History Literature / RequiemForADream

* {{Tragedy}}: although you'd never have guessed it.

* WallofText: In the novel. Hubert Selby, who writes in a stream-of-consciousness style without much punctuation or paragraph breaking, could be a TropeNamer for this.

* RealityIsUnrealistic: Although the movie is criticized for its 'inaccurate' portrayal of mental institutions and medical procedures, the sad fact is that for the 60s and 70s American medical system - the book being written in the 70s - everything shown in the movie was possible; what nowadays would be called disgusting mistreatment and abuse of patient autonomy was a common occurrence in state-sanctioned mental institutions which were under-staffed and used dated methods based on rudimentary psychiatric knowledge[[hottip:*:And back in the 50s things were even worse]]. Remember, this was the era when a praised doctor and professor of medicine would travel the country giving mentally unresponsive patients lobotomies [[BodyHorror with only an icepick through the orbital lobe... and no anaesthetic]]!

* RealityIsUnrealistic: although the movie is criticized for its 'inaccurate' portrayal of mental institutions and medical procedures, the sad fact is that for the 60s and 70s American medical system - the book being written in the 70s - everything shown in the movie was possible; what nowadays would be called disgusting mistreatment and abuse of patient autonomy was a common occurrence in state-sanctioned mental institutions which were under-staffed and used dated methods based on rudimentary psychiatric knowledge[[hottip:*:And back in the 50s things were even worse]]. Remember, this was the era when a praised doctor and professor of medicine would travel the country giving mentally unresponsive patients lobotomies [[BodyHorror with only an icepick through the orbital lobe... and no anaesthetic]]!

* SpecialEffectFailure: As sad as the film's ending is, it does get ruined when one notices Jared Leto's real arm pressed up against him can be seen under the blue sheet, and when people can see the cotton on the ground masquerading as snow (when the ladies try to console each other after seeing Sara) and that it was clearly shot in a summer day.

* RealityIsUnrealistic: although the movie is criticized for its 'inaccurate' portrayal of mental institutions and medical procedures, the sad fact is that for the 60s and 70s American medical system - the book being written in the 70s - everything shown in the movie was possible; what nowadays would be called disgusting mistreatment and abuse of patient autonomy was a common occurrence in state-sanctioned mental institutions which were under-staffed and used dated methods based on rudimentary psychiatric knowledge[[hottip:*:And back in the 50s things were even worse]]. Remember, this was the era when a praised doctor and professor of medicine would travel the country giving mentally unresponsive patients lobotomies ''[[BodyHorror with only an icepick through the orbital lobe]]'' '''''[[HighOctaneNightmareFuel and no anaesthetic!]]'''''

Things collapse though within a matter of months for everyone: gang warfare breaks out in the city over the drug trade, resulting in the major drug suppliers shutting down all sales of drugs in the city order to force the rivals to surrender. Tyrone is arrested, forcing Harry and Marion to use all of their ill-gotten money made dealing to bail Tyrone out. Marion, now cut off financially from her family, turns to sleeping with her psychiatrist to earn money for drugs, which now go for a premium on the street. Meanwhile, Sara begins a downward spiral into insanity due to her increasing addiction to the diet medication.

In the end, all of them are left broken shells of their former selves by the ravages of addiction and the tragedy of their broken dreams.

* BlackBestFriend: Tyrone.

* DownerEnding: You ''really'' won't want to try drugs after this ending. Hell, life itself may be too much for you after it.
** It's one of those movies you do not want to see more than once.

* SpecialEffectFailure: As sad as the film's ending is, it does get ruined when one notices Jared Leto's real arm pressed up against him can be seen under the blue sheet.

Originally a novel written in 1978 by Hubert Selby, Jr., ''Requiem For A Dream'' was made into a movie by Creator/DarrenAronofsky in 2000. The story is about three friends and one friend's mother, who over the course of nine months (summer, fall, winter) have their lives destroyed by drug addiction. ''Requiem For A Dream'' is well-loved for its haunting view on drug use, but it's also widely criticized for its ''extremely'' inaccurate and negative portrayal of normal medical procedures.

** Which is a case of RealityIsUnrealistic. ECT is done only in cases of extreme depression that fails to respond to anything, with the patients consent, and the person is sedated during it.

* RealityIsUnrealistic: although the movie is criticized for its 'inaccurate' portrayal of mental institutions and medical procedures, the sad fact is that for the 60s and 70s American medical system - the book being written in the 70s - everything shown in the movie was possible; what nowadays would be called disgusting mistreatment and abuse of patient autonomy was a common occurrence in state-sanctioned mental institutions which were under-staffed and used dated methods based on rudimentary psychiatric knowledge[[hottip:*:And back in the 50s things were even worse]]. Remember, this was the era when a praised doctor and professor of medicine would travel the country giving mentally unresponsive patients lobotomies ''[[BodyHorror with only an icepick through the orbital lobe]]'' '''''[[AndIMustScream and no anaesthetic!]]'''''

** If you expand that idea a litle, you find that when it all comes together, the message isn't really that drugs are bad, but that ''escapism'' is bad. Although the drugs are the route of escape for all four main characters, the real problem is that they can't face the reality of their problems, and so they run away from them in denial. They use drugs to escape from the issues of reality, dwelling in their fantasies and dreams, and then when the drugs become a greater problem they are unable to face that either and so become all-consumed by it, unable to endure the agony of withdrawal and the harsh light of reality, trapped by their dependence and the degradation they endure to sustain that dependence. The vicious cycle destroys them.

* RealityIsUnrealistic: although the movie is criticized for its 'inaccurate' portrayal of mental institutions and medical procedures, the sad fact is that for the 50s and 60s American medical system - the book being written in the 60s - everything shown in the movie was possible; what nowadays would be called disgusting mistreatment and abuse of patient autonomy was a common occurrence in state-sanctioned mental institutions which were under-staffed and used dated methods based on rudimentary psychiatric knowledge. Remember, this was the era when a praised doctor and professor of medicine would travel the country giving mentally unresponsive patients lobotomies ''[[BodyHorror with only an icepick through the orbital lobe]]'' '''''[[AndIMustScream and no anaesthetic!]]'''''

* {{Tragedy}}

* RealityIsUnrealistic: although the movie is criticized for its 'inaccurate' portrayal of mental institutions and medical procedures, the sad fact is that for the 50s and 60s American medical system - the book being written in the 60s - everything shown in the movie was possible; what nowadays would be called disgusting mistreatment and abuse of patient autonomy was a common occurrence in state-sanctioned mental institutions which were under-staffed and used dated methods based on rudimentary psychiatric knowledge. Remember, this was the era when a praised doctor and professor of medicine would travel the country giving mentally unresponsive patients lobotomies ''with only an icepick through the orbital lobe '''and no anaesthetic.'''''

* RealityIsUnrealistic: although the movie is criticized for its 'inaccurate' portrayal of mental institutions and medical procedures, the sad fact is that for the 50s and 60s American medical system - the book being written in the 60s - everything shown in the movie was possible; what nowadays would be called disgusting mistreatment and abuse of patient autonomy was a common occurrence in state-sanctioned mental institutions which were under-staffed and used dated methods based on rudimentary psychiatric knowledge. Remember, this was the era when a praised doctor and professor of medicine would travel the country giving mentally unresponsive patients lobotomies ''with only an icepick through the orbital lobe '''and no anaesthetic.'''

* ScareEmStraight

* GirlOnGirlIsHot: Applies in-story; Marion performs a lesbian sex act on stage so she could have money for drugs. The viewer, however, won't find it arousing.

** It's one of those kind of movies you do not want to see more than once.

* WallofText: In the novel. Hubert Selby, who writes in a stream-of-consciousness style without much punctuation or paragraph breaking, could be a TropeNamer for this.

->''If you ever find yourself inexplicably contented with your lot, slip this into your DVD player and normal service will be resumed... this is a film you watch once, then repair to the pub to stare fixedly into your beer for the night, vowing never, ever to watch it again.''
-->-- Empire's Top 10 Most Depressing Movies (this is #1)