Requiem for a Dream (2000)

"What is Addiction?"

Keep that question in mind when you see this film, as it is the dominating theme of the plot. Dark, depressing and ultimately doomed characters seem to be Director Darren Aronofsky's strong point (bare in mind I'm watching this after 2008's The Wrestler and 2011's Black Swan) and he doesn't disappoint.

The story or 4 connected people dealing with their personal addiction, a mother and son, and teh son's friend and girlfriend, each of them has their vice and a dream that is doomed from the outset.

Starting slow, I buckled up for what I thought was going to be the Offsy's only dud at around the 30 minute mark, but mirroring the trajectory of the characters lives, the pace seems to picked up toward the end. Quicker cuts and increasing shots of these poor bastards brings the end to us sooner than we think, leaving us to want to go hang ourselves it's so dark.

My case in point is the mother, expertly pulled off by Ellen Burstyn who just want's to be on television, not for money, but because she want's something to happen in her quiet life, and she's driven quite literally insane waiting for a studio to get back to her about her application to be on a gameshow, what starts as a seemingly dark comedy turns rather rapidly into a depressing yarn.

Conclusion? Watch at your own peril, though fascinating and extremely well put together, the story is so amazingly dark. A masterclass of cinema at a time when we had other well timed and written pieces such as Fight Club and Memento, signalling a change of pace for hollywood, these films are absolutely character driven, it's a shame the rest of the decade couldn't maintain the great start it got off to. 8.5/10

Black Swan (2011)

The light Rom-Com of a ballerina who only want's to meet the right man, but her bitch of a rival comes along and threatens everything, only for her to triumph in the end and become the prom queen/businesswoman of the year/ Head Ballerina thingy... This is, in fact what a film called "Black Swan" about the mental anguish of a young woman (Natalie Portman) dancing in a rendition of Swan Lake could well have been like. Fortunately, Darren Aronofsky plays by a different set of rules.

Dark Subject matter is nothing new for this man, "the Offsky" as I affectionately call him, made his Directorial début with π (pi, pronounced Pie, the mathematical term) The 1998 black and white thriller about a man trying to decode the the formula on which the stock exchange is based on, showing us the downfalls of great genius, as a man cannot escape his brilliance because his mind just won't cease calculating, ending with visuals and themes spawning the bastard child between Taxi Driver and A Beautiful Mind. While he later went on to achieve acclaim with Requiem For A Dream and The Wrestler, π was AronofskY setting the bar for himself, a high one at that.

So what can one expect? As I said before, it's the story of Nina, a working Ballet dancer in the high octane and pressure filled Ballet circuit, a mixture of bitchy stage-school kids and a more laid back cock tease Lily (integral to the plot, and Nina sexual/personal awakening played wonderfully by Mila Kunis). Landing the role of The Swan Queen seems to only add to the foundation of mental issues Nina has aquired because of her pushy mother, ever desperate to make her daughter live out the life she couldn't.

While she can execute the White Swan choreography to a T nearly every time, it's the more relaxed, emotional titular Black Swan Nina has trouble with. With manipulative Director Thomas (masterful yet bastardly turn by Vincent Cassel) pushing her to be more emotive, the film takes many dark, surreal and fantastical twists and turns before it's beautifully shot, performed and directed finale. Visually speaking one of the best films of the past 10 years.

Conclusion? Stellar cast performing a knockout piece I find hard to knock, perhaps the movie tried to hard to be subtle (Nina wearing a white, feathery scarf, Lily having black wings tattoo'd on her back) but it seems to suit the story Offsky was trying to tell. Though starving children in Africa and homelssness on the streets of London ARE big problems in the grand scheem of things, in the tiny world created for this little doll of a girl by her controlling mother (and subsequently, Director) means this life, and then this play is all she has, and her drive for perfection in her field only seems to fuel her mental downfall. An absolute must see, (whether or not the Academy grant it best picture), and it's also suitable to take the girlfriend to. Also, Mila Kunis and Natalie Portman getting it on.... win win? 9.9/10