1. Requiem For A Dream (2000)
Directed by Darren Aronofsky, Requiem For A Dream is positively over flowing with harrowing sadness. The leads in the film are put through the mill several times over. The four characters in the film have their lives overrun and destroyed by drug addiction. Sara Goldfarb (Ellen Burstyn) is a lonely widow whose son Harry (Jared Leto) only visits her to take away her television to pawn for drugs money. She is addicted to a gameshow on TV and she is sent a letter telling her that she will soon be on the show. To fit into her nice red dress, she needs to lose weight and she winds up addicted to slimming tablets. This leads to amphetamine psychosis, hallucinating that the refrigerator is alive and that the game show is taking place in her room. Harry, together with his friend Tyrone (Marlon Wayans) and girlfriend (Jennifer Connelly) are all heroin addicts. They try to realise their dreams by getting involved in the drugs trade, but the business is becoming increasingly violent and drugs are harder to obtain. This leaves the trio in states of withdrawal. Tyrone and Harry head to Florida but Harry has got a nasty infection in his arm due to heroin injection. They are arrested for skipping bail Tyrone is sent to hard labour and has to deal with the racist guards and withdrawal. Harry has his arm amputated. Back in NY, desperate for drugs, Marion agrees to do sex shows for money. Sara has lost the plot altogether and receives shock therapy. But she is beyond cure - still wrapped up in the Game Show fantasy. Ellen Burstyn really deserved the Oscar for her role as Sara Goldfarb whose decline is tragic and very sad to watch. Burstyn really gets into the head of her character and her portrayal is one of the best descents into madness ever committed to celluloid. But it's not just Burstyn, all the cast are uniformly excellent as they all descend into their private hells. The editing is quirky and the music is haunting. Aronofsky's direction will leave you speechless. As all of the characters curl into a foetal shape at the end of the film, you will feel despair rend your heart.