Auteur Analysis of Aronofsky - Essay Example

AUTEURISM and Table of contents Table of contents 2 Film Noah 3 Film 2 ‘The Wrestler’ 5 Film 3 ‘The Black Swan’ 8 Conclusion 11 References 12 Film 1 Noah The film ‘Noah’ is unique in that it describes the Old Testament story of the ‘Noah and the Ark’ starring Russell Crowe as Ark builder, Zookeeper, and God’s first sailors (Corliss, 2014). The story is drawn from the Holy Bible in the book of Genesis 6 where God declared that he was displeased with man due to man’s wickedness. God regretted creating man who had turned away from his commandments. In order to preserve the animal species for the future, God instructed Noah to take male and female of each animal species into the Ark. Similarly, Noah’s family was to enter into the Ark and any other person who was willing to be saved by the Ark. However, nobody else believed the rain would fall as Noah had prophesied and hence all the people drowned except Noah’s family. In the Aronofsky’s film ‘Noah’, action starts by showing Noah being haunted by frightening visions that indicate that all humanity was faced with divine destruction as a punishment for their sin (Stasukevich, 2014). Another character was ‘Methuselah’ who was more of an advisor to Noah and was acted by Antony Hopkins. Accompanying Noah and Methuselah in the movie was his wife ‘Naameh’ acted by the Jennifer Connelly, and Noah’s children. Noah is portrayed building the Ark with only his family while the rest of the people watch in delusion. Methuselah is depicted to be living in a cave in a mountainous area. The people were led by Tubal Cain in rebellion and since they finally ignored God’s warning, they faced judgment. Tubal Cain was acted by Ray Winstone (Stasukevich, 2014). The film does not clearly display who the hero is between Tubal Cain and Noah. It is because Tubal Cain emerges sharply in action with strong influence over the people, only to perish with them in water. At some point, the rebelling people referred to as watchers, capture Noah and his family and put them in a pit. Therefore, Tubal Cain’s role in the film appears to be an anti-climax while the less action-oriented actor Noah emerges as the hero. Unlike in the real bible story, Noah is seen in a battle with Tubal Cain. The animals enter the Ark in a systematic manner, almost showing divine direction and Noah’s ability to control their behavior. According to the cinematographer Mathew Libatique, Aronofsky prefers image’s motion that is controlled, moves naturally, and almost flows uniformly with the film background (Stasukevich, 2014). Libatique explains this emphasizing the reason why he had to use handheld camera to shoot Aronofsky’s film. The appearance of the actors is well defined showing keen attention on visual representation. Aronofsky’s creativity is reflected from the organization of the film played in outdoors situation. The balancing of sunlight on the faces of the actors is aesthetic thus the images appear beautiful in an otherwise barren, remote background. Aronofsky uses symbolism to display the Methuselah’s mountain as a symbol of life by having green vegetation on the mountain in a desert environment (Stasukevich, 2014). Every scene in the film displays a sense of detail, tone, and color which makes the scenes interesting for audience to watch (Stasukevich, 2014). The film’s organization attempted to integrate the bible understanding of the story and the understanding of the 1990s audience to capture both credibility and relevance (Sanburn, 2014). It was necessary for the film director to succeed in convincing the immediate market in Hollywood, to appreciate the film where faith-based entertainment was not popular, then the clergy. Therefore, the style that would mediate between the two groups was a crucial for the auteur in order not to compromise marketing of the film (Stasukevich, 2014). Moreover, the film represented the biblical theme of the Bible story in a relatively satisfying manner. Although, it did not perfectly fall into the expected scene creations, the theme of the Bible story was maintained. The film ‘Noah’ is Aronofsky’s biggest movie so far in his Auteur career and also the most widely accommodated Christian movie from Hollywood (Stasukevich, 2014). However, it has faced few criticisms from some Christians who have expressed dissatisfaction on the scene where Noah is portrayed to be so drunk, yet he is supposed to be God’s representative. The incident captures the Biblical Noah when he got drank after the floods in a celebratory mood and exposed his nakedness to his sons. Although, it corresponds with the biblical story, some viewers perceive it as a contradiction in character representation of the ‘ought to be’ Godly Noah and the ‘drunkard’ Noah (Sanburn, 2014).Other critiques have focused on the ways in which Aronofsky has deviated from Bible story. For instance, the involvement of Methuselah in the film is more fictional than it is a replication of the Bible story. It is criticized as misleading to those who may not know the real story into believing the film version. Others refer it as altering and trivializing the role of the person of God in the real historical event. A number of scenes in the film involve exaggeration of the Noah’s Bible story which conflicts with the Christian belief that the Bible ought not to be altered. For example, the battle between Noah and Tubal Cain’s group was too violent and confrontational compared with the Bible’s version which mainly social and emotional confrontation. The physical encounter is misplaced and farfetched to represent the Noah’s Ark Bible story (Stasukevich, 2014). In addition, the scenes portraying suffering of Noah’s family where they were put into a pit have been criticized as mere exaggeration of the truth (Stasukevich, 2014). The exaggerated scenes of the film depict the violence nature that is forced to dominate a story that is otherwise a peaceful. The original bible Noah is peaceful and persuasive in his attempt to win the people to believe his convictions and build the Ark. On the contrary, Rob Moore, an expert in the film industry reiterates that the film ‘Noah’ was not attempting to retell the Bible story 100% as it is, otherwise it will not be a great film (Sanburn, 2014). Aronofsky intended to display Noah as a Godly person and at the same time as an imperfect man to reflect the nature of human beings. In his theme, he tried to mirror the audience in Noah’s character. Aronofsky sought to have the audience identify with the film either to prompt change from fallen nature back to righteousness or minister comfort to those who may perceive they are flawed at times as Noah. The film also displayed God as not only merciful and loving as is common in the new Testament, but as one who is angered by human wickedness and hence executes punishment on the wicked. God is also portrayed as one who overlooks human weaknesses like in the case of Noah. The thematic presentation of the film brings out Aronofsky’s religious affiliation and his critique of human nature. Film 2 ‘The Wrestler’ The film ‘Wrestler’ by Aronofsky is about a onetime pro-wrestling superstar who lost fervor and went under in the wrestling career (Lee, 2009). He comes back on stage to pursue wrestling at his old age where he meets with more energetic and better opponents. The stronger opponents stop at nothing to make sure they throw him out of the wrestling ring forever, or so it appears. The wrestler role is acted by Mickey Rourke who stars as Randy “The Ram” Robinson and he returns to wrestling due to his multiple financial problems (Lee, 2009). He is seen having been locked out of his rented house at one point. He finds humiliation in the meager paying supermarket day job of manning the deli counter, but he has no alternative. He fights for pocket money in makeshift rings in VFW halls and school gymnasium” (Petrakis, 2009). Randy encounters Cassidy who she woos into a romantic relationship. The role of Cassidy acted by Marisa Tomei is so parallel to Randy’s role though in different environments. Cassidy, a single mother who operates at a local strip club has to use her aging body and humiliate herself in the stripping business just as Randy has to withstand humiliating defeats and bruises in the wrestling arena to earn a living (Lee, 2009). However, Cassidy has a golden heart displayed in her relationship with Randy and his lesbian daughter, Stephanie acted by Evan Rachel Wood. Stephanie is wildly involved with a fierce black girlfriend. The film shows Randy in hospital after bad wrestling match where the doctor declares that he has a weak heart. It dawns on him once more as it always occurred before ‘I am too old for this stuff’ (Lee, 2009). However, the ‘Last Big Match psychodrama’ syndrome strikes when he decides to quit wrestling and hence he keeps going for the last big drama (Lee, 2009). Aronofsky captures the energy and character of Rourke into Randy in a converging manner such that it appears real. Surprisingly, due to the fascination of a comeback, the audience is ignorant about Rourke’s spectacular performances in Sin City. The opponents Randy competes with are camaraderie of wrestlers who are dishonest, keen to employ unfair and dangerous moves in order to win the wrestling matches (Petrakis, 2009). The character of Rourke makes the film realistic in every sense in almost every scene of the film. For example when he takes the microphone to address the eagerly waiting crowd outside the wrestling ring, and the intimate acts he passes to Cassidy as they go thrift shopping for his daughter (Petrakis, 2009). Randy’s emotions and feelings of pain are conspicuous as he slowly walks out of his bed to the toilet after sustaining injuries in a nasty match. When he is victorious in his wrestling matches, his posture as he raises hands and heel towards the crowds in an ecstatic mood is really appealing to the crowd (Petrakis, 2009. The performance is so natural to every prevailing situation. Aronofsky fitted the actor and the roles perfectly well as he considered the visual appearance and the theme aesthetics. The act of jumping the ropes as he crows in the ring shows the well polished performance resulting from either thorough practice or naturalized from within the actor. Randy’s performance in the ‘wrestler’ may have been perfected by his long term experience in professional boxing in the 1980s (Petrakis, 2009. Nevertheless, for Aronofsky, visual impression is what needs to be emphasized thus Randy treats the visual expressions with attention and commitment. The character ‘Randy’ displays “foul language, brutal violence, and unpleasant sex” (Petrakis, 2009) accompanied by humor which is attributed to the auteur of the film Aronofsky. The film exposes the disadvantages of overstaying in a career past the prime age. Randy resisted quitting wrestling and moving on to the next stage of life which entails less energy demanding activities. Although his conscience informs him time to quit has come, he is not confident to face the future and venture into other areas. Similarly, Cassidy is faced with the same dilemma when she insists on continuing with stripping at the local club. It is not as easy as it was in her earlier days and all she needed to do was quit and engage with age appropriate activities. Aronofsky has structured the two characters to emphasize the theme of the film in a subtle manner. The two characters seem to find their paths in life in each other’s company. The step Randy takes to build a healthier relationship with his daughter is one of the indicators of redemption from a past of irresponsibility. The reliance on the strength and body appeal to earn a living diminishes with the advancing age. Aronofsky clearly puts this theme into focus and points that there are professions or job activities that are simply age-appropriate and need to be left for the young people. The theme may have been prompted by the fact that Aronofsky was young when ventured into movie industry as an auteur. Aronofsky did not prefer old professionals as active participants in particular professions since they underperformed and washed away their earlier impressive performance. The reality of the film may also apply to other professions such as theater performers, law, Engineering, transport business, just to mention a few. Indeed, this is the basis for retirement from energy consuming activities to slow and less energy demanding activities. Aronofsky has a way of bringing out the theme such that the audience can identify with the characters in the film. There is a lesson to learn for the audience amidst being entertained by the characters. The film is dominated by violence, especially in the wrestling ring where Randy jumps over the ropes into the ring (Petrakis, 2009). The act of jumping from a height sends shivers in the audience’s nervous system. Watching Randy’s bloody face can be unbearable after or during the fights. According to the viewer, the film is as real as it seems and the emotions that are triggered by the action of the actor are momentarily real. Randy’s opponents use folding chairs and staple guns in order to win the wrestling matches thus exposing all actors to violence and danger (Petrakis, 2009). During the wrestling matches, the character Randy used foul language, a characteristic that is associated with the auteur of the film that according to the Auteur theory has great influence on the actor’s behavior in the film. The film depicts Aronofsky as a violent personality. Amidst violence Aronofsky brings out love and friendly mannerisms in Randy when he is shown relating warmly with the children outside his trailer and chatting with a promoter at the autograph session (Petrakis, 2009). Aronofsky’s personality is seen to possess two sides that contradict each other in the different scenes but same film. During the wrestling matches, the character Randy used foul language, a characteristic that is associated with the auteur of the film. Aronofsky’s consciousness of the imperfect human being is conspicuous in the whole film, especially when Randy cannot resist the going back to the wrestling ring even after humiliation. Similarly, Cassidy’s conscience and the state of her body communicates to her that its time she changed her job. However, she struggles with the idea of starting a new life and cannot take a step since she is afraid of the future. Aronofsky implies in the film that the coming together of the two ‘weak’ people seems to bring light in their lives and hence redemption. According to Aronofsky, Companionship encourages responsibility and boldness to confront issues that an individual may have shied away from in the past. For instance, Randy determines to reach out to his daughter and restore their father-daughter relationship which is evident in the way he is accompanied by Cassidy to shop for his daughter in a thrift shop. Film 3 ‘The Black Swan’ The film ‘Black Swan’ is another creation of the auteur Aronofsky starring Natalia Portman as the Nina, who plays both roles of the black swan and the white swan (Petrakis, 2010). Also starring is Mila Kunis acting as Lily who becomes the rival dancer to Nina and drives Nina to outdo herself in her performance in order to compete with Lily. Vincent Cassel plays the role of Nina’s director, starring as Thomas Leroy, who is sometimes very cruel and demanding in terms of Nina’s performance which also drives her to act to the extreme (Petrakis, 2010). Nina is a talented ballerina and she is ready to abandon her normal life to achieve her dream of becoming a star at all cost. Standing in her way to success is the progressing age, injury, and newcomers in the dancing arena such as Lily. In the Swan Lake, there are many swans competing and Nina wants to take the leading position by overtaking the other swans. However, Nina lacks the passion compared to her rival lily, an aspect Thomas Leroy reiterates occasionally. Nina’s dilemma lies in the role she is supposed to act which is totally a new area involving a new experience (Petrakis, 2010). Nevertheless, the director, Thomas Leroy gives her the demanding role that includes two parts that must be played by the same person. She starts rehearsals as the white Swan which she comfortably performs and also as the Black Swan which completely changes her life (Petrakis, 2010).The black swan role involves the dark side of Nina opposite to the role of the white swan which she has to learn since it is not part of her. The black swan is seductive, wicked and intended to compete with the innocent white swan for a prince charming. The white swan is supposed to win the prince’s love that in turn will break her spell. Nina’s mother, acted by Barbara Hershey does not realize Nina has grown up and outgrown the stuffed pink dolls and ballerina music box in her bedroom which sooth her to sleep. In addition, Nina’s mother puts pressure on her to succeed in dancing to compensate for her failure as a dancer. She did not get established as a dancer since she conceived Nina and she needed to quit dancing for the baby’s welfare. In the film, a former star ballerina, Beth depicts an awful performance, hence piling more pressure on Nina to perform when she is younger and with passion before she gets old (Petrakis, 2010). Typical of Aronofsky, the visual style of the film is impressive with details magnified to expose its aesthetic form to the audience. While Nina makes good progress in dancing, she seems to suffer psychological breakdown because of the conflicting worlds she has to represent. Also contributing to psychological problems is the pressure she receives from her mother, her director, and the fear of being overshadowed, hence being rejected from the performance scene (Petrakis, 2010). Nina’s inappropriate late bar scenes that culminate to self-mutilation represents physical injury on herself. It is a path of self-sacrifice and deprivation that has to be followed to achieve the highly desired stardom (Petrakis, 2010). Some extreme scenes leave the audience wondering whether they are real or imagined. Aronofsky, attempts to explain through the film that beauty is obtained from that which is broken, as is the case with Nina. For instance, in her effort to achieve perfection in her performance she becomes violent and loses her mind which is evident in her violent hallucinations, obsession, and paranoia. Yet, at the same time, Nina perfects her performance. Aronofsky shows that the dancing style improves as Nina hurts her nails until they bleed. The film also displays how competition and jealousy propel an individual to act in unimaginable ways. When Nina perceives Lily as rival and a competitor who was likely to take her place, she is motivated to work extra hard to outdo her. The film repeatedly shows scenes of fragments that finally come together to form the perfect whole. Nina is seen admiring an armless statue ‘Future clone’ which has wings and disfigured face elevated on high place (Sandino, 2013). She considers the injuries caused on the statue as beauty, and perceives the positioning of the wings as merging the statue to a whole. She then compares the imagined picture with her own transformation from her swan body to the Swan Queen she envisions in her hallucinations and hence merging the bird and the human (Sandino, 2013). In addition, as Nina visits Thomas Leroy’s apartment, she observes a painting on the wall ‘Cats and Cradle (2007)’ which appears fragmented into four parts of black and white color. She integrates these with gray shaded drawings on her clothing which intermingle to form one perfect whole. The retiring Beth, the old ballerina, who is Nina’s idol, has been forced out of the stardom by her old age (Sandino, 2013). Beth is seen throwing herself onto an oncoming traffic with an intention to commit suicide. She is taken to the hospital where she is seen in pain and bloody injuries as Nina hides the wounds under the blanket. Nina admires her idol’s legs that were instrumental in creating the impressive art in her days of stardom, and even though she knows Beth as mentally ill, “she worships her and calls her a perfect and a beautiful dancer” (Sandino, 2013). The film reveals dual kind of madness in the characters such as Nina, her mother, Beth, and several of the other ballerinas (Sandino, 2013). Aronofsky brings out the fact that the wicked tend to get their way in life by use of wicked and dishonest moves, while those who follow the natural rules and honest ways appear to suffer and loose in meaningful ways. For instance, the white swan plays honest and wins the prince’s love but before they move to the next step the black swan appears and confuses the prince with her seductive moves. The prince is made to believe that he fell in love with the black swan. Although the two swans resemble in appearance, they differ in attitudes and behavior, but surprisingly, the prince seems to be appealed by black swan’s behavior. Also, clearly displayed by Nina’s director is the desire of the society to produce the best out of an individual regardless of the suffering they have to go through. Although Nina attains ideal perfection, as the white swan, she does not succeed in winning the love of her life. When she could not have the prince for herself, she perceived it as losing her life and she entertains the idea of committing suicide. Aronofsky shows that perfect life is not completely achieved, and when it is achieved it is through Suffering and sacrifice. Aronofsky’s personality as a violent character is displayed again in the film in the way Nina is made to go through physically tasking rehearsals. He also seems to perceive human beings as being faced with conflict in their conscience when they need to make an about turn in their lives which results to psychological instability. When Nina has to learn the character of the black swan which is inconsistent with her morals and her upbringing, it creates a discourse in her mind. As a result, she behaves as a person who has lost her mind when she hallucinates and behaves violently at the night club. However, when an individual has a motivation behind the change, they pursue the change regardless of the resistance of the conscience and hence internal conflict occurs. Nina feels resistance in her conscience about taking the character of the black swan, but according to her, success as a dancer depends on taking the role. Nina’s desire to become a star motivates her to act against her conscience thus the internal conflict causes psychological imbalance. The internal conflict cannot be contained inside her, but it comes out in form of violence. Aronofsky emphasizes that physical violence is birthed from inside the person (Sandino, 2013). Further, Nina self-inflicts herself by stabbing her body thereby killing her two selves. The Visual representation of the characters especially Nina and Lucy draws the attention the audience in a very engaging manner. The grotesque nature of beauty in Nina is well illustrated in her images of the mutilated ballerina feet. Conclusion Aronosfsky’s films are characteristic of much pacing and extra activity which also brings out his skill of engaging the audience (Petrakis, 2009). The pacing is evident in other Aronofsky’s films such as “Pi”, “The Requiem for dream”, and the “The fountain”. The three films discussed in this paper are full of action and activity as illustrated in each film. Aronofsky has repeatedly used internal conflict in the actors as the reason for violence or unacceptable behavior. In the film of ‘Noah’, he shows Noah getting abnormally drank as he reflects on horror of the floods and lost friends. In the ‘wrestler’ the main character Randy is portrayed as having internal struggles concerning his prevailing circumstances, and he is also involved in violent wrestling despite his old age. Nina in the ‘Black Swan’ has to change her personality in order to fit in a role which will enhance her survival as a ballerina. As a result, she loses her mind and violently hurts her feet in an attempt to achieve perfection in her performance. In all the three films Violence forms a major part, in the ‘Noah’ the battle between the Tubal Cain and Noah. In the ‘Wrestler’ the main character Randy and the opponents in the wrestling ring display violence to the extent of physical injury that warrants medical attention. In addition, violence is coupled with extreme physical injury such as the case of Nina in ‘Black Swan’ where she mutilates her body as she seeks perfection in her performance. The violent behavior of Beth also in ‘Black Swan’ is evident when she stabs herself with a knife and also runs onto an oncoming traffic as she attempts to commit suicide. The films are bloody and horrific which causes shock waves on the audience. The themes in the films are repeated in more than one character especially in the ‘Wrestler’ and the ‘Black Swan’. Although Randy and Cassidy play different roles, they are both depicted as old for their current jobs and experiencing similar psychological conflict. Nina and Beth are also displayed as pursuing perfection in performance and hence they humiliate themselves through self-injury to achieve perfection, though performing at different times. The visual expression is emphasized in all the three films and it captivates the audience to actively engage with the events of the film. All the starring characters that include Noah, Tubal Cain, Nina, Lily, Thomas Leroy, Randy, Cassidy, catch the attention of the audience in a memorable way. References Corliss, R. (2014). REVIEW: Darren Aronofskys Noah Movie: Better Than the Book. Time.Com, 1. Elsaesser, Thomas, and Warren Buckland (2002) Studying contemporary American film, pp. 117-128 (on thematic criticism). LEE, N. (2009). The Wrestler. Film Comment, 45(1), 71. Petrakis, J. (2009). ON Film. Christian Century, 126(2), 44. Petrakis, J. (2010). Black Swan. Christian Century, 127(26), 43. Sanburn, J. (2014). Films Are His Flock. Time, 183(12), 52 Sandino, A. M. (2013). On perfection: Pain and arts-making in Aronofskys Black Swan. Journal Of Visual Art Practice, 12(3), 305-317. Stasukevich, I. (2014). Raging Waters. (cover story). American Cinematographer, 95(4), 36-49. Read More