This was one of the movies on my Embarrassing List and boy what a doozy! A brilliant film to be sure, but not something I suspect you want to watch on the happiest day of your life.
So this movie starts out with lots of things that seem like a good idea at the time, but quickly descend into some of the worst stuff you’ve ever seen. I’m quite glad I watched this in a group because I totally understand now why this movie ended up on a list called the ’20 Most Disturbing Movies’. Interestingly, despite the fact that not one single good thing happens to any of these people, I am really glad to have seen this movie, for no other reason than it is really, really good. I also have a lot more respect for Darren Aronofsky now, considering that it would seem that he did all the stuff that made this movie great first. The self titled ‘hip hop montages’, in which he actually cuts together short clips that make “music” when watched all together and it is with these that he strings the two main stories in this movie together. The music deserves a nod here, being the thing that draws you into the movie and the string that holds you to it. (Also the most used trailer music in history…)
The one thing that was the most disturbing about this movie for me was the one thing that I actually liked the most: the sex. I felt that the way in which they handled the extremely disturbing sexual situations in this movie impressed me very much. Instead of being throw away plot twists they dealt very specifically with what happens when a woman needs to use her body in degrading and disgusting ways in order to get what she needs. It’s true that in this case it was drugs, but if disturbing sexual situations were handled with this much integrity by all filmmakers I would never have a single problem with it.
All in all, this is one movie I’m very glad to have seen. It’s extremely influential, extremely pervasive and extremely disturbing. And I will be heading out to get this on DVD as soon as possible.
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I love this movie so much. Watching it is a visceral experience, spurred by the amazing use of sound and visuals, and culminating in a heavy sense of dread as it becomes increasingly clear that no good will come to any of the characters. It is a slow burn watching their worlds crumble.
So horrible and yet… so brilliant and so gets under your skin. I totally borrowed sclerogrrl’s copy of this – and watched it with her – and she just kept saying, ‘T, it’s a sloooooow burn.’
So disturbing. So good.