requiem for a Dream (Screenplay) (Paperback)

Let me say this up front - Requiem is very, very dark - the setting, the characters, and the message of the book are pretty bleak and hopeless. So why should you read it? First, the characters - Selby has drawn each of the four participants in this race to hell with stunning precision - after reading the book (and seeing the largely faithful movie) you feel as if you honestly know these people. Second, the terrifyingly accurate portrait of the downward spiral of addiction. Each of these characters reacts differently to his/her being hooked, but, with the exception of Sara, the brutal truth finally becomes too evident to ignore, at least until the next "little taste". The isolation of the addict is brilliantly rendered as Sara declines to go out, Tyrone gladly says goodbye to his "fine fox", and Harry and Marion lose the intensity of their love for each other to their more urgent love of heroin. Finally, it is Selby's gifts as a storyteller that provide the main reason for this book's classic status - I have read "stream of consciousness" before, but never have I been so riveted by it. The final 50 pages or so just go by in a horrible blur. Don't expect a light at the end of the tunnel - Selby doesn't celebrate dreamers, he condemns them for obscuring their view of what is with delusions of what could be. Powerful stuff.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best ever, May 15, 2004

By 

Jonny (Garden Grove California USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Requiem for a Dream (Screenplay) (Paperback)

The book, the movie. Best ever. I have never seen such a good movie or experienced such an incredible story. really

2 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars just like the movie...almost, April 1, 2003

By 

J. Allen "N. Jurd" (Charlotte, NC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Requiem for a Dream (Screenplay) (Paperback)

this is the screenplay of the movie..if youd rather read the movie than see it (altough there are pictures) then this is your book...it is good, there are a few noticable differences between this and the movie, but it is great if you are a fan of darren aronofsky....if you do like darren aronofsy you should chekc out his "book of the ants"