Truth and Dare

Director Darren Aronofsky sheds light on his writing process, communicating with actors and taming Mickey Rourke.

- Jedd Jong

The writer/director/producer was in Singapore for the 27th Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF), giving a masterclass at the ArtScience Museum in Marina Bay Sands. Displaying an instinct for pushing the boundaries, Aronofsky asked an employee of the museum if it would be possible for him to climb to the top of the palm-shaped structure’s ‘fingers’. She replied that it would be difficult to do so, but Aronofsky seemed undeterred. He later posted photos taken atop the museum on Instagram.

F*** attended the masterclass, which was moderated by Singaporean filmmaker Ken Kwek. Kwek opened with a quote from a talk that Aronofsky held with Clint Eastwood at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2013: “For me,filmmaking is pain. I’m in pain the whole time. I’m in pain writing, I’m in pain shooting, and I’m in pain editing.”

“Why, then?” Kwek asked plainly.

Aronofsky described the almost masochistic relationship he has with the process of filmmaking, replying: “When you get inspired by an idea, you just can’t let it go and it forces you to go through pain. And then, when it’s all done, you sort of forget about it, because you’re re-inspired by a new idea.” Despite enduring “so many challenges and so many compromises and so many things that don’t go the way you want it to go”, the passion keeps Aronofsky coming back for more.

“Once the film’s done, you somehow forget [the pain],” he said, quipping, “I hear the same thing about childbirth. People go back and do it again.”