Alum Aronofsky Spills a ‘Fountain’ of Advice

Visual and Environmental Studies (VES) concentrators who bemoan taking “Science B-53, Marine Biology” might look to Darren S. Aronofsky ’91 for inspiration.

In a one-on-one interview with The Crimson, the director of “Pi,” “Requiem for a Dream,” and most recently, “The Fountain,” discusses his latest film as well as his fond memories of Harvard: the annoying difficulty of Social Studies, his life-changing electives in the VES department, the Core, and even advice for any student’s future after graduation.



The Harvard Crimson: This is your first film with a big studio like Warner Bros. How is the transition from independent funding to working with a major Hollywood studio?

Darren Aronofsky: Well, I felt the same. One advantage of Hollywood everyone overlooks is that the people that help with the money for films have done this for a long time. And they know a lot about film, so it is great to have their input.

THC: So it was the same as filming “Pi” or “Requiem”?

DA: Yes, it was very much the same. You always have to interact with people that help with funding. And these guys knew a lot.

THC: “The Fountain” is definitely not linear. Did you intend it to be cyclical?

DA: Yes, of course. It was an integral part of the story and the message. Isn’t that what fountains do?

THC: Your movie is very interdisciplinary: it has biology, philosophy, history, romance… being a Harvard grad, how do you feel about the liberal arts?

DA: Well, that’s a question! I liked it, I enjoyed them during my time at Harvard. Do they still have the Core?

THC: Yes.

DA: Did you have to take Science A, and Science B?

THC: Indeed. So terrible.

DA: I loved mine. They were very inspiring. I felt the student body prepared me to hate the Core, but I really enjoyed it. I always thought it was a great idea, and many of the things I was taught there stayed with me, even more than many things I was focusing on at the time.

THC: The Mayan myth of Genesis and their “Tree of Life” are essential to your film. How did you first come across it?

DA: Well, you find those things with research.

THC: So it was more of a means than an end. The idea for “The Fountain” was not born there?

DA: You never know when ideas are born. The idea is there. Research clarifies them… when you find things like the Mayan tree. And then you see it is not just the Mayans… it is beyond that, you find it everywhere. I took some classes at Harvard about Mayan history, but not their mythology. If you think hard enough, you can connect anything.

THC: So you went straight into VES when you came to Harvard?

DA: No, I started with Social Studies, but it was way too hard. I remember cramming for my best paper, and emerging with it, I thought it was the best thing I had ever written. But then I got a B–. I was devastated. So I changed.

THC: And went to VES?

DA: No, my roommate was in it, and he always loved it. I did not know what to do; I was terrified. But one has to understand it is OK not to know. I ended up in Social Anthro, and using all my electives at VES. My parents are hardworking teachers in Brooklyn, I thought there was something wrong about doing just VES.

THC: [Arnheim Lecturer on Filmmaking] Robb Moss gave a great introduction for your film. Did you know him while at Harvard?

DA: Well, I took some classes in VES, and it was a small, familiar community. We all knew each other.

THC: So you took their renowned studio classes?

DA: Yes, I took a studio painting class in my sophomore year that changed my vision of the world. I wonder if the professor is still there… it really changed how I see things. Everything.

THC: And then? No film at all?

DA: Well, then I applied for the hardest studio classes to get into: Sculpture and Film. I got into f ilm, and loved it. I was not expecting it, but then I was using all of my electives at VES. Besides, the Carpenter Center and Sever Hall are the best looking buildings at Harvard, I always thought. Things come to you. You just have to wait to know what’s your thing.

THC: Photography and score are integral parts of the whole that makes “The Fountain”. The different time-periods come together through the warm colors and sounds omnipresent on the screen and in the viewer’s ears. Were you very involved in that?

DA: Yes, but all that comes with a lot of people talking about the movie’s message for a long time. It is all about collaboration, and working with great people.

THC: Your film is firm saying that aging is natural. But that’s not what you did with your production. You thought CGI aged quickly, so you went for macro photography and Peter Parks’ filming chemical reactions. So where do you stand?

DA: (Laughs) I am OK with film being immortal, but not humans.

THC: I have to go back to class now.

DA: Do not complain. Enjoy it. It’s the best time… I wish I could go to class now.

THC: Last question… what was there between Commencement at Harvard and “Pi”?

DA: A master’s at AFI. Well, the twenties are hard. Prepare for that. You go hungry in your twenties.

—Staff writer Pierpaolo Barbieri can be reached at barbier@fas.harvard.edu.