THe Life of the Mind

Here is the list of Darren Aronofsky films that I have seen to date. This is the order that I watched them in. 

The Wrestler: I saw this movie because it was nominated for best picture in 2008. While I did think this movie was good, it was just too good. The acting was amazing (common theme in Aronofsky films). Aronofsky did such a good job at showing the life of Rourke’s character, which he made the audience feel the pain that he felt. I personally don’t think I will ever voluntarily watch this movie again, because I don’t want to feel that depressed again, kind of along the same lines of Precious. 

Black Swan: I saw this movie for the same reason as The Wrestler, it was nominated for best picture in 2010… seeing the common trait of Aronofsky’s movies? Black Swan was such a, for lack of a better term, mindf*ck. This movie explored the mind of a character inside and out. The plot is very melodramatic, but Aronofsky’s style of psychological thriller really made the picture intense and passionate. Natalie Portman had the role of her lifetime in this role, she wasn’t even acting in this movie… she was this character, she was that excellent. 

Requiem For a Dream: I watched Requiem because I was so impressed with the last two Aronofsky films I watched, and I heard good things about it. I didn’t know anything about the plot, but after watching it I realised it wasn’t a movie as much as it was an anti-drug advertisement. All four main characters are addicted to drugs, and have lost sight of their original life goals. I fell in love immediately with the way Aronofsky filmed the use of drugs. He used close up shots of each action in the steps of using the drug. I find it interesting how this movie had one of the darkest endings that I have ever seen in my life, but I still would rather watch this movie again than the wrestler. 

Pi: I didn’t hear anything about this movie before watching it. I just watched it because it was in black and white and needed to watch it for film studies. Wouldn’t you know it, it’s about a guy obsessed with the concept of pi. Now I look at Aronofsky and see that this man has found his genre, and has stuck with it from the beginning. After watching this film you see this introverted mathematician