Darren Aronofsky was born on 12 February 1969 in Brooklyn, New York. Son of Charlotte Aronofsky and Abraham Aronofsky, he grew up in Manhattan Beach. The Director graduated from Edward R. Morrow High School. He has one sister, Patti. Darren is a popular American Filmmaker and Environmentalist. He is currently dating Jennifer Lawrence – the Mystique girl from X-Men.
Darren Aronofsky Educational Background
He studied Film and Social Anthropology at Harvard University and also attended American Film Institute. He has won several film awards. For his senior thesis he wrote a screenplay called Supermarket Sweep which went on to become a National Student Academy Award Finalist. Darren Aronofsky PI – the Psychological thriller “PI” (the movie grossed $ 3 million) was his debut movie.
His Interest
Aronofsky is popular for making surreal and psychologically disturbing movies. His most famous movie was the Requiem for a Dream (a novel by the same name by author Hubert Selby Jr.). he loves to explore the grim realities behind the glorious mind. There is something in his screenplay that makes me identify the Subconscious mind which popular author Virginia Woolf also talked about in her works in the later years.
His Inspiration
Destiny always has one trick up her sleeves. if you want something in your life, she will make sure you get it provided that you work hard for it with no excuses. During his youth, Darren trained as a field biologist with The School for Field Studies in Kenya in 1985 and Alaska in 1986. He attended school in Kenya to pursue an interest in learning about ungulates. He later mentioned, “The School for Field Studies changed the way I perceived the world”.
Aronofsky’s interest in the outdoors led him to backpack his way through Europe and the Middle East. In 1987, he entered Harvard University, where he majored in social anthropology and studied filmmaking; he graduated in 1991.
Debut Film
Darren entered the world of filmmaking with his debut PI. The movie was shot in 1997 . the film was produced with an initial budget of $ 60,000 , the movie premiered at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival, where the director received his first award.
Movies directed by Darren Aronofsky
| Supermarket Sweep | 1991 |
| Fortune Cookie | 1991 |
| Protozoa | 1993 |
| N Time | 1994 |
| PI | 1998 |
| Requiem for a Dream | 2000 |
| Below | 2002 |
| Hubert Selby Jr.: It/II be better | – |
| The Fountain | 2006 |
| The Wrestler | 2008 |
| Black Swan | 2010 |
| Noah | 2014 |
| The Tiger | 2017 |
| Jackie | 2016 |
| Aftermath | 2017 |
| Mother | 2017 |
| White Boy Rick | 2018 |
Most acclaimed work
Darren has been an influential screenplay writer and director. He explains that he got the chance to see the world from a new perspective while he was in Africa. He is a notable storyteller, who understands the grim realities and introspects the mind and its games especially as the person experiencing it sees it. One of his acclaimed movies Black Swan was another was nominated for 5 Academy Awards.
Movie – Black Swan
| Genre | Mystery / Drama Film |
| Starcast | Natlaie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Mark Margolis |
| Plot | Nina a ballerina, gets the chance to play the white Swan, Princess Odette. But she finds herself slipping into madness when Thomas, the artistic director, decides that Lily might fit the role better. |
| Released on | 25 Febrauary 2011 |
| Box Office Collection | 329.4 million USD |
| Review | S. Jhoanna (Common Sense Media): Black Swan is a dance macabre personified a grueling tragic, obsessive and gripping film about a ballerina’s quest for perfection at the expense of personality and sanity |
Movie – Requiem for a Dream
| Genre | Drama |
| Starcast | Jared Leto, Hubert Selby Jr., Jennfier Connelly, Ajay Naidu, Abraham Aronofsky, Marlon Wayans, Christopher McDonald, Marcia Jean, Loiuse Lasser, Mark Margolis, Sean Gullette, Keith David, Suzanne Shepherd, Dylan Baker |
| Plot | Imaginatively evoking the inner landscape of human beings longing to connect, to love and feel loved, the film is a prable of happiness lost. It tells the parallel stories between the lonely, widowed sara Goldfarb and her son Harry. The plump sara, starts a dangerous diet regimen to beautify herself for a national audience. |
| Released on | 06 October 2000 |
| Review | Peter Travers from Rolling Stone: No one interested in the power and magic of movies should miss it. |
His Few Favorites
Darren Aronofsky has a special bond with his father Abraham Aronofsky and Mark Miragolis. He always managed to reserve a space for both in his each movie. For example, in all his movies, his gets a role on matter how small it is. Bet you didn’t notice that. Mark Margolis and Abraham Aronofsky remain his favorites. Darren makes sure that they both are a part of his movies.
Roles his father played in his movies
- Black Swan – Mr. Stein
- The Fountain – Lab Technician
- The Wrestler – the annoyed man
- PI – Delivery man
Environmental Activism
Aronofsky is also a keen participant of environmental activism. To support the save the environment, In 2014, he traveled to the Alberta Tar Sands with the Sierra Club’s Michael Brune and Leonardo DiCaprio to promote the need to save the environment. In 2015, he traveled to Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge with Brune, Keri Russell, and the leaders of several veterans groups.
He also holds the honor of receiving the Humanitarian Award from both the Humane Society of the United States and PETA.
Not only that, In 2015, he collaborated with the artist JR on “The Standing March,” which was a public art installation in Paris to encourage diplomats at COP21 to take action against climate change.
He is a board member of The Sierra Club Foundation and The School of Field Studies.