# I love Requiem For A Dream. What else would I like? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 18, 2004, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-requiem-for-a-dream-what-else-would-i-like/229843 "2004-02-18T19:07:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-requiem-for-a-dream-what-else-would-i-like/229843/21 "2004-02-19T07:00:27Z")
Lenny - [http://www.daily-reviews.com/l/stclenny.htm](http://www.daily-reviews.com/l/stclenny.htm) ---
**Author:** ![DogsLunch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@DogsLunch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DogsLunch)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-requiem-for-a-dream-what-else-would-i-like/229843/22 "2004-02-19T07:47:59Z")
Hmm, from the thread title I thought you were interested in pointless, depressing drug addict movies. šŸ˜‰ So I was going to suggest _Another Day in Paradise_, _Highway_, _Jesusā€™ Son_ and _Spun_. (Hey you have to watch a lot of dreck to find the occasional gem like _Salton Sea_.) But since itā€™s _disturbing_ you want: _American History X_ - skinheads! homicide! shower scenes! _Butcher Boy_ - she was a damn dirty ape, he had no choice _Erasehead_ - single fatherhood can be a challengeā€¦ _Institute Benjamenta_ - surreal _Natural Born Killers_ - sadistic _Sleepers_ - **off the scale** ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-requiem-for-a-dream-what-else-would-i-like/229843/23 "2004-02-19T14:08:04Z")
> [@Gadfly](#): > > Donkey-Boy and Gummo folks: Iā€™ve never heard of these movies. Could you tell me a little about them? I just saw Gummo last week, so itā€™s fresh in my mind. Itā€™s truly hard to describe. Itā€™s made by the same guy who did _KIDS_, so thereā€™s a fair amount of shock-value. Itā€™s a combination of actors and real people, and I really think itā€™s an attempt at modern surrealism. Thereā€™s no real plot. KIDS:teenagers::Gummo:rural poor/white trash I really hate to use the term ā€œwhite trash,ā€ but the film just magnifies the stereotypes. I donā€™t know how accurate the movie is in doing so, but it certainly strikes a chord with defining ā€œfilthy squalorā€. A scene where a child is adjusting a painting, and bugs are crawling out of the nail hole is truly disturbing - and thatā€™s really just the tip of the iceberg. ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-requiem-for-a-dream-what-else-would-i-like/229843/24 "2004-02-19T14:29:49Z")
Iā€™d suggest: _21 Grams_ and, Iā€™ll echo whoever recommended _Audition_, and add to it another Japanese movie called _Battle Royale_. Both disturbing, but in a surreal, almost humorous way. ---
**Author:** ![the\_O-man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9f8e36/32.png) [@the\_O-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_O-man)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-requiem-for-a-dream-what-else-would-i-like/229843/25 "2004-02-19T14:59:08Z")
May I suggest a much older movie? I recently bought a copy of _Joe_, Susan Sarandonā€™s debut in a feature film, at Walgreenā€™s on DVD for $3.99. Very gritty, and quite a disturbing ending. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-requiem-for-a-dream-what-else-would-i-like/229843/26 "2004-02-19T15:21:21Z")
Another one that just came to mind is Romper Stomper featuring a young Russell Crowe as an Australian skinhead. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-requiem-for-a-dream-what-else-would-i-like/229843/27 "2004-02-19T15:47:16Z")
Iā€™d also add _Love & a .45_ - Renee Zellwegerā€™s first film. Pretty disturbing. ---
**Author:** ![Nutty\_Bunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@Nutty\_Bunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nutty_Bunny)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-requiem-for-a-dream-what-else-would-i-like/229843/28 "2004-02-19T16:58:27Z")
Most of my favorites have been mentioned, but I want to add _ **Happiness** _. To this day, I canā€™t even look at Dylan Baker without thinking of pedophilia. Ick. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-requiem-for-a-dream-what-else-would-i-like/229843/29 "2004-02-19T17:04:58Z")
another vote for ERASERHEAD here & kudos to DogsLunch for his excellent summary! _L_ JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN if you can possibly find it! If you saw the Metallica video for ā€œOneā€ (ā€œHold my breath as I wait for death- Dear God help me!ā€), it was the movie footage which inspired the song. ---
**Author:** ![tomyoung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@tomyoung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomyoung)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-requiem-for-a-dream-what-else-would-i-like/229843/30 "2004-02-19T17:49:53Z")
You know, I love Gummo, and would recommend it to anyone (not that it is in any way similar to Requiem for a Dream) but I donā€™t really see whatā€™s disturbing about it. I mainly just think itā€™s funny and weird. Itā€™s nominally about some phenomenally ugly kids wandering around a dismal, run-down town thatā€™s just been ravaged by a tornado. For some reason itā€™s set in Xenia, Ohio, though it was filmed in west Nashville. Thereā€™s not much plot; itā€™s much more about strange characters and an overall mood. It has a documentary feel to it because of the amateur actors and the fact that Korine often would just turn on the camera and have people talk about themselves. One reason I cherish it is because Iā€™m a native Nashvillian who relates to Korineā€™s interest in the seedier parts of town. Thereā€™s a scene (where a man tries in vain to molest some girls) which was filmed right outside a skating rink where I had my 1st grade birthday party. Right after I saw it, my friend and I spent the following week tracking down all the places we could ā€“ we even found the car that Korine had inexplicably spray painted ā€œmonkeeā€ on. Iā€™ve also personally witnessed the black midget walking around downtown Nash, though I didnā€™t have the courage to speak to him. Good times. My favorite scene is when that guy destroys the chair, though the shot of the kid eating dinner in the tub with bacon taped to the wall is good, too. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-requiem-for-a-dream-what-else-would-i-like/229843/31 "2004-02-19T18:50:26Z")
Oh God, the tub scene. How bizarre (and repulsive!). But you didnā€™t find the scene with the grandmother disturbing? Or itā€™s complete lack of resolution? Or the mentally-ill prostitute? ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-requiem-for-a-dream-what-else-would-i-like/229843/32 "2004-02-19T19:29:57Z")
Julien Donkey Boy is also made by the same people who made Gummo and Kids. Gummo and Julien kinda blur together in my mind, but basically Julien is this really messed up looking guy who is part of a screwed up family. The dad (played by Werner Herzog) is an immigrant of some sort and wants one of his sons to be a wresting star (high school nor pro). So he and the son are always practicing (usually with trash cans for some reason). Gummo is in love with his sister who is pregnant (and it intimateā€™s heā€™s the dad). THere is a scene where the grandmotherā€¦umā€¦ pleasures herself. And I think another where the father is inhaling some substance from a gas mask while wandering around in his tightie whites and his t shirt. Honestly i don;t remember much of a real plot. I think thatā€™s part of the Dogma 95 style, no plot, no real script, lots of camera angles, lots of different media for the recording and just capture what happens. ---
**Author:** ![tomyoung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@tomyoung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomyoung)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-requiem-for-a-dream-what-else-would-i-like/229843/33 "2004-02-19T19:41:46Z")
> [@BurnMeUp](#): > > Gummo and Julien kinda blur together in my mind Yeah, I canā€™t remember any ā€œgrandmother sceneā€ in Gummo, nor is there a character named Gummo in the movie. Everything that Burn named is from Julien Donkey-Boy, I think. The retarded prostitute, though is from Gummo, most definitely. My understanding is that Harmony Korine (who is the director and writer for both Gummo and Julien Donkey-Boy and who wrote the screenplay for Larry Clarkā€™s Kids) just picked the name Gummo from his love of vaudeville. Gummo was the name of some failed or unsuccessful or even mythical extra Marx brother, I think. I understand that JDB will likely be Korineā€™s last movie, since it failed so spectacularly. His book (A Crackup at the Race Riots) was pretty funny in parts, but was mostly just random and disappointing. The thing about Gummo is that while it does have some disturbing moments, it has just as many puzzling and humorous ones, like when the boy and his mother go into the basement to lift weights and tap dance to Madonnaā€™s ā€œLike a Prayer.ā€ And it still has nothing to do with the grinding cruelty that the characters undergo in Requiem that is so disturbing. If you just want to see directors torture their actors, why not see some Neil LaBute movies ā€“ In the Company of Men, for example. ---
**Author:** ![tomyoung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@tomyoung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomyoung)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-requiem-for-a-dream-what-else-would-i-like/229843/34 "2004-02-19T19:59:47Z")
To follow up on that idea, two other movies spring to mind of a director inflicting unremitting emotional cruelty on his actors, movies that do, in a way, remind me of Requiem, though without the flashy editing. Both are by Lars Von Trier: Breaking the Waves, and Dancer in the Dark. I hear Dogvilleā€™s much the same in terms of the torment, but I havenā€™t seen it yet. I saw Dancer in the Dark in Manhattan, and was delighted to see, at the closing credits, several Wall Street investment banker types bawling their eyes out over Bjorkā€™s misery. Breaking the Waves also involves some fairly serious sadism, but with Emily Watson this time. Both are great and intense, but arenā€™t surreal like the Lynch movies Iā€™ve seen mentioned; nor are they hyper-gory like Ichi the Killer, though Audition is still a good suggestion that Iā€™d second. ---
**Author:** ![Mariemarie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/58f4c7/32.png) [@Mariemarie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mariemarie)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-requiem-for-a-dream-what-else-would-i-like/229843/35 "2004-02-19T20:22:11Z")
Movies I found to be disturbing: [Mad Max](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079501/) ā€“ I saw only the first one, not any of the sequels. [Kalifornia](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107302/) ā€“ Good cast: Brad Pitt plays a sadistic jerk, Juliette Lewis plays his submissive, naive girlfriend. The actors who play Agent Mulder and Ro Laren are in it too. The plot was not so hot, however. [Things to Do in Denver When Youā€™re Dead](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114660/) --Excellent movie, while not as completely disturbing as, say, _Blue Velvet_. Treat Williams is brilliant as Critical Bill. [Wild at Heart](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100935/)ā€“David Lynch. Willem Dafoe plays some sort of sadistic jerk with bad teeth. [Buffalo '66](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118789/)ā€“ Damn. What shitty parents. Angelica Huston has the obsessive football fan character nailed. Mentioned by others: _Trainspotting_, _Natural Born Killers_, _Spun_ . ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-requiem-for-a-dream-what-else-would-i-like/229843/36 "2004-02-19T20:35:51Z")
> [@tomyoung](#): > > To follow up on that idea, two other movies spring to mind of a director inflicting unremitting emotional cruelty on his actors, movies that do, in a way, remind me of Requiem, though without the flashy editing. Both are by Lars Von Trier: Breaking the Waves, and Dancer in the Dark. I hear Dogvilleā€™s much the same in terms of the torment, but I havenā€™t seen it yet. I saw Dancer in the Dark in Manhattan, and was delighted to see, at the closing credits, several Wall Street investment banker types bawling their eyes out over Bjorkā€™s misery. Breaking the Waves also involves some fairly serious sadism, but with Emily Watson this time. Both are great and intense, but arenā€™t surreal like the Lynch movies Iā€™ve seen mentioned; nor are they hyper-gory like Ichi the Killer, though Audition is still a good suggestion that Iā€™d second. Ooo breaking the waves reminded me of another great movie. Angel Baby. Itā€™s an australian flick about 2 people with some disorder (i forget what one) that fall in loveā€¦ and move out of their familyā€™s home and go off their meds trying to have a kid. Very depressing in parts. I forget the cast exactly, except the girl from Romper Stomper is the girl in this movie also. ---
**Author:** ![ouisey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9fc29f/32.png) [@ouisey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouisey)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-requiem-for-a-dream-what-else-would-i-like/229843/37 "2004-02-19T20:44:14Z")
\*Morvern Callar \* was a pretty dark film, but it had a light ending, I thought. How often does a girl find the path to happiness by chopping up her boyfriends body? ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-requiem-for-a-dream-what-else-would-i-like/229843/38 "2004-02-19T23:16:08Z")
Iā€™ve tried to watch **Julien Donkey Boy** twice, but the film quality is so terrible I canā€™t get through it. It makes my head hurt. Disturbing for disturbingā€™s sake I fifth **Kids** and add \*\*Doom Generation \*\* and itā€™s slightly less upsetting sequel **Nowhere**. (I _think_ **Love and a 45., Happiness and Story-Telling** are trying to make points, but YMMV) The most disturbing movie Iā€™ve seen lately is **The Devilā€™s Backbone**. But thatā€™s ā€œoh my God, how could someone do that to little kidsā€ type of disturbing. ---
**Author:** ![honkyhonky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/34f0e0/32.png) [@honkyhonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/honkyhonky)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-requiem-for-a-dream-what-else-would-i-like/229843/39 "2004-02-19T23:30:54Z")
you would really like magnolia, imho. the Independant Film Channel is coming out with some great stuff, including these humorus ads- Seth green and Janeanne Garofalo are some of the voices. ---
**Author:** ![Francesca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@Francesca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francesca)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-requiem-for-a-dream-what-else-would-i-like/229843/40 "2004-02-19T23:34:42Z")
Thanks for the recommendations, all. Many of them Iā€™ve seen - Donnie Darko, Memento, Ravenous, Kids, Seven, Jacobā€™s Ladder. Gummo certainly sounds interesting. Unfortunately, I see from [Amazon.co.uk](http://Amazon.co.uk) that it isnā€™t released in the UK. Arse. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-requiem-for-a-dream-what-else-would-i-like/229843.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-requiem-for-a-dream-what-else-would-i-like/229843.md?page=3)