Best Trailers of the Decade - Requiem For A Dream (2000)

I just realized that the first decade of the 21st century is rapidly approaching its end. So I felt compelled to initiate a series of posts highlighting trailers I fancied most for each of the past ten years. I will trickle these out over the remaining weeks of this year, culminating with the my favorite trailer of 2009 and of the decade overall in January 2010. Let us begin.



Full disclosure, I personally know the editor who created this trailer. I certainly would not be where I am today without his guidance, tutelage and friendship. However I do not think I am being biased here because I admired this trailer well before I met the man who edited it.

Opening in a whiteout with a slowly revealed quote from the film's source material by Hubert Selby Jr. is a simple & beautiful message. As messed up as the film may be, it is at it's core a love story. Love between a couple. Love between mothers & sons. And love between friends. Set to "Everloving" by Moby from the album Play, which eventually became the go-to album for many ad campaigns in the early 2000s, the trailer quickly escalates from setting up the characters into chaos with a frightening plea of "help us!" from Marlon Wayon's character Tyrone. The montage encompasses director Darren Aronofsky's visual styling that made the film a standout release that year and provided further evidence that Aronofsky was a rising talent. The trailer ends on the memorable image of Marion standing at the end of the pier that recurs throughout the film, which fades again to whiteout and the main title reveal. Nearly ten years later, this trailer remains as fresh and hauntingly beautiful as ever.