Requiem for a Dream - Movie Quotes
Memorable Quotes
Somebody like you can really make things all right for me.
— Marion Silver
Context:
Spoken to Harry during an intimate moment as they discuss their future plans to open a clothing store. It reflects the genuine love and optimism they feel before their addictions spiral out of control and poison their connection.
Meaning:
This quote, spoken early in the film, encapsulates the initial hope and codependency of Harry and Marion's relationship. It expresses their belief that their love can save them and help them achieve their dreams. The line becomes tragic in retrospect, as their relationship is ultimately destroyed by the very addictions they thought they could control together.
I'm walkin' across the stage, and you'll be in the audience, and you'll be proud of me.
— Sara Goldfarb
Context:
Sara says this to Harry over the phone while excitedly telling him about her potential TV appearance. She is already beginning to live in the fantasy of her future success and the reconciliation with her son that she believes it will bring.
Meaning:
This line reveals Sara's core motivation: it's not just about being on television, but about regaining a sense of purpose and, most importantly, earning her son's pride. It highlights her loneliness and her desire to be seen as more than just an old woman in an apartment. Her dream is fundamentally about reconnecting with Harry and feeling validated.
Eventually we all have to accept full and total responsibility for our actions, everything we have done, and have not done.
— Narrator (from the novel)
Context:
This line is not in the film's dialogue but is a central theme of Hubert Selby Jr.'s novel. It hangs over the entire narrative, acting as a philosophical statement on the nature of fate, choice, and consequence that the film powerfully visualizes.
Meaning:
While not spoken by a character in the film, this quote from the source novel perfectly captures the film's moral core. It underscores the idea that while the characters are victims of their addictions, their downfall is ultimately a result of the choices they make. The film serves as a brutal illustration of the consequences of evading this responsibility.
Be excited, be, be excited.
— Tappy Tibbons
Context:
This phrase is repeated throughout the Tappy Tibbons infomercial that Sara watches obsessively. It is also chanted by the hallucinated studio audience that haunts Sara in her apartment, representing the immense pressure she feels to be happy and successful.
Meaning:
This is the mantra of the television host Tappy Tibbons. It's a hollow, repetitive command that satirizes the shallow and manufactured nature of happiness sold by media and self-help culture. For Sara, it becomes a desperate incantation as she tries to force herself to believe in the dream that is actively destroying her mind and body.