FAVORITE FILMS: REQUIEM OF A DREAM

If you dare, Darren Aronofsky's 2000 film REQUIEM FOR A DREAM manages to combine the exagerated and angst feuld images of German Expressionism with tremendous montage sequences that recall the power of Soviet Montage.  The film follows four protagonists linked by love, friendship, family, and addiction.  REQUIEM FOR A DREAM, as the title suggests, explores the disparate nature of our dreams and our realities.  The characters of the film become victims of their own dreams and delusions, which leads them down a road of desperation.

This gripping and shocking film, based on the novel by Hurbert Shelby Jr., shows that these two international movements may share a lot of similarities and form two important cornerstones to cinematic expression:  mise-en-scene and montage.  In additon, the film has powerful performances and a moving musical score.