As 2020 draws a close, once more I look back to something turning with an anniversary this year--one that maybe hits on some ongoing sentiments more than some might think. Twenty years on, it's often held up as one of the more depressing flicks of our times (though honestly I can think of others that beat when it comes to sadder notes, from Melancholia to Grave of the Fireflies). In any case, it's one that's been on my mind so eh, here we go.
Based on Hubert Selby's book, Daren Aronofsky's next film after Pi does feel like one of those turn of the millennium flicks that dealt with the feelings of nihilism and vapidity that hung over the pre-9/11, end of history period nineties (Fight Club being another). We focus on a handful of individuals in the somewhat run-down residentials of Coney Island, which has seen better days since the Warriors apparently moved out. Jared Leto plays Harry Goldfarb, hawking things to feed his small-time drug business, right under the unknowing nose of his mother Sara. Harry doesn't seem to have much higher amibition than just raising money to fuel techno-driven parties, and his more innocent yet naive parent longs to play on TV--which of course, just spouts off slogan-filled game show nonsense.
It also reminds me of the similarly drug-themed Trainspotting, from the same era--right down to some fast cuts, and some surprisingly effects-driven memorable sequences of trips gone very, very bad. The editing here will certainly keep your attention here through the proceedings--sure, it's not as innovative now as it was when fast cuts were mainly the purview of hip-hop videos, but it's still fun. You can even see how it might've influenced Edgar Wright before he hit the big time, or maybe it was the other way around. Either way, it's got a style oft referenced and parodied.
Even the music is memorable--well, mostly because the somewhat grandiose orchestral motif throughout got used for every single 'dramatic' music video for Youtube's first years. It's used in a more cut-up way to punctuate certain scenes here--right down to the amazing sight of Jared Leto pushing a TV along a street. But, somehow, combined with how manic the images get, it just about fits.
People have talked about the drug messaging or what stance this film takes--but honestly, even on my watch, I didn't really take that as the focus. Sure, Harry might be dealing in heroin, which begins to ravage his body and soon those around him, but his mother likewise begins a descent on seemingly mistakenly prescribed over the counter pharmaceuticals. Between the less than flattering depictions of commercial media, the authorities, and medical services...it certainly seems to be going for an indictment on the society that pushes them both to this. Moreso at least for Sara, the character with perhaps the most compelling and tragic descent--whose fixation on her screen leads reality and fantasy to blur together all too horribly.
Some of the said depictions might not be wholly authentic--stemming from a book written in the seventies when practices were different--but the impression is what matters. It all comes to head in a demented sequence of everything essentially going to hell for our leads in a cacophony of madness--and it's that sort of feeling of a horrific loop that I think more people can relate to now than they did before.
That's why that one final scene, of Sara retreating into fantasy, perhaps might ring truer for some in these days--as that's all some might be able to do. She might be retreating into delusion, but a delusion that gives some comfort. Still...it's best to bear in mind that for those of us in the real world, there might yet be a light at the end of the tunnel, and perhaps that ironically is something that gives a more reassuring perspective to a contemporary watcher.
And that's what I want to leave on here; all in all, Requiem for a Dream, accused by some of being overrated after its awards and nominations, is still at least going to be something that sticks with you, at least for its imagery. It's a product of its time in some respects, but still resonates in others. I guess whatever the future holds, it can serve as a reminder to, no matter how bad things get, keep yourself planted in the here and now, painful as it may sometimes be...
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