Darren Aronofsky could not help but be proud of his work on the 2000 film Requiem for a Dream. After the successful performance of his 1998 movie Pi, he took the chance to adapt Hubert Selby Jr.’s novel for the big screen.
Many thought he was “crazy” for doing so because of the story’s sensitive themes, but the filmmaker believed it was a quest he wanted to conquer, and it did feel like a war being able to make his vision for the movie come to life.
Darren Aronofsky Revealed Why He Wanted To Make Requiem for a Dream
In a video commentary about Requiem for a Dream, director Darren Aronofsky talked about how he came up with the idea of bringing this concept to life and his motivations to do so. He stated:
“After we made Pi, we had the opportunity to make a bunch of different movies, and we wanted to make this film, and everyone said we were crazy, and it was a really hard thing to make so I’m really proud of it, and I’m happy that I can be here and tell you about the war that it took to make this movie.”
The filmmaker shared his inspiration for the project and how he translated it to the screen:
“I guess it all starts with Hubert Selby Jr. and with his novel which starts off the same way this movie starts off. As soon as I read that, I was extremely excited about the potential of this scene.”
He further revealed what enticed him to pick up Selby Jr.’s novel out of all the books he could work with. Aronofsky noted how character-driven it was:
“One of the reasons I was attracted to Selby’s work is because he’s a really great subjective writer. He gets deep into the characters’ heads, and he really shows you what the world looks from their personal point of view. I was perplexed about how I was gonna do a fully subjective movie.”
Indeed, the psychological drama film tackled a lot of depressing themes, detailing the physical and mental damage created by drug addiction. In addition to the excellent cinematography, it also boasted a star-studded cast: Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, and Marlon Wayans.
Darren Aronofsky’s Producer Encouraged Him To Make The Film
In the same commentary, Darren Aronofsky shared how he came across the novel Requiem for a Dream, which he ended up not finishing for a specific reason:
“I started to read novels of my favorite authors, and then I stumbled on Requiem for a Dream, which I picked up and I was excited to read, but I only got about halfway done not because it wasn’t a great book but because it was so close to all these issues I had been writing and all these ideas I had been playing with.”
Years later, his producer suggested they should turn the novel into a movie. Aronofsky read and eventually finished the book, and that’s how they got started with the project.
