Watch: Eyes in the Films of Darren Aronofsky: A Video Appreciation

When Darren Aronofsky focuses on a character’s eyes, the story told will be different than the story told when Hitchcock does it, or Bergman does it. Aronofsky uses eyes to show precariousness, to show how close we all are to falling, at every moment. In Requiem for a Dream, we could say that Marion has already fallen. In The Wrestler, we could say that Randy knows he has fallen but is struggling to right himself, to pull himself back up. In Black Swan, Nina knows she is falling, but the particular fall she takes provides her with a toxic charge. This video mix by Vimeo user "WarmBakedBread" gives us a laparoscopic glimpse of the lives Aronofsky portrays, and invites us to witness de-evolution at its most thrilling.