Line #3 Creator/DarrenAronofsky


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3	%% Per Administrivia/CreatorPageGuidelines, only tropes associated to a Creator's works are allowed on this wiki's pages, and tropes that apply to the Creator's personal life as if the Creator is a fictional character are not allowed. Please do not apply tropes about the Creator's personal life as if they are a fictional character.
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6	[[quoteright:280:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tumblr_lheub9oUR81qdtupwo1_400_5230.jpg]]
7	->''"I'd like to do a lot of different stuff. I think it's important as a creative person to keep challenging yourself and keep doing new stuff. If you end up trying to repeat yourself it's death. It just becomes boring and takes the passion out of it. You gotta find stories and characters that you really want to hang out with."''
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9	Darren Aronofsky (born February 12, 1969 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter, known for producing controversial art-house movies with avant-garde filming techniques. He is a [[AssociatedComposer close collaborator with composer]] Music/ClintMansell.
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11	His works to date include:
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13	* ''Film/SoldierBoyz'' (1997, the video game adaptation of the movie)
14	* ''Film/{{Pi}}'' (1998)
15	* ''Literature/RequiemForADream'' (2000, adapted from the novel)
16	* ''Film/TheFountain'' (2006)
17	* ''Film/TheWrestler'' (2008)
18	* ''Film/BlackSwan'' (2010)
19	* ''Film/{{Noah}}'' (2014)
20	* ''Film/{{Jackie}}'' (2016) (produced only)
21	* ''[[Film/Mother2017 mother!]]'' (2017)
22	* ''Film/TheWhale'' (2022)
23	* ''Film/PostcardFromEarth'' (2023)
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25	He has also been attached to other projects at various times, including a set of [=PSA=]s for ''[[Advertising/MethProject The Montana Meth Project]]'', an early version of what would eventually become ''Film/BatmanBegins'', ''Film/TheFighter'', a remake of ''Film/{{RoboCop\|2014}}'' that died in DevelopmentHell and ''Film/TheWolverine''.
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27	He was in a relationship with actress Creator/RachelWeisz (who had a role in ''Film/TheFountain'') from 2001 to 2010. He also dated Creator/JenniferLawrence, [[RomanceOnTheSet whom he directed for his 2017 film]] ''mother!''.
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30	!!Tropes associated with Aronofsky's work:
31	* BodyHorror: Expect his films to be as direct and uncinematic as possible when showing damage to the human body.
32	* CentralTheme:
33	** ''Film/{{Pi}}'', ''Film/TheFountain'', ''Film/TheWrestler'', and ''Film/BlackSwan'' are all about obsession, ambition, and the psychological torment that comes from the crossover between the two.
34	** Addiction. ''Film/RequiemForADream'' is about drug addiction; Randy in ''Film/TheWrestler'' takes steroids and cocaine; ''Film/TheWhale'' is about food addiction.
35	* CreatorProvincialism: He was born and raised in New York City, [[BrooklynRage Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn]] to be precise, and three of his films have been set there with ''Film/TheWrestler'' taking place in nearby New Jersey.
36	* CreatorThumbprint:
37	** Many (if not all) of his works carry a constant underlying plot of obsession leading to the main character's self-destruction (or near-destruction).
38	** He also commonly ties Biblical and environmentalist themes together, with specific focus on environmentalist implications of the Garden of Eden.
39	* DownerEnding: His films don't tend to have happy endings.
40	* {{Facecam}}: Used in ''Film/{{Pi}}'' and ''Literature/RequiemForADream'', which popularized it. One of the DVD bonus features included with ''Film/{{Pi}}'' is a clip of Sean Gullette testing out a FaceCam while walking around New York.
41	* FanDisservice: He somehow managed to make Creator/JenniferConnelly [[GirlOnGirlIsHot performing a lesbian sex act on stage]] (''Literature/RequiemForADream'') and Creator/NataliePortman making out with Creator/MilaKunis (''Film/BlackSwan'') ''terrifying''.
42	* HumansAreFlawed: A central theme of his work is showing people, even people who do terrible or selfish things, as still being deserving of sympathy and working to portray them not as inherently bad but simply victims of their own bad impulses as much as those around them are.
43	* ProductionPosse: [[invoked]] Matthew Libatique was the cinematographer of all his films except ''Film/TheWrestler'', Music/ClintMansell composed the score for all of them except ''[[Film/Mother2017 mother!]]'' and ''Film/TheWhale'', and Andrew Weisblum was the editor for the last five. Creator/MarkMargolis, who plays a main role in ''Film/{{Pi}}'', has small roles in all of Aronofsky's following films except ''mother!''. Additionally, Creator/EllenBurstyn has roles in ''Literature/RequiemForADream'' and ''Film/TheFountain'', Creator/JenniferConnelly has roles in ''Requiem for a Dream'' and ''Film/{{Noah}}'', and Sean Gullette appears in both ''π'' and ''Requiem for a Dream''. Stanley B. Herman also plays a DirtyOldMan in ''π'', ''Requiem for a Dream'', and ''Film/BlackSwan''. [[ComicBook/{{Fables}} James Jean]] has done promo art for ''The Fountain'' and ''Noah'' and also did the first two [[http://www.indiewire.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/mother-poster.jpeg teaser]] [[http://www.indiewire.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/dgmxhskuaaaleey.jpg posters]] for ''mother!''.
44	* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Most of his films lean ''heavily'' to the cynical side. Testament to this: ''Requiem'' and ''mother!'' have been listed as two of the most depressing movies of ALL TIME. As a rule: his films can get '''[[DarkerAndEdgier dark]]'''.
45	* ViolenceIsDisturbing: His films do ''not'' hold back from this trope and he's even said he hates the use of violence in films in a more casual manner.
46	* WhatCouldHaveBeen: [[invoked]] He was supposed to direct the ''Series/{{Lost}}'' episode "?", hence that episode being even more dependent on surrealism than the show usually was, but ''The Fountain'' ended up taking too much of his time.
47	** At one point (before Creator/ChristopherNolan was brought into the franchise) he was also attached to a live action version of ''ComicBook/BatmanYearOne'', with Creator/FrankMiller writing the script. He and Creator/WarnerBrothers just couldn’t come to an agreement about what the film should be, mostly around casting as he wanted Creator/JoaquinPhoenix in the lead while WB wanted Creator/FreddiePrinzeJr.
48	** He walked out on directing ''Film/TheWolverine'' after getting fed up with ExecutiveMeddling not letting him make it R-rated, plus wanting to spend more time with his family.
49	** He's also expressed a desire to direct a ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'' film and was even in talks for ''Film/ManOfSteel''.

Context Creator / DarrenAronofsky