One cannot just sit down and watch a Darren Aronofsky film. You get the feeling you’re in a Darren Aronofsky film. The Brooklyn-born filmmaker creates films that provoke an emotional response across several senses. This results in films that linger long after the credits have rolled. Aronofsky’s films cover a wide range of genres — epic, sci-fi, drama, thriller, and horror. They all share a similar thread of obsession and prophetic foresight.
1. Pi
Max, a recluse math genius who lives in Chinatown. He believes that “everything can be understood in terms of numbers”. Therefore, he searches for a pattern in the system while suffering from headaches. He plays Go with former teacher Sol Robeson, and tinkering with an advanced computer system he built in his apartment. A Wall Street firm and a Hasidic sect are both interested in his work. But blackout attacks, hallucinations, and paranoid delusions keep him sidetracked.
2. Black Swan
Nina Sayers is a New York City ballet dancer who is dedicated to her art and trade but lacks confidence. Her dominating mother, a former dancer who gave up dancing when she became pregnant with Nina, also encourages her. Nina appears to have accomplished her aim when Thomas Leroy, the company’s artistic director. He casts her as the lead in their new production of Swan Lake. Leroy, on the other hand, is candid in informing her that while he has no doubt she can play the white swan. However, he isn’t sure she can play the black swan. The appearance of a new dancer, Lily, appears to be well suited to performing the black swan, which adds to her self-doubts.
3. Requiem For A Dream
The film is set in Brooklyn during the closing days of Coney Island. The narcotics are incredibly easy to obtain, trapping each main character in a cycle of addiction. Harry Goldfarb, the protagonist, is a typical heroin addict with a bold plan to “get off hard knocks”. He has the support of his cocaine-addicted lover Marion and long-time pal Tyrone. Meanwhile, his widowed mother is hooked on the glitz and glam of television. She eventually seeks out a nutritionist who forces her into a drug-induced captivity cycle.
4. Mother!
A couple has cocooned themselves in an isolated mansion that was recently burned to the ground. It is lovingly reconstructed by the supportive wife, amidst a wild flat meadow encircled by Edenic lush forest. The previously famous middle-aged poet husband longs to write his magnum opus in this secure atmosphere. However, he appears unable to break free from the creative rut that has plagued him for years. The writer’s stagnated imagination will be sparked by an unexpected knock at the door. The unexpected arrival of a cryptic late-night guest and his bothersome wife. Slowly, much to the amazement of his befuddled wife, the more chaos he allows into their haven, the better for his damaged male ego.
