The book about the transcendent cinema of Darren Aronofsky takes the reader on a journey through the selected filmography of this outstanding American director. A monograph devoted entirely to his extraordinary work, which among film experts and film audiences has both a group of devoted admirers and critics. A strong, even anarchist accent falls here on the type of film hero presented, living on the margins of society and consciously rejecting its normative structures. The films, as well as the literature to which the book refers, are an expression of a critical attitude towards symbolic violence and the imposition of creatively limiting cultural norms on the individual, requiring such ordering such and no other understanding and experiencing the surrounding world. An astute observer of Darren Aronofsky’s work will notice the existence of metaphysical problems in it, sometimes directly directed towards religious issues. We can call this kind of cinema transcendent. This cinema is only seemingly pessimistic in its meaning. It is worth looking for mythical stories to try to hear and understand what they have to offer us. It is worth turning to transcendence and trying to express the inexpressible, also in the art of film, as does Darren Aronofsky, who wants to be a trustee of great mythical narratives. These features, so characteristic of the director, can be seen, to a greater or lesser extent, in all his films, especially those referred to in this monograph. It will be interesting for the reader who expects from contemporary cinema something more than unsophisticated entertainment and wants to go beyond its ludic dimension.
Chapter I. Cinema, anthropology, transcendence 7
1. Films and Mythical Stories, Cultural Trails, and Topoi 7
2. The Transcendent Cinema. Film Art, Big Questions, and Attempts at Interpretation 22
3. Anthropology of Film 29
Chapter II. The Wrestler – An Escape To Freedom 35
1. Why The Wrestler? 35
2. Randy “The Ram” Robinson, or Robin Ramzinski 37
3. Randy’s Place: America Through Aronofsky’s Lens 40
4. Wrestling and Ritual Sacrifice 45
5. The Body of the Wrestler and the Terror of the Culturally Formed Corporeality 51
6. The Ritual Process, the Game, and Liminality 62
7. The Power of the Combine and the Freedom of the Individual. The Last Fight of the Wrestler 66
Chapter III. Mother Earth, Home, And Paradise Lost. The Symbolic Meaning Of Mother! 75
1. Religious Cinema and the Vision of Human History. A Biblical Reminder 75
2. God’s House and Its Unruly Guests. Sins and Flaw 79
3. The Guests Destroy the House and Mother Earth. Apocalypse and Revival 84
4. Hospitality and Home. Love and the Ultimate Sacrifice 88
Chapter IV. The Fountain as a Story of Death and Rebirth 95
1. The Fountain as a Film About Love and Death 95
2. A Journey in Search of Healing 101
3. Death, Disease, Fatal Wounds, and Their Miraculous Healing 106
4. Disease. Traditional and Folk Culture 118
5. Faith, Love, and the Holy Grail 121
6. The Queen 126
7. The Maya, the Story of the First Father, Xibalba, and the Tree of Life. Rebirth 133
Chapter V. Noah as a Story of Violence, Human Pride, and the Destruction of the World 149
1. Violence and the World of People 149
2. The War of All Against All 155
3. Aggression and Power 162
4. Born to Evil. Violence in Darren Aronofsky’s Film 166
5. Contemporary Midrash. Water as a Divine Instrument of Purification, Fallen Angels. Noah and His Time 181
Chapter VI. Captain Ahab Arrives at the Port or Charlie’s Ascension 197
1. Moby-Dick and Charlie, the Incorrigible Optimist 197
2. Ellie’s Post-Literate Essays 206
3. An Essay on Moby-Dick and Literature 210
4. Body and Shame. Bulimia, Anorexia, and Bigorexia. The Big Feast 213
5. Literature and Anthropology. Film 220
6. Charlie’s Ascension. Captain Ahab Arrives at the Port 224
Chapter VII. The Sacred, The Myth, Transcendence Once Again, or What Do Darren Aronofsky’s Films Teach Us? 229
Bibliography 241
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