Dr. Don-2

Though obviously not a well-funded effort, there is not much to complain about technically in this important film which, unfortunately, few people will ever see.

Set in Vancouver, B. C., the film portrays a brutalized Bosnian muslim refugee family (father, his catatonic wife, and their rebellious teen-aged son) whose lives and suffering in Bosnia are never forgotten in their day-to-day existence as emigres, with hints at their experiences provided in conversations which blend in naturally in the script and, if anything, are sometimes more bleak or chilling than contrived film recreations would have been. Their paths cross with a family of Bosnian Serb immigrants who left Bosnia prior to the genocide of the muslims by the Serb forces. The natural emotions among members of both families are convincingly portrayed, powerful and poignant.

This film takes the side of long-suffering humanity and mercifully makes no judgment on the main characters despite their frequent failures to achieve Hollywood-style implausible triumphs of good will over old prejudices and fears. It brings the horror of ethnic violence and genocide down to the level of the individual, and spares us the kind of tidy, satisfying and utterly ridiculous happy ending which most producers would have insisted upon and which would have ruined this gem of a film. It's bleak, but that's realistic and necessary, and its honesty allows the moments of grace which do occur to seem real and possible, not contrived, and therefore to touch the soul more deeply.

I'm tempted to say that this film should be seen by every Serb, but that would be unfair -- it should be seen by all of us who have been tempted to see another group of people as, well, somehow not quite as good, quite as human, or quite as deserving as themselves.

That systematic rape, murder of civilians and mass forced relocations of whole communities occurred in Europe so recently, after what we supposed we 'civilized' folks had learned from the Nazi horrors, is a chilling piece of insight into what makes us tick and what makes seemingly ordinary people somehow become capable of torture, rape and murder of their neighbours. Having said that, this is not a propaganda film for any group or ideology, though it is apparent that many people in the Serb diaspora as well as, certainly, most Serbs still living in the Balkans, choose to remain blind to the deeds of their countrymen, much as many Germans did during and after the Nazi reign of terror across Europe.

If you get a chance to see this film, don't miss it. It's a better film than many Oscar nominees over the past few years.

Though I am pleased to see that most people have given this film very positive reviews, I had to laugh at some of the negative ones questioning the validity of Aronofsky's presentation of drug addiction, including those alluding to the film being anti-drug 'propaganda'.

Hello, all you deep thinkers. This former IV narcotics addict can verify that "Requiem for a Dream" comes closer than any film I've ever seen (that's a whole lot of celluloid, folks) in portraying what addiction -- no matter what the chemical -- is really like. With all due respect to good efforts such as "Clean and Sober" and "Trainspotting", none of those films takes us into the inner desperation, insanity (literally), anger, isolation, shame and hopelessness that addiction ultimately becomes, nearly as well as "Requiem" does. If you haven't stolen or otherwise degraded yourself repeatedly to get a drug "one last time", used to overdose levels knowingly without wanting to, used drugs you hate just because they're there and something awful is better than nothing at all, become capable of hurting others you love intentionally when having to choose between them and the drug, lost the ability to function as a friend, worker, family member or citizen, and kept coming back for more because the compulsion and obsession overwhelmed everything you knew or wanted to do, then please do not pretend to be able to say whether this film is an accurate representation of drug addiction. Thank you.

As for technical merit, the acting performances especially by Burstyn and Leto were absolutely brilliant. I knew Burstyn was that talented, by Leto totally surprised me and gave one of the very best male lead performances of Y2K. The script was flawless, the camera work inspired, the frequent flash sequences representing the process of getting loaded were cut to the bone. This is an exceedingly important film. It's been over eleven years since I touched any mood-altering chemical, nor do I crave to use, but this film brought all that pathetic, degrading, relentless, bleak hopelessness right back. All you nice little suburban dope smokers who think you know better, please keep your pleasant little self-delusions about the harmlessness of drug use to your pleasant little addled brain numbed selves. This film shows what it's really like in the big time. It sucks.

After five minutes I turned to my friends and said, "See you later, I've got to go home and write my review." I wish I had been serious. What are Tim Robbins and Gary Sinise doing in a piece of tripe like this? The best scenes consume approximately three minutes and are availble on line in the form of a trailer. The other almost two hours are excruciating. Everything is explained to the level of a ten year old's comprehension, and improbably explained at that. Ouch, my head hurts. This is the sort of film that is made to make very bad films look very good. And also to make quite a lot of money for everyone involved. What a precipitious drop from "Scarface" to mindlessness. Wooden performances, a hideously awful brain numbing script, unconvincing special effects, and it's going to make a half a billion dollars. This film has no redeeming qualities. Therefore I fully expect it to receive ten Academy Award nominations.