If I had to summarize what a Aronofsky film was as succinctly as possible I’d say: character driven, thematic and symbolic. Aronofsky’s stories force you into the minds of incredible damaged characters who are delusional, overly anxious, psychopathic, addicts, and heart-broken but extremely relatable nonetheless. Aronofsky’s films, while being completely unsettling at times, are beautiful, heart-tugging as well as heart breaking explorations of human condition. While being quite grounded in reality they also spiritual and mystifying journeys of the character.
Like Tarantino and Nolan, two of the most revered modern day directors, Aronofsky has injected incredibly original and unique movies into Hollywood. Critics and moviegoers alike scream for something refreshing in this era of reboots, remakes and sequels but often underlook the work of Aronofsky. So in preparation for the release of his latest film mother! (more on that here) I am gladly making somewhat of a guide/review/overview for each of his films in order of their release.
Please do stay tuned for my next entry in this series that will features an analysis of his directorial debut Pi !
I appreciate your comparison of Aronofsky to Nolan and Tarantino as far as being a creative, modern voice in cinema. So here’s my question, why do you think Nolan and Tarantino are so much more of “household names” than Aronofsky? I agree with you and I love him…but I wonder why he hasn’t caught on in the way that Nolan and Tarantino have.
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I think that it may because of how ambitious and “out there” his projects are which common moviegoers may find a bit of a turn off. A lot of people see Black Swan as a really “weird” film but I view it as a masterpiece ; as I do for most of his works. Nolan arguably made the best Batman films ever which gave him quite a lot of notoriety amongst the average movie goer. Then he has Inception under his belt which was a fantastic movie on all levels and had the spectacle to pull in blockbuster number audiences. Tarantino is hit and miss for A LOT of people I learned but I think that virtually all of his films are classics. His work is ambitious too but not as abnormal, not in a bad way, as Aronofsky’s. I just really hope that I get people, even if it is just one person, to start watching his films through this guide. And once again Michael thanks for commenting!
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My pleasure Fabrice. And I think that makes a lot of sense. The “abnormal” feel of Aronofsky’s films as opposed to the more mass appeal of applying a unique vision to a property like Batman does have an affect.
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