Dark, brooding, and with those 'come to bed Mr. Academy Award' eyes, Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan is coming, and it'll probably make us feel the way Zeus made Leda feel. But this being Cheever's, we're not one to gush. Instead, let's take a tour through the Darren Aronofsky film school.
Don't get us wrong, Aronofsky is a decent director, and great at reminding us exactly where the office gun is hidden, and why it would feel great pushed against our temples. But after re-watching The Wrestler, and reading the kind of 'no crap, Aronofsky' quote in this month's Empire: "Ballet is dark, haunting, gothic," it becomes apparent that Aronofsky suffers from a little bit of audience distrust syndrome. See, The Wrestler is full of some wonderful moments, ruined by Aron's insistence that his audience are idiot college students who, unlike him, just won't get it. Like...
1. Rourke's descent to the deli counter. It's a wonderful turn on a classic shot, where the star makes his way through a maze of corridors to the stage, only this times it's the down and out Rourke, and the stage isn't a stage at all, but a crummy deli counter. IT'S CLEVER BECAUSE ROURKE ISN'T A STAR AT ALL, AND INSTEAD OF A STAGE IT'S THE DELI COUNTER. See what I did there in loud, obnoxious capitals? Exactly what Aronofsky does with his loud, obnoxious stage chant as Rourke nears the plastic curtains. Aronofsky, we get it.
2. The final shot. Rourke leaps, only to glide past the camera, affording us a beat of the empty ceiling above, cut to black. Credits. Wait, add ten seconds of black in between those last two, because, you know, we just don't get a good enough sense of what's just happened, here. Again, thanks Aronofsky. Next time, just spell it out in caps during the credits.
I'd include more, but I'm sure you can spot them for yourself. SEE WHAT I DID THERE, ARONOFSKY?
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