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Today’s installment of My Favourite Scenes is the denouement to Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream; a film I love so much, I accidentally bought it in both Blu-ray and DVD. Oops. Every single time I watch this scene, I get goosebumps and start to feel nauseous. Fourteen years after its release and Requiem for a Dream still commands a visceral grip on its audience. The movie, which chronicles the effects of drug addiction on four individuals, resulted in a Best Actress nomination for Ellen Burstyn but it also put Darren Aronofsky’s name on the movie-making map.
The scene starts with a dream as Harry (Jared Leto) runs down a pier towards his girlfriend Marion (Jennifer Connelly) who’s wearing a red dress. Harry’s previous dreams have been tranquil and idyllic but this time, the violent crashing of waves are drowning out his desperate cries to Marion. Harry reaches the end of the pier but Marion has disappeared and as he slowly walks backward, the pier dissolves from underneath him, plunging him down into darkness. A fade reveals a smiling nurse who consoles Harry. As the two converse, the camera slowly pulls away and the movie’s iconic score kicks in, revealing a heavily bandaged stump that used to be Harry’s arm.
Clint Mansell’s Lux Aeterna continues throughout the rest of the scene and through parallel editing, the horrifying plights, and ironic unity, of the four protagonists are shown. Marion walks into a darkly lit house, a home that used to be full of colour and life, adopts a foetal position on the sofa and clutches a paper-bag of heroin close to her chest. Her fashion drawings, which were once her passion and talent, lay torn and crumpled across the floor. She vacantly smiles as mascara and eye shadow run across her face. Far away, Tyrone (Marlon Wayans), sweat dripping from his forehead, tosses and turns on his hard prison bed. He too adopts a child-like sleeping position as he thinks about his mother.
The scene climaxes with Sara as she stares up at the ceiling, just passed the camera. Her gaunt, skeletal-like face and thinned white hair highlight her physical deterioration. As she continues to stare, the non-diegetic sounds of a game-show come to the fore and a smile breaks out across her face. The camera pulls away and a cross-fade posits her hospital bed in the centre of a crowded game-show audience. A healthier, long-haired Sara Goldfarb is up on the stage with Harry, her son, who’s dressed to the nines in a fancy suit and slicked back hair. It’s a devastating end to an intensely disturbing film as Sara’s drug-induced delusions show no sign of abating. The prescription drugs have snatched everything from her, not least her mental health.
Aronofsky’s movie is a masterclass of clever editing and in-camera techniques such as; jump cuts, vary speeding and transitions. These techniques are mostly used to show the heightened states of euphoria and despair that Sara, Harry and co deal with in their drug-filled everyday lives. However, these fancy tricks aren’t required for the final scene as Aronofsky lets the heavyweight performances and expert score do the majority of the work. Requiem for a Dream contains over 2,000 cuts but Aronofsky gives the finale a more deliberate, slower pace so that the emotional significance of the images can be appreciated.
To view the scene, watch the Youtube video below.
Benrhayward 
I agree with this scene. Although, wasn't PI the one that put Aronofsky in the map?
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Requiem put him in the mainstream and showed what he could do with a bigger budget. But yeah, when he showed PI at Sundance, his name was on everyone's lips for the first time.
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That ending was very brutal. Seeng each character lost in her or his own dream while also seeing the reality of their situation was a tough one to watch, but oh so beautiful at the same time
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Ahh this movie. So good, but I don't know if I'd ever want to watch it again. It was just haunting. Great write up!
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I always think about these pretty art design on the top of cup of coffee. It looks so cute and unique! I like it! Sometimes I even do not want to buy custom essays this beautiful picture.
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