Delusional dreams turn into dark nightmares in Aronofsky film
REQUIEM FOR A DREAM (Darren Aronofsky, 2000)
Nitehawk Cinema
136 Metropolitan Ave. between Berry St. & Wythe Ave.
November 15-16, 12:05 am
718-384-3980
www.nitehawkcinema.com
Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream is a devastating portrait of addiction, featuring one of the most brutal endings in cinema history. Based on the novel by Hubert Selby Jr. (Last Exit to Brooklyn), who cowrote the screenplay with Aronofsky, the Coney Island-set film focuses on four central figures: Sara Goldfarb (Ellen Burstyn), a lonely widow living in Brighton Beach who learns that she might appear on a television program so is desperate to lose weight to fit into her red dress, ultimately getting lost in a haze of prescription drugs; her son, Harry (Jared Leto), a junkie looking to make a big score; Harry’s girlfriend, Marion Silver (Jennifer Connelly), who dreams of becoming a fashion designer but has to decide how far she will go for her next taste; and Harry’s partner in crime, Tyrone Love (Marlon Wayans), who shoots up while remembering the warm comfort of his mother’s arms. Using repetitive fast-paced editing, enhanced sound effects, and a harrowing score by Clint Mansell, Aronofsky (Black Swan, The Wrestler, PI) creates a nightmare world where delusional dreams come crashing down with horrific consequences. The acting throughout is a veritable tour de force, led by Burstyn’s Oscar-nominated descent into hell. Requiem for a Dream is screening November 15-16 at 12:05 am as part of the Nitehawk Cinema series “November Brunch & Midnite: Thx Bklyn,” a month-long collection of films either set in Brooklyn or written and/or directed by Brooklynites, being shown on weekend mornings and midnights, continuing with J. Michael Muro’s Street Trash, Morris Engel’s Little Fugitive, Sidney Lumet’s Serpico, and Noah Baumbach’s The Squid and the Whale.