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 was recently in an independent comedy-drama about post-high school indecision. It's called Generation Why.
See the trailer here:
Last edited by michaelcorleone; 08-17-07 at 08:48 PM.
Reason: typos galore