10 Intense Performances In Heart-Breaking Movie Scenes
6. Ellen Burstyn Requiem For A Dream
Ellen Burstyn has been an acclaimed actress in the film industry for over 30 years with great performances in The Exorcist and Alice Doesnt Live Here Anymore, for which she won an Oscar. However, she states that her finest achievement was in 2000s Requiem for a Dream, another Aronofsky film for this list. Even as it falls into a black hole of despair, its most heart-breaking moment comes early on when it still has shreds of humanity. In a scene where her son, played by Jared Leto, confronts her about her diet pill addiction and is skeptical about her ambitions to be on TV, she cries through a smile about how it gives her a reason to live. Its a passionate monologue from Burstyn as she defends why shes doing something wrong out of loneliness. It makes you think deeply about what fame and body image means to America, especially in old age. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sq0W-L1KKPg In the scene you can see that the camera gets fogged up and struggles to keep up with Burstyn, this was because the cinematographer Matthew Libatique couldnt help himself and cried too.
Recently graduated from University of Hertfordshire with a Film & Television Production degree. Usually found watching films, listening to music, writing for whatculture and writing reviews for awardscircuit.com and my blog.
