Anyone who has seen a film by Darren Aronofsky is not likely to describe it as a completely pleasurable experience. My first experience with Aronofsky’s work was seeing Requiem for a Dream on the big screen. It was good – but I avoided it for the next two years because of its intensity.
For Aronofsky is it not enough to show us the hardships of a protagonist. He has to actually make us feel the experiences of our protagonists. In Black Swan Aronofsky continues to force us to suffer with our onscreen hero – and this time around you’ll be hard pressed to figure out why you should care. Continue reading