Requiem for a Dream

Thursday, November 21, 7:30 pm
USA, 2000. Director: Darren Aronofsky
Cast: Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Marlon Wayans

The follow-up to his darkly brilliant debut “PI”, director Darren Aronofsky’s second feature is a jaw-droppingly cinematic deconstruction of addiction. Adapted from Hubert Selby’s 1968 novel, this is a visceral and unflinching dissection of addiction. Parallel stories are linked by the relationship between the lonely, widowed Sara Goldfarb (Burstyn) and her aimless son Harry (Leto), a heroin addict. Galvanized by the prospect of appearing on a TV game show, Sara has started on a dangerous slimming regimen of diet pills and uppers prescribed by an unscrupulous doctor. Meanwhile, Harry and his new girlfriend Marion (Connelly) fantasize about opening a small business together and spending the rest of their lives in love. Harry’s cohort, an intelligent hustler named Tyrone (Wayans), convinces the couple that freedom lies in the easy money that can be gained by dealing drugs, an enterprise that only leads them further down the road to their inevitable ruin. Aronofsky’s frenetic (the film contains more than 2000 cuts) and disturbing style is the perfect setting for this story of four people whose intertwined lives are full of eternally hopeful despair.
Colour, 35mm, 102 mins.

The program will include:
A post-screening discussion with:
Mr. Dean Wilson of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU), a non-profit organization whose membership works to improve the lives of people who use illicit drugs through harm-reduction, education and peer support. Mr. Wilson will provide an overview of VANDU’s mission and activities, including the organization’s Alley Patrol and Street Program in the downtown eastside.

Evening moderated by:
Dr. Harry Karlinsky Director of Continuing Medical Education and Professional Development, Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia.

This evening is co-sponsored by the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU)