If there's ever an example of the film being better than the book, it's here with Hubert Selby Jr.'s Requiem for a Dream. I don't think Selby Jr. is very good, but he's good enough. What I love about the novel over the film is the intensity in which he details Harry and Marion's dream of opening the coffee shop and Marion pursuing her art, all of which is only briefly touched upon in the film. It gave the characters quite a bit more depth as more than just junkies, but people with dreams and intentions. It was not always about getting the next hit. They had a plan. A very poor plan, but it was a plan.
Otherwise, the film knocks the socks off the book. Not as much because of the book, but the filmmaker (Darren Aronofsky) and the actors (Ellen Burstyn and Jared Leto, especially).
Aronofsky's style is perfect for Requiem for a Dream. The close ups, the short cuts of when the characters ingest their drugs. The first-person point of view camera angle in which we see the world from the eyes of the character. Then the time-lapse method when Burstyn takes the extra speed and begins cleaning the whole house.
Any other director gets a hold of this film and we're singing the praises of the book and the film may not ever see this list.
It's a well-written book taken over by the perfect director, which could mean the world (stylistically).
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