Welcome to "Darren Aronofsky: First Person Cinema," constructed as a compliment to CAMS 229:
Outsider Cinema, a course at Carleton College, in
Northfield Minnesota. This website is devoted to director Darren Aronofsky, known for the films Pi and Requiem
for a Dream. This website takes the form of an essay, which discusses the various elements of Aronofsky's cinema
in turn. These various subjects can be explored independently by clicking on the links to the left, or you can read it
straight through using the "continue" button at the bottom of each page. Additionally, outside links of interest or
relevance are displayed on the left side of the page (you'll see them as you go). Finally, feel free to explore the
other webpages made in conjunction with "Outsider Cinema," also linked on the left side.
The overarching goal of this site is to use Aronofsky's films and techniques to comment on his status
as an "outsider," that is, a filmmaker who has deliberately placed himself outside the realm of conventional Hollywood
cinema. As such, the first task of this essay is to determine just exactly how far "outside" Aronofksy is.
There is little question that Darren Aronofsky's first two (released) films are in fact works of
"outsider" cinema. Completely dedicated to his artistic vision, Aronofsky assembled teams for his movies that were as
emotionally involved in the projects as himself. For example, by allowing Requiem to be released as "unrated" and
finally with an NC-17 badge, the executive producers ensured that they would make scant little profit from the film;
the stated goal was to achieve artistic, rather than financial success.
As superficial as it may seem, money, or lack thereof, is often the main factor that defines the divide
between independent and Hollywood film. In big studio Hollywood pictures money is the ultimate goal, but for many
independent filmmakers, it is little more than an enormous obstacle in the way of the true goal: realization of an
artistic vision.
In making Pi, Aronofsky managed not only to overcome his lack of finances, but to also use the
disadvantage in his favor, turning financial investment into emotional attachment: Sean Gullette (Max Cohen) and
Aronofsky asked for money from friends, promising high returns were the movie to be a success, a prospect that seemed
remote at best at the time. Every person involved in the making of Pi made a risky financial investment, based solely
on faith in director and actor, with little hope of any return. They took that risk because they had become emotionally
vested in Aronofsky's artistic vision. Instead of making money from the project, people were giving money to it. These
emotional investments shine through in the grainy and over-exposed final product. Pi was a means not to an
economic end, but to an artistic one. As critic Kathi Maio says: "Although the low budget unavoidably shows in this
film, there is a creativity and validity that far transcends any technical shortcomings."
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Questions or comments, e-mail me
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