Requiem for a Dream (Penguin Modern Classics)

Product Information

Wayans: We sat with addicts. We went to a clinic and talked about the effects of heroin. We did a lot of research. Darren took my shirt off and made me walk around the streets of New York in February because he wanted me to understand what it was like — what winter in New York was going to feel like even though he was filming in the summer. I was like, Hey bro, I grew up in New York. I know how cold it is. I don’t have to do this. Requiem for a Dream captures the tragedy of lives consumed by substance abuse in a unique and captivating way.

Requiem for a Dream is a 2000 psychological drama film directed by Darren Aronofsky. It follows the lives of four characters as they experience the devastating effects of drug addiction and the pursuit of their dreams. Image credit: Artisan Entertainment) Clint Mansell Sampled Classical Requiems And Bruce Lee Punches For The Score Ellen Burstyn in Requiem for a Dream. Photograph: Allstar/Cinetext/Aritsan Entertainment/Allstar/Cinetext/Artisan Entertainment My agent sent me the script and I read it and I called her and I said, ‘This is the most depressing script I’ve ever read,’” Ellen Burstyn tells Vulture. “‘Who on earth is going to want to see this movie?’” a b Howe, Dessen (November 3, 2000). "A Hopeless 'Dream' ". Washington Post. Archived from the original on May 2, 2018 . Retrieved February 28, 2022.Rebello, Stephen (June 1, 2002). "Through The Eyes Of Faye Dunaway". Movieline. Retrieved October 2, 2016. In addition, Requiem for a Dream examines the way society views addiction and those who suffer from it. It looks at how society often views addicts as outcasts or “losers” and how this contributes to feelings of loneliness and isolation. Dellamaria, Miranda (April 4, 2014). "The dA-Zed guide to Darren Aronofsky". Dazed Digital. Archived from the original on February 26, 2016 . Retrieved April 29, 2020. a b Kaufman, Anthony (December 1, 2009). "Decade: Darren Aronofsky on "Requiem For a Dream" ". IndieWire. Archived from the original on March 17, 2020 . Retrieved March 15, 2020. This story follows the lives of Sara Goldfarb, her son Harry, his girlfriend Marion Kleinmitz, and his best friend Tyrone C. Love, who are all searching for the key to their dreams in their own ways. In the process, they fall into devastating lives of addiction. Harry and Marion are in love and want to open their own business; their friend Tyrone wants to escape life in the ghetto. To achieve these dreams, they buy a large amount of heroin, planning to get rich by selling it.

Sara, Harry's lonely widowed mother, dreams of being on television. When a phone call from a game show casting company gets her hopes up, she goes to a doctor, who gives her diet pills to lose weight. She spends the next few months on the pills, wanting desperately to look thin on TV and fit into a red dress from her younger days. However, the casting company does not notify her about the details of her show. She becomes addicted to the diet pills and eventually develops amphetamine psychosis after her life continues to go downhill. She eventually ends up in a mental institution, where she undergoes electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Connelly: Our working relationship was good. It was at times slightly volatile — which I think was part of our characters and what they were going through at the time. It was sort of conveniently volatile during the volatile scenes, which was probably more of a reflection of our youth.

Last on

At the advice of her friend Rae, Sara visits a physician who prescribes her amphetamines to control her appetite. She begins losing weight rapidly and is excited by how much energy she has. When Harry recognizes the signs of her drug abuse and implores her to stop taking the amphetamines, Sara insists that the chance to appear on television and the increased admiration from her friends Ada and Rae are her remaining reasons to live. As time passes, Sara becomes frantic waiting for the invitation and increases her dosage, which causes her to develop amphetamine psychosis. Burstyn: A lot of the directors I’ve worked with, I’ve worked in their second film. It wasn’t until later in my career that I noticed the pattern of that: I think I liked them so much because they hadn’t been wounded yet. They hadn’t gone through the Hollywood meat grinder. They were still doing what their artistic souls prompted them to do. That initial burst of creativity when they’re young and new has a special quality of freshness that the business tempers a little. Though Requiem for a Dream gave Darren Aronofsky his big break as one of the most promising up-and-coming filmmakers with its 2000 release, he initially couldn’t bring himself to finish Hubert Selby Jr.’s novel when he first attempted to read it a decade earlier. When speaking with Film Threat ahead of the film’s release, the director recalled his experience with the book and why he couldn’t handle it at the time: Burstyn: Darren’s mother and father were on the set every day. They’re both professors, brilliant people. When Darren shot Pi, his mother was the caterer. Seeing them and talking to them, I always wonder what the world would be like if everybody got to grow up with parents like that. She did have that Brooklyn accent, which was very helpful to me. I came in and talked to her every day so I could take up her intonation. She was my coach. Ebert, Roger (November 17, 2002). "The Movie Answer Man". Archived from the original on August 4, 2019 . Retrieved January 8, 2014.