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Requiem for a Dream

Requiem for a Dream
Requiem for a dream.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Darren Aronofsky
Produced by
  • Eric Watson
  • Palmer West
Screenplay by
Based on Requiem for a Dream
by Hubert Selby, Jr.
Starring
Music by Clint Mansell
Cinematography Matthew Libatique
Edited by Jay Rabinowitz
Production
companies
Distributed by Artisan Entertainment
Release date
  • May 14, 2000 (2000-05-14) (Cannes)
  • October 27, 2000 (2000-10-27) (US)
Running time
101 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $4.5 million
Box office $7.4 million

Requiem for a Dream is a 2000 American psychological drama film directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, and Marlon Wayans. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Hubert Selby, Jr., with whom Aronofsky wrote the screenplay. Burstyn was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance. The film was screened out of competition at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival.

The film depicts four different forms of drug addiction, which lead to the characters’ imprisonment in a world of delusion and reckless desperation that is subsequently overtaken by reality, thus leaving them as hollow shells of their former selves.

During the summer in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, widow Sara Goldfarb constantly watches television, particularly infomercials hosted by Tappy Tibbons. After receiving an unexpected phone call that she has won a spot to participate on a television game show, she becomes obsessed with regaining the youthful appearance she possesses in an old photograph. To reach her goal, she goes to a doctor to discuss weight loss. The doctor gives her a prescription for weight-loss amphetamine pills throughout the day and a sedative at night. As the months go by, Sara's tolerance for the pills adjusts and as a result she is no longer able to feel the same high the pills once gave her. When her invitation does not arrive, she increases her dosage from double to triple and, as a result, begins to suffer from amphetamine psychosis.

Meanwhile, Sara's son Harry, his girlfriend Marion, and friend Tyrone are all heroin addicts, and Harry funds his habit through petty theft. Tyrone decides that to support themselves, they should enter the drug trade. With the promised money, each addict hopes to achieve their dreams. At first, the trio's drug dealing business thrives. However, Tyrone is imprisoned after fleeing the scene of a drug-gang assassination and Harry uses most of their earned money to post bail. Afterward, the three find it much more difficult to find heroin due to supply being restricted by the Florida-based wholesalers. Eventually, Tyrone hears that the wholesaler is making a shipment, but the price is doubled and the minimum amount is high. Harry suggests that Marion ask for the cash from her psychiatrist in exchange for sex, which she does grudgingly, at a cost to her relationship with Harry. Tyrone and Harry go to meet the wholesaler, but the rest of the local dealers are also there, and tensions are running high. A shot rings out and the wholesaler's bodyguards respond by firing indiscriminately into the crowd. Harry returns empty-handed to Marion, who is so desperate that she has turned the apartment upside down searching for scraps, and they have a screaming argument. He leaves after giving her the number of a pimp who trades heroin for sex. Harry convinces Tyrone that their best option is to drive to Florida to pick up and put their drug dealing business back on track.


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