Introduction
Darren Aronofsky is considered to be among the best film directors of his time. Born in 12 February 1969, Darren went on to defy the odds to become a screenwriter, a film director and a film producer at the same time. Darren was born in Brooklyn, New York city to Charlotte and Abraham Aronofsky. His parents by the time he was born were all teachers in American public schools. They were also renowned conservative Jews. During his early life, Darren spent much of his time growing up in Manhattan Beach in the borough. For the fact that his parents were Conservative Jews, Darren was automatically raised in a religious setting although he attended the temple in few occasions than he would be expected to do. As such, much of his early life was characterized by the Jewish teachings he received from the parents at home and in school.
Darren always participated in the Jews cultures that included celebrating the holidays, knowing the Jewish culture and history and having some form of respect to whatever that their people had already gone through. He was raised in a family of two together with his sister, Patti. He undertook his studies in Murrow High School. His interest in the show business was initiated during these early moments since in most occasions; his mother could take him to the theaters to watch some performances (Aronofsky et al, 23). As such, Darren’s life was molded from an early age to be a film director. In choosing his career, he followed his childhood dream.
Initially, Darren had no plans to become a film producer, as a youth, he trained in his studies to become a field biologist. Through the studies he got in The School for field studies, the manner in which he perceived the world changed to a different style. After these studies in biology, his interest in the outdoor activities ensured that he returned to Europe and ended in Middle East and later joined Harvard University, whereby he majored in social anthropology. In the university, he also got a chance to learn the art of film making before graduating in the year 1991.
Film making as a career first came to his mind while he was in Harvard. This was because of the influence of Dan Schrecker. While in the university, Darren dedicated much of his time in writing the final year thesis, which was based on film analysis, Supermarket Sweep. This thesis played a major role in influencing his desire to undertake film production since he became a finalist in the academy awards. Throughout his studies when he started majoring in film production, Darren won many awards and was respected by the fellow classmate for the exception al talent he had as far as the field of film industry and film production was concerned.
Darren has directed several films, which have received various awards and some of them, have competed in the billboards. However, it is important to note that his journey to become among the best film producers of the time was not a smooth one. He had to undergo through a lot and have a lot of patience in his qualities in order to progress to where he has arrived. He has directed several movies and films exceptionally well. Many of his films are said to be very controversial and in most cases, they involve violent behaviors and the subject matter of the movies is bleak (Aronofsky et al, 33).
The first film in which Darren first featured was Pi. This movie was shot in the year 2007. However, much of the financial contributions towards the shooting of this film were in form of donations that he received from his friends and his family members, including his sister and the parents. In the donations, Darren received approximately $100. The rationale behind the donations was a promise that he had made to the contributors that in case the film was received well and made money, he would repay each of the contributors together with some fifty per cent interest. In case the film made losses, there had been an agreement that they could get some screen credit.
His early life played a big role in influencing him to take film production studies. On his visit to Israel, for instance, when he was a youth, much of his time was spent in an Orthodox yeshiva. The experience that he received during the time he stayed in Israel played a big role in informing his first film, Pi. During this time, Darren’s budget of producing a film was rather low, estimating the total cost for the production to be around $60,000. The film was premiered at Sundance Film Festival in the year 1998. During these awards, Darren won on the category of the Best Director and as a result, of its exceptionally good nature, it was nominated for the special jury award. This film was released for public viewing and scored really well in the box office. The distribution of the film was done by Artisan Entertainment who had succeeded in buying the distribution rights. This film was well received by the public and although this was Darren’s first time to produce a movie, he received a lot of appreciation from the media and the public in general (Aronofsky et al, 12).
In his second work in producing a movie, Darren redid a novel by Hubert Selby to come up with a film, Requiem for a Dream. In producing this film, Darren was paid around $50,000 and it took him approximately three years to be though the film. During the production of this second film, to a great extent, Darren maintained a similar production team that had worked with him in producing the first film. He got the chance to hire some more established stars following the financial boost he received as a result of selling Pi. Among the stars that he hired for his second film were Jared Leto and Ellen Burstyn. He took approximately one year to produce the film having been given a budget of up to $3, 5000,000 and by 2000 October, the film had been released to the public. This film was a hit and outshone the standards that had been set by the first film by far. Due to the technique and skill of the production of the film, which were stylish, he was invited to attend and take part in another Independent Spirit Award. During this time, he was vying for the best film director. Due to the excellent nature in which the movie was cast, it was nominated for several awards and managed to win two of those awards. The film had been done in a great manner and the soundtrack, which was done by Clint Mansell, was highly appreciated. Mansell, as the effect of the expertise of the soundtrack system he showed in this second movie of Darren, has been a mainstay in the production line of Darren. To date, he has been the one to compose all the music in Darren’s films. Several members of Darren’s production team have also managed to be nominated to several awards and have won several prices too, further showing the extent to which Darren managed to influence those that were around him.
Darren has employed several delivery styles in the production of his films. However, one thing that has always remained consistent is the amount of violence that is involved in much of the films. Almost all the films that have been directed have some aspect of violence in it or at least are scarily. His production roles were being highly recognized and appreciated and by the year 2001, he was requested to develop the screenplay to a horror film (Aronofsky et al, 33). Apart from playing the role of a screenplay developer, Darren also produced the film. The role that he was playing in the film industry was become very influential and as such, he was receiving several proposals to produce more films. In the year 2001, there were negotiations between him and Warner Bros for the possibility of him directing a film that was based on science fiction. In the film, the lead role was to be played by Brad Pitt.
After the first film production work by Darren, he has gone on to produce several other films which have received positive reviews, a further evidence that he has evolved to become one of the most sought after directors in the production of the films is concerned. Among the other films in which he has participated in producing are Noah, Black Swan, The Fountain, The Wrestler, Below and several other films. In these films, Darren has played various roles, ranging from the role of being a director, a producer or even being the writer of the film.
In his works, Darren employs a similar or related directing style in the production and directing of these plays. His early film, that is Pi and Requiem for a Dream were characterized by a low budget and the shots that were used were extremely short. He also extensively employed the split-screen along with tight close-ups. Most of the films that are directed and/produced by Darren have a tendency of alternating between the extreme distance shots and the extreme close-ups. As such, a sense of isolation is always created in order to attract the attention of the viewers.
Most of Darren’s films take a controversial nature as they attempt to address the controversial issues in the society. As such, they have always raised eyebrows and heated debates in both the media houses and the public. A good example for the way in which these films take controversial issues is a look at the Requiem for a Dream. Originally, this film was set to be released around the year 2000. However, several delays were inevitable before it was released. The MPAA rated the film as NC-17 as it consisted of sex graphic scenes. This rating may be very destructive to the film as its freedom may be curtailed. It was viewed as a pornographic material and the government was against it being aired in the public. In appealing the rating that the film had received, Darren argued that it would be very unfair for the authorities to cut any portion of the film, as this would mean dilution of the intended message. However, appealing against this was a difficult task and Darren decided to release the film that way (Aronofsky et al, 35).
Many people have argued that The Wrestler, to a large extent was abusive to the Iranians and as such, it was termed as being anti-Iranian. Due to these reasons, this film was publicly condemned by several newspapers based in Iran. The controversial scene in this film shows Mickey Rourke break across his knee a pole that was bearing an Iranian flag. This is considered to be disrespectful to the integrity and the sovereignty of the Iranians. Several newspapers also criticized the scene in the film where the bad guy wrestler wore Arabic clothing despite being a villain in the film. As such, as most people argued, the film intended to achieve the purpose of convincing the people that the Iranians associated with the Arabs. The bad guy character is shown I the wrestling ring in clothing having a pattern of the Iranian flag. This, as they argued, was disrespect of the highest order that can be directed to a given nation. Controversy in the films directed and produced by Darren Aronofsky was something very common.
These were not the only controversial films that were directed by Darren. In the film Black Swan, several questions were raised as to who was the person that designed the costumes for the dancers. A lot of controversy was given by the media as to the double controversy that arose in this film. Almost all the films that Darren directs or produces have some element of controversy in them. It is difficult to envisage any film directed by him in which all people accept it without raising some concerns.
Darren employs uses his films to talk about various themes that affect people in the society either positively or negatively. In his first film, pi, the theme of obsession is continued and developed in the subsequent film, Requiem for a Dream. In this film, Darren succeeded in directing the novel into a film with successful effects. The film, to a great extent, is about the deterioration of the characters that are linked through a burgeoning addict. The four characters become dependent on amphetamines because they were attempting to diet. Such techniques are frequently used in the movie to unravel the sanity and grip that these characters undergo while on the earth.
Darren’s arguable breakthrough came in the year 2007 (Aronofsky et al, 43). In developing the fill ‘The Fighter’, Darren hired writer Scott silver to produce it together with him. Darren did not consider it wise to include actor Christian Bale, whom he had approached earlier. This was because according to Darren, there were some similarities between the wrestler and Christian and as such, the film would not be appealing to the viewers. Due to financial constrains in the year 2004, Darren had to leave some of his projects because of the unclear financial position of the future of the studio. Such were the uncertainties that were brought about by the high expectations that people had towards film directors, to which Darren acknowledged to be planning to do a film related to the biblical events of Noah and the ark.
One characteristic shown by Darren is that when planning to do something, one should never easily give up. This is shown by the long durations that it takes for Darren to come up with a movie despite the initial plans for its production being underway. The idea of filming a movie ‘The Wrestler’ had been in Darren’s mind for over a decade. To put these ideas into use, he had to hire people to put the ideas into script. This is then followed by various negotiations as to who the protagonist would be and who the other characters would be. When he was planning to film the wrestler, several adjustments and replacements had to be made in order to assign proper individuals to their respective characters, which they may play well. In this film, for instance, it was necessary for Cage to be replaced by Mickey Rourke in the position of the lead role. As such, several things have to be taken into account before the production of a film is made. The directors should also play a significant role in ensuring everything is well coordinated in order for the film to receive proper reception.
In conclusion, Darren Aronofsky qualifies to be referred to among the great producers and directors of the films. Although he is relatively young to the film industry when compared to other producers, the excellent job he has done in the industry leaves his legacy as a dedicated person when it comes to developing the film industry. Through his style of delivery, he qualifies to be referred to as an auteur director of films.
Works Cited
Aronofsky, Darren, Mark Heyman, Andrés Heinz, John J. McLaughlin, Mike Medavoy, Arnold W. Messer, Brian Oliver, Scott Franklin, Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder, Matthew Libatique, Andrew Weisblum, Clint Mansell, Benjamin Millepied, and Peter I. Tchaikovsky. Black Swan. Beverly Hills, CA N.P., n.d. Print.
Aronofsky, Darren, Hubert Selby, Eric Watson, Palmer West, Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, and Marlon Wayans. Requiem for a Dream. Santa Monica, Calif N.p., n.d. Print.
Aronofsky, Darren, Hubert Shelby, Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, and Jennifer Connelly. Requiem for a Dream: Retour À Brooklyn. Montréal, Québec N.p., n.d. Print.
Aronofsky, Darren, Robert Siegel, Scott Franklin, Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan R. Wood, Mark Margolis, Todd Barry, Wass Stevens, Judah Friedlander, Ernest Miller, and Clint Mansell. The Wrestler. Los Angeles, CA N.p., n.d. Print.
Aronofsky, Darren, Eric Watson, Arnon Milchan, Iain Smith, Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz, Ellen Burstyn, Mark Margolis, Donna Murphy, Matthew Libatique, Jay Rabinowitz, Clint Mansell, and Ari Handel. The Fountain. Burbank, CA N.p., n.d. Print.
