Requiem for a Dream

Requiem for a Dream (2000)

Timing: 1:42 (102 min)

8.012/10
10868

8.022/10
452351

8.3/10
968000

All about film

Video 25

Photo 135

Actors and characters

Release date

2000-10-06

Country

United States

Production

Protozoa Pictures, Thousand Words, Artisan Entertainment, Industry Entertainment, Bandeira Entertainment

Genre

Crime, Drama

Budget

$4 500 000

Revenue

$7 390 108

Website

https://www.lionsgate.com/movies/requiem-for-a-dream

Director

Darren Aronofsky

Actors

Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Marlon Wayans, Christopher McDonald, Louise Lasser, Marcia Jean Kurtz, Janet Sarno, Suzanne Shepherd, Joanne Gordon
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Eric Watson, Palmer West, Nick Wechsler, Stefan Simchowitz, Beau Flynn

Operator

Matthew Libatique

Composer

Clint Mansell

Artist

Audition

Mary Vernieu, Ann Goulder, Anne McCarthy

Editing

Jay Rabinowitz
All team (91)

• The film is based on Hubert Selby Jr.'s novel "Requiem for a Dream" (1978).
• The role of Harry Goldfarb was originally intended for Giovanni Ribisi. Darren Aronofsky envisioned the main character as Giovanni after reading the novel.
• Typically, a standard film consists of 600 continuous shots. "Requiem for a Dream" has around 2000.
• Director Darren Aronofsky strongly requested that the lead actors, Jared Leto and Marlon Wayans, abstain from sexual contact and sugar for 30 days to understand how people behave when experiencing an overwhelming craving.
• During Ellen Burstyn's monologue about what it feels like to be old, cinematographer Matthew Libatique accidentally moved the camera away from the subject. Darren was furious, but later understood the reason for the mistake. Ellen's performance was so impactful that the cinematographer gave in to his emotions and cried. Tears, of course, got on the camera lens. To avoid the director's righteous anger, Matthew simply ruined the take.
• To appear natural on screen, Ellen Burstyn spent approximately 4 hours daily off-set walking around her house in costumes that increased her weight (up to 20 kg) and build. A total of 4 types of neck appliances, 2 bulky suits, and 9 wigs were used during filming.
• To better embody the character of Harry Goldfarb, Jared Leto lost 13 kilograms and befriended real heroin addicts from Brooklyn.
• The scene in which Harry talks on the phone with Marion was filmed simultaneously in one soundstage. This was undoubtedly beneficial for the actors, as they could immediately calibrate their reactions to their scene partner.
• The hallucination in which Harry falls from a great height was filmed using a camera suspended from a bungee cord. The crew had some doubts about whether the camera would stop a few centimeters from the ground. However, no cameras were damaged during the filming of this episode.
• Filming the television show segments took only one day, and host Christopher McDonald improvised well, which delighted Darren Aronofsky. At the end of the work, the entire film crew thanked Christopher with enthusiastic applause.
• According to the script, the father of Jennifer Connelly's character is involved in making and selling clothes. In real life, Jennifer Connelly's father is also engaged in this line of business.
• As we recall, the television broadcasts calls for “three things you must do to change yourself”: — give up meat; — give up sugar; — but we never heard the third slogan, although it is present on the director's DVD release.
• At the very beginning of the film, we have the opportunity to hear a string quartet preparing to perform the main theme. Before the credits begin, we can hear the conductor’s voice giving the command to start the performance. The musicians are none other than “The Kronos Quartet,” and the soulful music for the film was composed by Clint Mansell.
• In the film, we can see screenwriter Hubert Selby Jr. (one of the prison guards) and director Aronofsky himself (one of the guests at the party hosted by Big Tim) in episodic roles. In addition, Darren's father can also be seen in the film. He plays a subway passenger telling Sarah Goldfarb that she is terribly emaciated.
• The scene of the screaming girl in the bathtub underwater was completely borrowed from the Japanese animated film “Perfect Blue” (1997). Darren Aronofsky bought the rights to the film outright, solely to use the aforementioned scene in his work.
• Big Tim's phone number doesn't adhere to the established Hollywood convention of starting all phone numbers with the combination "555-".
• At the end of the film, the main characters are holding something in their mouths: -Marion clenches a cash check from one of the partygoers in her mouth; -Sarah clenches a rubber stick between her teeth during electroshock; -Harry has an oxygen mask on; -and only Tyrone is an exception: he experiences stomach cramps.
• The film never specifies what drug Harry and his friends are using. They refer to it as "shit," "bread," and so on. Judging by the effects (with the exception of dilated pupils) and consequences, it can be assumed it was heroin. However, it's possible this was the author's intention – to show an addiction to drugs in general, not specifically to heroin. In this case, the dilated pupils might have been used deliberately.
• The man peeling an orange and the truck full of oranges in the scene where the heroes go for a new supply of drugs not only indicate their next destination – Florida – but also serve as a remark referencing the "Godfather" trilogy, where the presence of oranges foreshadows disaster.
• At the beginning of the film, when Sarah is trying on a dress, a flesh-colored corset with prosthetic "fat" is reflected in the mirror, which she used to appear heavier.
• In the scene where the boys bring Rabinovich a television, the goose-shaped lamp behind the old man changes position between frames.
• When Harry calls Marion for the last time, she answers with her right hand and brings the phone to her opposite (left) ear. Following this, the director intended a mirror image shot, but the hand in the frame is her left, not her right.
• Director Darren Aronofsky strongly asked the lead male actors, Jared Leto and Marlon Wayans, to abstain from sexual contact and sugar for 30 days in order to understand how people behave when experiencing overwhelming desire.
• During Ellen Burstyn’s monologue about what it feels like to be old, operator Matthew Libatique accidentally moved the camera away from the subject. Darren was furious, but later understood the reason for the operator’s mistake. The scene performed by Ellen impressed the operator so much that he gave free rein to his emotions and cried.
• To appear natural, Ellen Burstyn spent about 4 hours a day off-set walking around her house in prosthetics that increased her weight by 20 kg. A total of 4 types of neck prosthetics, 2 bulky suits, and 9 wigs were used during filming.
• To get into character, Jared Leto lost 13 kilograms and befriended real heroin addicts from Brooklyn.
• The scene where Harry talks on the phone with Marion was filmed in one soundstage simultaneously. This benefited the actors, as they could immediately calibrate their reactions.
• The hallucination in which Harry falls from a great height was filmed using a camera suspended on a zip line. The crew had some doubts whether the camera would be able to stop a few centimeters from the ground. No cameras were damaged during the filming of this episode.
• Filming the segments of the television show took only one day, and the host, Christopher McDonald, improvised well, which delighted Darren Aronofsky himself.
• According to the script, Jennifer Connelly's character's father is involved in making and selling clothes. In real life, Jennifer Connelly's father was involved in exactly this area of business.
• The film features a call for "three things you must do to change yourself": give up meat, give up sugar, and the third slogan appears in the director's cut of the film.
• The scene of a screaming girl underwater in a bathtub was completely borrowed from the Japanese animated film "Perfect Blue." Rumors circulated that Darren Aronofsky bought the rights to the film solely to use that scene in his work, but this is not true — the anime authors did not receive any royalties.
• The film does not directly state what drug the characters are using. They refer to it as shit, bread, etc.
• At the beginning of the film, when Sarah is trying on a dress, a flesh-colored corset with padding is reflected in the mirror, used to make the actors appear heavier.
• In the scene where the characters bring Rabinovich a television, the goose-shaped lamp behind the old man changes position between shots.
• The last time Harry calls Marion, she answers the phone with her right hand and holds it to her opposite left ear. Following this, according to the director’s intention, is a mirror image shot, but the hand in the frame is her left, not her right.
• The film features a call for "three things you must do to change yourself": give up meat, give up sugar, and the third slogan is present in the director's cut of the film.
• The scene of a screaming girl underwater in a bathtub was completely borrowed from the Japanese animated film "True Tears." Rumors circulated that Darren Aronofsky bought the rights to the film solely to use that scene in his work, but this is not true—the anime’s creators did not receive any royalties.