History YMMV / RequiemForADream

* HarsherInHindsight : Harry losing an arm got even more horrific after reports of Russian synthetic heroin Krokodil made the rounds.

* {{Narm}}: The excessive cuts, overly dramatic music and oddly music video feel of some scenes can make them a bit hard to take seriously. Going by comments from the director, this may have been intentional though.

** Tyrone, too, though he's not nearly as completely a victim of circumstance as Sara is. Of the four main characters, he's the only one who manages to get through the entire movie with his affection for his loved ones intact, and he's motivated primarily by his love for his mother...and then he ends up doing vomit-inducing hard labor as a young, black drug dealer in a Southern prison under openly racist guards. Some of the only touching moments in Winter are Tyrone holding Harry's hand in the work line, and calling for help because his friend is sick.

* AwardSnub: The film received a single Oscar nomination and won nothing.

* [[BestKnownForTheFanservice Best Known for the Ass to Ass Scene]]

* AwardSnub: Ellen Burstyn's heartbreaking performance as Sara lost the Academy Award for Best Actress to... '''Creator/JuliaRoberts''' in ''Film/ErinBrockovich''. And the film didn't get a single other nomination, not even for Original Score, Cinematography, or Film Editing.
** Regarding Burstyn losing to Roberts, you can chalk it up to Burstyn having won decades previously for ''Film/AliceDoesntLiveHereAnymore'', and Roberts being at the peak of her career and up til then unlauded for it. That's just [[ConsolationAward how the Oscars work]]. The snubs of other categories, however, are outrageous.
*** Particularly the score. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQHYDXpfuHM&feature=related This]], just listen to it. This track is not merely very good, it has become part of the musical lexicon on a scale comparable with [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT7_Y1pIBb4 Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik]].

** Special mention to the famous opening bombastic score set to the incredible sight of...two men pushing a television across Brooklyn.

* EsotericHappyEnding: Don't get us wrong, the film's actual ending is [[DownerEnding not at all this]], but it's the final image it leaves us with. [[spoiler:The film ends with Sara fantasizing about winning the grand prize of the game show with Harry as the guest of honor, presumably leading a successful life and married to Marion. Basically, Sara has retreated into her mind and achieved a state of happiness that only exists inside there.]]

* OneSceneWonder: Christopher [=MacDonald=] as the "JUICE" infomercial/motivational speaker Tappy Tibbons, whose program Sara watches and she believes she's getting invited to as a "contestant". They filmed an entire presentation of the "JUICE" program in one day with [=MacDonald=] improvising most of it. At the end of the shoot, ''everyone'' in attendance gave him a standing ovation.

** Or, you may think that this film is a subversion of this trope: that this film is a masterpiece ''despite'' the huge levels of angst.

* TheWoobie: Besides, you know, ''everyone'', [[BreakTheCutie Sara]] in particular comes off as the most sympathetic, having never gotten involved with the drug trade and simply wanting to have something to live for again. She plays the most part of a victim, being neglected by her son and doctor and appearing generally unhappy and lonely. Especially since she only wanted to lose weight and wasn't trying to get high in the first place.
** She is also a loving mother who genuinely cares greatly for her son, and this love seems to extend to Marion (whom she fantasizes about marrying her son, implying that she already thinks of Marion like a daughter and feels that Marion is a good match for him).
** Tyrone, too, though he's not nearly as completely a victim of circumstance as Sara is. Of the four main characters, he's the only one who manages to get through the entire movie with his affection for his loved ones intact, and he's motivated primarily by his love for his mother...and then he ends up doing vomit-inducing hard labor as a young, black drug dealer in a Southern prison under openly racist guards. [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Some of the only touching moments]] in Winter are Tyrone holding Harry's hand in the work line, and calling for help because his friend is sick.

* EnsembleDarkHorse: Uncle Hank, better known as Ass to Ass guy.

** Tyrone, too, though he's not nearly as completely a victim of circumstance as Sara is. Of the four main characters, he's the only one who manages to get through the entire movie with his affection for his loved ones intact, and he's motivated primarily by his love for his mother...and then he ends up doing vomit-inducing hard labor as a young, black drug dealer in a Southern prison under openly racist guards. [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming One of the only touching moments]] in Winter is Tyrone holding Harry's hand in the work line.

** She is also a loving mother who genuinely cares greatly for her son, and this love seems to extend to Marion (whom she fantasizes about marrying her son, implying that she already thinks of Marion like a daughter and feels that Marion is a good match for him).

* HilariousInHindsight: Dylan Baker playing a doctor who is involved in an amputation? Wouldn't be the [[SpiderMan last time]].

** Dylan Baker as the doctor who turns Harry and Tyrone in. He squeezes quite a lot of performance into a minute or so of screentime.

* AwardSnub: Ellen Burstyn's heartbreaking performance as Sara lost the Academy Award for Best Actress to... '''JuliaRoberts''' in ''ErinBrockovich''. And the film didn't get a single other nomination, not even for Original Score, Cinematography, or Film Editing.

** The movie's theme, "Lux Aeterna," is so famous it's heard by people before they've even seen the movie.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Uncle Hank, better known as Ass to Ass guy.

* OneSceneWonder: Christopher [=MacDonald=] as the "JUICE" infomercial/motivational speaker Tappy Tibbons, whose program Sara watches and she believes she's getting invited to as a "contestant". They filmed an entire presentation of the "JUICE" program one day with [=MacDonald=] improvising most of it. At the end of the shoot, ''everyone'' in attendance gave him a standing ovation.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: The film's use of the "hip hop montage", a series of rapid cuts accompanied by sound effects, looks normal now, despite the fact that this was the film that popularised its use (Aronofsky previously used it in ''{{Pi}}''.) This extends to the point where ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' used a similar montage to show Homer's reaction to eating a [=McRib=] sandwich, which [=McDonald's=] themselves then copied for a bacon wrap ad.

* MemeticMutation “So what're we gonna do now?” "Ass to ass." "ASS TO ASS!"

* {{Narm}}: The excessive cuts, overly dramatic music and oddly music video feel of some scenes can make them a bit hard to take seriously. Going by comments from the director, this may have been intentional though

* TrueArtIsAngsty: Then this film is a masterpiece.

* TearJerker: Has its own [[TearJerker/RequiemForADream page]].

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: The film's use of the "hip hop montage", a series of rapid cuts accompanied by sound effects, looks normal now, despite the fact that this was the film that popularised its use (Aronofsky previously used it in ''{{Pi}}''.) This extends to the point where ''TheSimpsons'' used a similar montage to show Homer's reaction to eating a [=McRib=] sandwich, which [=McDonald's=] themselves then copied for a bacon wrap ad.

* TearJerker: Special mention goes to Sara's monologue about growing old. Notice how the camera seems to move out of focus? It's because the lens was fogging up because ''the cameraman was tearing up.''
** The ending.

** She is also a loving mother who genuinely cares greatly for her son, and this love seems to extend to Marion (whom she fantasizes about marrying her son, implying that she already thinks of Marion like a daughter and feels that Marion is a good match for him).

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* {{Anvilicious}}: But [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped not necessarily in a bad way]].
** Whether you feel that SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped depends on what you think the anvil being dropped was. If you though it was DrugsAreBad, you may think it was unnecessary. If you think that the anvil being dropped was that Escapism Is Bad and will only lead to a ViciousCycle of dependence and denial that will destroy you... then you may think differently. This does depend a ''lot'' on individual interpretation though.

* {{Narm}}: The excessive cuts, overly dramatic music and oddly music video feel of some scenes can make them a bit hard to take seriously.
** The scene when the Fridge looks to attacks Sara and a conga line forms. It manages to go from a brilliantly tense and nightmarish scene into something from Monty Python.
*** That's kinda the point. That something that you recognize as horrific comes in the form of something comedic and funny. You find yourself laughing until the true horror of it sinks in, which is its FridgeBrilliance. You also have to remember that this is a Dramedy (or Tragicomedy), where parts are ''meant'' to be funny or crossing the line between tension and laughter. This was all ''intentional'' - WordOfGod from Arronofsky himself - so I don't know if it would be called {{Narm}}. Narm is when something that is supposed to be dramatic is comedic instead. The purpose of a lot of scenes in this movie was to be tragically comedic, where something is funny and it's only after the fact that the tragedy sinks in. I don't think anyone would call the places that are ''supposed'' to be dramatic in this movie funny though - this movie's reputation as insanely depressing would seem to agree with that. However, if anyone was laughing when Marion was curling up with her heroin at the end, please do note it.