Requiem for a Dream (2000) on Netflix
In Brighton Beach, Sara Goldfarb is invited onto her favorite game show and diets to fit the red dress from her son's graduation. Harry and Tyrone sell heroin.
- Netflix3.9/5
- IMDb8.3/10985,199 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes80%
Trailer
Plot summary
Sara Goldfarb, a widow on her own in Brighton Beach, watches television. An invitation to her favorite game show arrives, and she begins a strict crash diet, determined to fit into the red dress she wore at her son Harry's graduation. Her friend Rae sends her to a doctor, who prescribes amphetamines to control her appetite, and she loses weight quickly. Harry and his friend Tyrone sell heroin and hope to buy in bulk; Marion, Harry's girlfriend, designs clothes and dreams of a shop. Tyrone wants his mother's approval and a way out of the neighborhood. Sara says the show and the admiration of her friends Ada and Rae are what keeps her going.
Cast
- Joanne Gordonas Mrs. Ovadia
- Charlotte Aronofskyas Mrs. Miles
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Requiem for a Dream (2000)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Real drug addicts were hired as extras for a grocery store scene in Requiem for a Dream; Aronofsky recalled that some of them were injecting themselves during filming.
- Jared Leto spent time living on the streets of New York among people in his character's situation and starved himself for months, losing 28 lb, to play his heroin-addicted character realistically.
- Faye Dunaway was among the actresses who rejected the role of Sara Goldfarb, and Ellen Burstyn initially turned it down because of the depressing content; her manager convinced her to see Aronofsky's previous work, and she agreed to star.
- To capture Sara Goldfarb's weight loss, Ellen Burstyn wore two fat suits simulating an extra 40 lb and 20 lb, plus nine wigs and four necks that could take four hours to apply; she also dieted during a two-week filming break to lose 10 lb.
- The film was originally rated NC-17 by the Motion Picture Association of America; Aronofsky appealed, arguing that cutting any portion would dilute its message, the appeal was denied, and Artisan Entertainment released it unrated, later issuing an R-rated video version with the sex scene edited.
- Mansell's "Lux Aeterna", the leitmotif of Requiem for a Dream, became popular outside the film, used in film and teaser trailers and in multiple remixes and remakes by other producers.
- The editing is built on montages of extremely short shots: while an average 100-minute film has 600 to 700 cuts, Requiem for a Dream features more than 2,000.
- Marlon Wayans read the novel three times and auditioned five times for the role of Tyrone before he was offered the part, eager to work with Aronofsky.
