The Oxford Spokesman

The film is one of the most anxiety ridden works I’ve ever seen, aside from Aronofsky’s other works, perhaps. It was hard for me to even leave the theatre after I was done.

One element that I didn’t like about the film at first is the fact that the film basically tells the plot of the ballet towards the beginning and makes no attempt to hide its development. After I thought about it later, though, it occurred to me that this sort of adds to the nature of the film that makes it really feel complete. There is almost no other way it could be done. It only seems to add to the beauty of the film, as if it were some sort of painting.

The film utilizes similar themes to Aronofsky’s other work, like the problems a performer can have. He has stated in an interview that he saw Black Swan as a sort of companion piece to his 2008 film The Wrestler, a film about Randy “The Ram” Robinson (played by Mickey Rourke), a wrestler who continues to push his aged body in an attempt to reclaim the fame and success of his past.

Aronofsky is a director worthy of great respect. He not only takes on stories that are dark and depressing, he works them until they are beautiful, perfect almost. From the tragic, but very cool 2000 film Requiem for a Dream dealing with various types of drug addiction and entrapment to 1998’s Pi, a film about a number theorist who suffers from his own illnesses, it is clear that Aronofksy is confident in his ability to dismantle the human condition and work inside of its parts.

After a friend saw Black Swan, she told me “His movies are so good, but they’re too damn heavy.” This is one of the few complaints that I can muster about Aronofksy’s work. While it is deeply emotional and well developed, there is a point where this archetype can be broken. Especially in the 21^st Century, many audiences view such films as inaccessible.

His work often features unreliable characters and plots that are complicated by depth, but simple in scope. It is hard not to feel yourself becoming involved with the characters if you give it the chance. His 2006 film The Fountain, a stylistically unique film involving three different but similar plots, is a great example of how this is so. Seeing Hugh Jackman looking up into the expanses of a cosmic sky with simply music to keep him company, it is difficult not to find a tear coming to your eye.

Overall, while there are many complaints that can be voiced about the deathly seriousness of Darren Aronofksky’s work, his many awards for his work prove that he is sure to be an important part of film history.

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