a genius in our midst

Rating: Null/10 (22 December 2000)

Not since viewing the the entire canon of Wilder's work way back in film school have I felt awe, gratitude and devotion for a director. Mr. Aronofsky is the first cinematic master of the new millennium and I don't care how passionate or hot-headed that sounds, or how young he is. A director who can tread in such violence, darkness, and base human behavior and yield the enormous amount of compassion this film illicits on an emotional level is indeed a master. Thanks to the brazen and courageous literary mind of Hubert Selby Jr., the material here was ripe for filmic interpretation - which Aronofsky has accomplished with jagged perfection - something the makers of "Last Exit to Brooklyn" missed entirely several years ago. The unflinching examination of human beings lost to their hunger for connection in a barren world yielded a level of soul identification in this viewer, also a director, previously unknown in my personal experience. The photography and sound design, HANDS DOWN, far supercede anything put out in Hollywood over the past five years, at least. Finally, special effects used as an emotional construct rather than a tool of sensationalism - AND THEY MOVE US. The score pushed the cinematic brilliance of the piece into the stratosphere with its subtlety, responsiveness, and power. Last but first, there is no contest, in this year or any other of the past decade, for the best actress in any award pageant. Ellen Burstyn has gifted us with a character whose devastation and helplessness is depicted with more raw, immediate, and fearless heart than any I can remember. I was aghast at her nakedness in chanelling an utterly lost, heartbroken soul. Bresson said that great acting is not acting at all, and to that effect: Burstyn IS. The hope for authentic and powerful film is alive again.