Courtlin’s Resolution Movie List — Week 47

Last week I watched a movie from the early 2000s, and I had NO IDEA just how depressing it would be!

Requiem for a Dream (2000)

Man, this movie messed me up! I mean, honestly, this is the most depressing movie I've ever seen, and I've seen "7 Pounds," so that's saying a LOT. But before we get into that, let me start off by saying that, despite how depressing this movie was, I did actually enjoy watching it. In the beginning I was a little hesitant. The story was a little hard to follow, so I had to watch the first 15 minutes twice, but once I figured out where the story was going, I was hooked. About halfway through the movie I realized that this movie was going to end very, very badly. There was too much hope in the beginning, so I knew all of my dreams for the characters would be totally crushed by the end. I was right.

The way that the movie was filmed was really cool, but really strange at the same time. The multiple pictures on the screen, the amplified sounds, the quick clips that were repeated over and over throughout the film, and that haunting music really made this movie what it was. It kind of made you feel like you were on drugs, just like the characters in the movie. The only word I can think to describe it is "trippy." I had a crazy amount of anxiety after the movie ended, which was the effect they were going for. IMDB says that the director Darren Aronofsky "shot this film like a hip-hop montage (a sequence extremely short shots), to get the sense of over whelming addiction and loss of control."

I was doing some research on the movie after it ended, and I found out that Ellen Burstyn actually turned down the role of Sarah originally, because the movie horrified her so much. The scene with her monologue where she talks about getting old and being lonely is the only scene that made me start crying. Another fun fact for you, the cameraman who was filming that scene actually started crying too, which fogged up the lens, and that's why the camera started to drift off. Basically, Ellen totally nailed this role.

I would highly recommend watching this movie, but only if you are prepared to be depressed for several hours afterwards.

Only a few weeks left! Have a movie suggestion for me for this week? Leave it for me in the comments!