Wow. This film has some of the best camera work i have ever seen. The story in a sense is a little mediocre, but the way in which it's film is spectacular. All of the parts where extremely well acted, and i was pleasantly surprised to find out that Marlon Wayans could act serious.
I just finished watching it a few hours ago, and i'm still extremely depressed. It really gets under your skin, and you find yourself rooting for the characters but to no avail. I liked Pi better, but i would definately reccommend that you guys see this movie.
i finished the book recently and have been waiting
for this to come out. i thought PI was great. but this book was about the
most depressing thing i have ever read. EVER. sounds like the movie captures the mood...downward spiral.
I was extremely excited to learn that this had finally come to DVD. I was going to see it in the theatres, but put it off for too long.
Naturally, the only rental place near me is Blockbuster. Foolish of me to believe they would actually have an unedited version in stock. Foolish! (The original version is NC-17. f**king Blockbuster.) I'm definitely going to have my first exposure to the movie a hacked up version.
Directed by Darren Aronofsky, the man behind PI. He's also slated to direct the next Batman movie.
Alisa - If Requiem got under your skin and had you rooting for the characters, check out "Funny Games". It's German/Austrian with subs (don't be put off) and it crawls under your skin and dies there. Happy viewing.
thanks :) where would be a good place to look for Funny Games?
Hey what's up,
I saw Requiem in the theatre with a friend, when i walked out i looked at him to see his reaction, he handled it fine but i felt like someone kicked me in the gut real hard! I'm surprised you didn't like the story, i though it was very strong. At first viewing i couldn't tell if it was trying to be some kinda D.A.R.E., preachy anti-drug story, 'cause i don't have time for that B.S. But second viewing i concluded it's most likely a close character study, but who ever knows the true meaning of a film's infranarrative, Frankenstein was supposedly about the filmmaker's repressed homosexuality. For another great substance abuse film check out NIL BY MOUTH, directed by Gary Oldhman. Good luck, it's a tough film.
Well the story itself wasn't bad. There were certain things in the movie that just didn't seem to make much sense to me. Correct me if i'm wrong but i don't think they still allow shock treatment in insane asylums, and i don't think the doctor that gave Sara the pills would have been that careless. Especially after seeing what a distraught state she was in.
Other than that i really enjoyed how depressed the movie made me feel, and i loved the music.
Good question. I would try any independent video stores, or mail-order independents. I believe the director, Michael Haneke, had a more "accessible" or commercial movie released recently, but the title escapes me. If that fails, the video is available via an independent mail-order company that I use to get hold of movies that would otherwise disappear for good. My copy was actually shown uncut on a maverick UK TV station, so I taped it. I would gladly order it for you, although you could order it yourself, I've just looked through the catalogue, and it says the price is £16 = $25approx. + £2.50 = $4 for postage anywhere other than Europe. The name of the company is MOVIEMAIL (very original, I know!) and their web address is: www. moviem.co.uk . I could order it for you, but I don't know the laws about sending tapes overseas. Good luck, Alisa - it's a real one-off movie, but it's very harrowing to say the least.
Yeah, as far as i know electro-schock therapy is banned in hospitals, (along with lobotomies), but i believe i read somewhere that this story is supposed to take place in the 70's. So who knows what the medical policies were back then. I would have to agree the soundtrack is great, and very moving. It has a sort of surreal, haunting feel to it. It's also available on CD, and it's arranged by the British based Kronos Quartet. They're well known for composing more less conventional type of soundtracks for films, i believe they also did the HEAT soundtrack. I also liked how screwed up the film made me feel, a good film does this, stirs up inside. If you wanna check out some other great, unsettling films, and if you have access to them check out the following:
1.IN A GLASS CAGE-(Spain), the director of this got a pie thrown in his face at the Cannes film festival. I think it's banned in Australia-ha!
2. I STAND ALONE-(France), i can't stand much French films but this is a great dark story about an impovershed butcher fighting for his sanity in a society that has thrown him away.
3. ROMPER STOMPER-(Australia), check out Russell Crowe as a Nazi-skinhead.
Good luck.
Thanks Steve for the info about how to find that movie.
Chris i went out and bought the musical score to Requiem on Friday, and i'm hooked on it. It's so sad! I just bought the book today, i'm having a little bit of a hard time trying to read it though. I'm not used to reading books that don't have quotations for what the characters are saying, and it also doesn't start a new paragraph everytime a diff. character starts to talk. So it's a little confusing, but so far it's pretty good. I've seen the box for Romper Stomper, but i've never actually seen the movie. One of my friends said it was sort of like an Australian version of American History X.
Awesome! I'm glad you're enjoying the soundtrack, it's extremely moving. Yeah, i've heard Selby's style of writing is like that, very experimental, stream of conscienceness style of writing. The way you describe it reminds me a lot of how chuck palahnuik-Fight Club,(sorry i probably spelled that wrong), writes. Your friend made a good comparison, however American History deeply moved me, it paints a more of a moral lesson it's trying to teach. Romper Stomper is a lot more like Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, in subtle plot ways and Crowe's wardrobe he dons in selected scenes. Romper paints a picture of how this racist gang of people live out of-and interestingly against-society and allows you to be the judge of how their own hatred destroys their lives. Pretty heavy stuff huh? I first saw the film when i was 16, and now at the age of 20 i feel i can understand it better. I wasn't sure how i felt about it then. Let me know how you feel about it if you see it.
I went out a bought this on DVD and just finished watching it.
Don't really have much too add about it. The movie is just as good and terrible as everybody says it is. Those final scenes are still reverberating through my mind. Kicking myself for missing it in the theatres.
The DVD is interesting. It starts out with a white noise filled version of the Tappy commercial, and the menu turns out to be one of those blue "sell" screens you see at the end of commercials, eg. "Call this number". I haven't watched the extras yet.
Oddly enough, I saw FUNNY GAMES for rent at the local Blockbuster. I don't know if it's edited or not. I guess they don't worry about anyone renting it and complaining since it's in the foreign section.
The sound on the film was mixed by Jap techno legend Ken Ishii, and the music was composed by Clint Mansell (ex Pop Will Eat Itself) who was also responsible for the original score for Pi.
As for ECT, I don't know about in the US, but my girlfriend was suffering pretty bad with depression for a long while and here in the UK they still offer you ECT as a possible treatment. Obviously she turned it down, but it's still being done even now.
I think this film (Requiem...) is a masterpiece. Give Christiane F a try aswell, it's coming out on the Image label (DVD) in the US in July I think - German 70's heroin movie, very bleak.
And maybe give William Burroughs novel "Junky" a go.