Directors in focus: Darren Aronofsky

• Who is Darren Aronofsky?

Darren Aronofsky is a man of many things: a trained biologist, a Harvard anthropology graduate, and the man credited with single-handedly reviving Mickey Rourke’s acting career. Born in Brooklyn, New York, he boasts a filmography that includes low-budget black and white (Pi), adapted cult-classic (Requiem for a Dream), and award winning drama (The Wrestler).

• Pi – “There will be no order, only chaos.”

Aronofsky’s first feature was a self-penned film named Pi, a 1998 psychological thriller reminiscent of David Lynch’s Eraserhead. The film follows Max, an obsessive mathematical genius who descends into madness as he attempts to find a predictable pattern in the stock market while being hounded by people looking to exploit his work. It’s beautifully shot, with Aronofsky’s excellent use of high contrast black and white helping to portray Max’s dreary, increasingly disturbing world. Numbers and complicated patterns permeate the story as the viewer is sucked into Max’s surreal world of mathematical insanity. Although shot on a tiny budget of $60,000, it is a film wholly deserving of a place in cinematic history. The trailer offers a preview of Aronofsky’s fast-paced chaotic debut:

• Budding Friendship & the Downward Spiral

Pi also marked the beginning of the friendship between Aronofsky and British composer Clint Mansell. Aronofsky, impressed with Mansell’s work, hired him again to score the 2000 drug-addled feature Requiem for a Dream, chronicling the downward spiral of heroin abuse and prescription drugs. Mansell’s title score, “Lux Arterna”, is a piece of film music you’ve probably heard; it’s been used for countless trailers since its original use, most famously for The Lord of the Rings (which annoyingly often results in people attributing the music to the overrated fantasy trilogy...).

Requiem for a Dream is in many ways the natural evolution of a unique director; it’s broader in scope, more exciting and more refined. Like Pi, Requiem ends with some form of mutilation/abuse involving the protagonist. However, the former seems tame compared to the cripplingly depressing ending to Requiem, in which all the main characters are left in situations each more upsetting than the last; amputation, prostitution and old-age madness to name but a few.

• Cinematic Technique

Aronofsky honed his most well-known cinematic technique in Requiem – “the hip hop montage”. The name is slightly misleading; it refers to a sequence of quick cutting shots, frequently sped up and with enhanced sound effects accompanying actions such as taking drugs. Browse YouTube for the countless homages to his technique.

• Aronofsky puts Rourke in the ring

After making the misunderstood The Fountain, Aronofsky returned with his most successful film to date, The Wrestler, a touching depiction of a washed-up wrestler trying to balance reliving his 1980s glory days and maintaining a relationship with his daughter. It is shot mostly handheld, with over-the shoulder shots following Rourke through his day to day life trying to get by. This results in an almost documentary feel at times, creating a totally believable character we sympathise with. The Wrestler is also special in the way the protagonist mimics the star; Rourke was washed up, ruining his own acting career in the 80s with a famous temper, and destroying his good looks with a boxing career in the 90s. Aronofsky tapped into Rourke’s real stored up feelings and emotions to create more than just acting – what Rourke expresses on screen is real, expertly shot and presented by Aronofsky.

• On the Horizon

2010 will see the release of Black Swan, a psychological thriller surrounding two rival New York ballet dancers. Mansell returns to score, incorporating elements from Swan Lake. It is tempting to already hear the Oscar gong – perhaps even more so as The Wrestler was unfairly deprived in 2009. In any case, we can expect an impressive exploration of jealousy, rivalry and madness, hopefully with a few awesome hip-hop montages in there somewhere.

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