The Artistic Heart of Darkness

Rating: 10/10 (19 September 2017)

MAJOR SPOILER ALERT!!!
This film goes deeper than anything Aronofsky has done to date. It is certainly his most personal film, and that is evident in its exploration of the great paradox, the great cruel irony, that he certainly knows so well, of how an artist driven creatively can destroy the essence of all that is good at the center of HIS OWN LIFE while simultaneously destroying the heart of what is good right in front of him, what could easily envelope him in absolute love, provided by Mother (however one envisions Mom in any or all her dimensions).
This film is a deeply personal exploration into the Heart of Darkness in a relationship between man and woman where creative Rumblings will not permit a steady Foundation. It is possibly the worst nightmare a person could get caught up in, fulfilling one's Destiny as an artist while simultaneously destroying life all around IN ITS ESSENCE! That is the greatest temptation of all in life, one that every artist has tasted in some degree, and a handful of impassioned artists have driven themselves into the darkest regions of the Abyss with no return in pursuit of the absolute truth that will affirm a vision of this Darkness that lurks beneath the surface of consciousness, often dragging those closest down with them.
I loved how Bergman explored this theme in Hour of the Wolf,and in Roeg's great film version of Conrad's Heart of Darkness, but I'm really taken deeper, more personally, inside this Haiku cinematic version from Aronofsky.