Darren Aronofsky

This is a thread devoted to who I believe is the greatest writer/director to emerge in a looooong time. Not only does Darren Aronofsky have unique visual flair and a natural ability to flawlessly structure a story, he has a knack for tracking down universal themes that can frighten, mesmerize and draw in almost anyone. His partnership with composer Clint Mansell is on par with the Steven Spielberg-John Williams pairing, and he has drawn Oscar-worthy performances from the actors in all of his films.


Here's a list of his three first masterpieces:

Pi - 1998
Sean Gullette, Mark Margolis

"When I was a little kid, my mother told me not to stare into the sun, so once when I was six I did..."

-Aronofsky gives modern cinema a needed kick in the ass with his ingenious, madhouse vision. A dizzying film about obsession, it makes extraordinary use of a shoestring budget and brings about some of the most important visual concepts of our time. Absolutely mindblowing.-

Requiem for a Dream - 2000
Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto

"You'll see, Seymour. In the end it's all nice."

-A horrifying yet absorbing modern tragedy that ferociously depicts four characters fading away to drug abuse and addiction. Aronofsky's direction is strikingly bold, and this is the most innovative movie of the 2000s so far in terms of film editing techniques. This is a brilliant, artistic masterpiece whose power and creativity can simply not be denied. What could have felt experimental and exploitative comes across as earnest and polished. Filled to the brim with incredible performances, especially Ellen Burstyn as a woman crumbling into the depths of loneliness and insanity. This is filmmaking at its best.-

The Fountain - 2006
Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz


"All these years, all these memories, there's been you. You pull me through time."

-Every so often, a film of vast importance and quality is overlooked by critics and audiences. The Fountain is one of those films. This is beautiful, visionary filmmaking with bright ideas about the future of cinema. Aronofsky writes and directs this masterpiece with skill and grace, weaving a complex tale full of emotional and metaphorical fibres. He tackles the universal topics of love, life and death with full-fledged vision, producing a gorgeous web of stories that everyone can relate to. The combination of Mansell's music and Aronofsky's images has a sort of poetic perfection to it, and this is some of the most incredible cinematography I have ever seen. Matthew Libatique literally conjures an original visual roadmap that subtly transitions along with the film's central theme of death. Remarkable performances all around, especially from Jackman and Weisz. There are scenes in this film that are outright heartbreaking. It cut to the core of me, and I will not soon be forgetting it. This is a step above anything I've ever seen - a visceral, passionate visual poem full of brilliant originality and timeless intrigue. Flawless.-

Opinions on Aronofsky or any of his films?

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I haven't seen Pi yet. The other two were pretty good, but somehow fell short of being truly great. Requiem for a dream went completely overboard with each of the stories, and I'm not really sure to what point. Visually, both films are stunning, but the stories aren't very remarkable, try as they might (and they do try ever so hard).

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http://www.last.fm/user/diezelpower/

I love his work, and, The Fountain is a very personal and meaningful film for me. I am so glad I saw it when I did, in the fragile emotional state I was in at the time. I know a lot of people missed out on seeing it, but, I know I sure didn't.

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While there does seem to be a large measure of emotional investment in Aronofsky's films, and an equally large measure of creativity, i think it is too early to say that he his the greatest filmmaker to emerge lately.

To be honest, I've found his films slightly overrated. Requiem felt gimmicky, and The Fountain felt a little under nurtured. This isn't to say I havn't enjoyed them.


Im simply waiting to see where this filmmaker goes, because at this point, it still feels like it could be in any direction.

Cheers man. It had a huge impact on me too, obviously. It's a heart-wrenching film.

Absolutely. It still slays me each time I watch it...

Oh, me too. The scene where Hugh Jackman tries to tattoo an imprint of the lost ring into his finger actually tears me up every single time. That moment alone should have garnered him an Oscar nomination, as far as I'm concerned.

Do you have the soundtrack? I own it, and I must tell you that it's definitely worth a spin.

Now, don't get me wrong...I am a huge fan of Aronofsky, and I think each of his movies is fantastic in a manner different from the other two, BUT, seeing as how people (me very included) pay a lot of attention to how wonderful he is when it comes to craft, visuals, sound, and emotion, I would like to ask if anyone else shares any of the problems with him that I have....

I hate to say it, but I almost think the actual writing in his films doesn't live up to the standards set by his incredible moviemaking skills. I often find the dialogue to be slightly over-the-top, and sometimes a bit distractingly melodramatic. Now, this isn't something that always bothers me, but I worry that the times it doesn't are more influenced by a desire on my part to love every aspect of a film I love, such as The Fountain, but sometimes when I watch it, I do find myself cringing at some lines in the movie, such as a few of Ellen Burstyn's lines at the funeral, the scene where she scolds Hugh Jackman, and just an overall lower quality writing than I feel the film deserves.

Also, I find his preoccupation with Eastern spirituality to sometimes be a bit on the superficial side. For the most part I find The Fountain to be one of the more beautiful movies I've seen, but I'm just not sure what to think when he seems to stamp on images of Hugh Jackman in a meditation stance as he floats up into the cosmos..it's almost as if by simply depicting Non-Western customs, he takes a shortcut into giving his movie the feeling of philosophical superiority. I also get a similar feeling from some (not all) of the talk of Kabbalah in Pi.

So yeah, I guess this was a bit lengthy, but I'm just wondering if there are any other fans of Darren Aronofsky's out there who sometimes have similar doubts. I'm not trying to put him down at all, but I do think that maybe he should collaborate with other writers (maybe?)

P.S. In this department, I have the fewest problems with Requiem for a Dream, which I attribute to it being based on a novel.....

To be honest, I don't have those problems with Aronofsky. I think he is a phenomenal screenwriter, but I definitely wouldn't disregard your opinion altogether. Yes, his dialogue often borders on melodramatic. No, I don't see that as a flaw. The emotional qualities of Aronofsky's films (particularly The Fountain), the structure, the music, the entire presentation - it's all enormous, cinematic, and overwhelming. I think if he were to incorporate subtle, subtextual dialogue, it would detract from the vision he's trying to bring across. I think melodrama is a problem only if it detracts from the film's quality, and it doesn't do that with Aronofsky's work.

As for his obsession with Eastern culture, I find it extremely interesting. Part of what makes this man's work so exclusive and original is his varied range of inspirations, and it's clear that he has a fascination with that particular culture. It doesn't come across as pretentious or intrusive at all... just a unique little directorial touch.

Thanks for your thoughts.