"Perfection's not just about control, it's also about letting go"
Darren Aronofsky is one of my all time favourite filmmakers. He is a director with a singular voice, completely and passionately dedicated to what he does. He isn’t afraid to make bold films that will no doubt upset people, but films that he believes are important. And I appreciate that. Someday he may go down as one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. His movies are sometimes fairly controversial, and that’s expected, as this man does stuff like ‘not including a score (in mother!) or maybe making a movie a complete metaphor (also mother!). His movies are hard to digest, that’s true but I find them truly cinematic. He’s one of those filmmakers that I’d put in the same boat as Wong Kar-Wai or Denis Villeneuve, not because his style is similar to them, but because he loves crafting unforgettable moments of scenes (with build up of course) but unlike someone like Tarkovsky, Aronofsky loves these rare moments that are sort of like miracles in front of the camera. Especially his endings, he makes them extra special.
In terms of his philosophies though, I think it’s fair to compare him to someone like Michael Haneke. His films are consistently dark and unforgiving. Bleak settings and bleak circumstances lead to the overwhelming quality his films bring. His films are usually very anxiety-inducing and quite disturbing.They’re not the most emotionally traumatizing films ever, but I think most of his movies have that one scene where you have to look away. The screenplays he writes are unsettling and every choice he makes in regards to how his films play out are to make the films as intense as they can be. Maybe except for The Wrestler which has a certain depressive beauty to it, which leads me to the next thing which is that Aronofsky's films aren’t all just meaningless dark imagery to make you feel panicked or disorientated. He puts interesting ideas and themes in his movies, searching for meaning or peace. He delves into human psychology a lot, and the way our lives function. His characters are usually very obsessive people
They could be addicted or not but they’re always searching for something, they have a clear goal. Aronofsky usually substitutes subtlety for what can only be described as an aggressive type of cinema that shoots you in the face but then makes you reflect (With the exception of Black Swan, that still has multiple interpretations and it’s just beautiful) Speaking about interpretations, Aronofsky never shies away from the surreal, often introducing confusing but ultimately rewarding elements in his films. His cinematography is usually very subjective as he makes these character dramas that are very focused on the main conflict. He uses a lot of fast and handheld camerawork to enhance the disorienting effect his films have. He uses fast, snappy editing that jolts you awake. These techniques can be found even in his very first low budget feature film - Pi (1998) and from then he’s been gradually refining his style, and hasn’t lost his edge. His movies are sort of ‘lightning in a bottle’ and they’re just so damn good.
By @starwards1
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