I was given a love for music at a young age, classical music being very important to my mother, she would quiz me on which movement it was or the composer. It should also be said that the "wascally wabbit" helped teach a new generation about the classics. Who doesn't remember Bugs Bunny torturing the opera singer while enjoying pieces from The Barber of Seville. Instrumental scores began to be the modern way to appreciate the symphony. The classic and the fresh coming together and creating a new experience.

Growing up I began to notice soundtrack scores, I could start to place movie preview music to the original score that they borrowed from. Ever since I collect soundtracks, instrumental and vocal, the more obscure the better. I found that you can find "jems" that you would never be exposed too on our radio stations; ex. AM180 from 28 Days Later. Trainspotting is also filled with these and is a personal favorite of mine. My passion lies more with the scores, hearing every instrument, feeling it in your toes. Of course you need a great composer, and there are a few to choose from. Though I found that when a score becomes to much a part of pop culture, it seems to lose some of its impact and dates itself; ex Star Wars or Titanic. Still fantastic pieces of music, just a little conventional. Every so often you come across a score that does it all, you relieve the film but the music can also stand alone. Or you can hear and feel the mood of the film with every note recorded.

I found this in a little movie called Requiem for a Dream. Not a well known soundtrack, although as soon as the film begins you have no other choice but to notice it. Composed by Clint Mansell and featuring the Kronos Quartet, it is one of the very best. The movie itself is a highly intense experience accompanied by a little nausea. It deals with addiction and the absolute nightmare the 4 main characters chase believing it to be their dreams. I had never seen anything so disturbing and raw, I thought about the movie for a week after seeing it. I think if anyone has ever had to deal with addiction, to drugs (legal and illegal), to sex, to love, to belonging, they may find that this story gets deep into your gut and starts tearing away at it. The most positive comment I can make, is that it teaches tolerance. Everyone has a story, don't judge the women on the skytrain muttering to herself so quickly.

So with this intro to the movie, you can only imagine the music composed to help the story rip and tear into your conscience.
The soundtrack is split into the same three seasons as in the movie, Summer, Fall and Winter. Throughout the score there is a repeating piece of music performed by the Kronos Quartet. It usually accompanies the beginning of every season, an overture symbolizing the needs of the characters. A very haunting if not sad melody of strings,piano and percussions. As the story continues and the lives of the players become more disjointed the same piece of music changes to reflect the mood. You start to notice more ambient sounds throughout, it becomes a bit disorganized and frantic. At the beginning of "winter" that piece has been reduced to nineteen seconds and filled with a high-pitched resonance and a tearing sound of which I can not place it's origin. Winter is not a peaceful time in the movie and the soundtrack does a fantastic job adding to the distressing material you are witnessing in the comfort of your home. I wouldn't say the it is the best on the soundtrack but when you hear it playing on your stereo, you will find yourself becoming uncomfortable listening to it. The second to last track is Winter: Meltdown, and is so called because of the three minutes and nineteen seconds near the end that propels the movie into a NC17 rating. The worst possible nightmares are happening during this time and the piece reflects it by it's discombobulated notes and disorganized sounds. The music itself can give you a nausea feeling in the pit of your stomach, it's a hard point in the story to watch and its even worse accompanied by the soundtrack.

Then it's over, all goes quite except for a small bass beat and you start to hear the familiar strings of the overture. Except there is no more ambient noise, just the orchestra. Each note is held longer and this creates a melancholy symphony, it fills your soul and gives you a lasting impression. It's the end for the characters, and you are left staring at the screen wondering "did I really see that?". Winter: Lux Aeterna plays on, and you can hear the desperation in every note, the sadness fills the speakers and you are either thanking "god" you passed on grass or having a extreme sensation to take a shower.

I was told about this movie, every detail and situation, it still seemed to punch me in the stomach and I believe it was due to this amazing soundtrack. I enjoy the cd from time to time, the more I listen, the more I appreciate how much work went into having it compliment every emotion of the film.

Some might say, "Why watch or listen to something like this?". I would have to respond, "Not everything can end with Bugs Bunny strumming the old banjo".