Every generation produces exciting young directors, from Billy Wilder to Robert Eggers. The late 90s and early 00s were are fertile time for new indie talent emerging, and as Hollywood gradually drifted back from studio-led blockbusters to auteur-ish idiosyncrasy, moviegoers began to appreciate the stylistic flourishes of a younger set of filmmakers, many of whom have, over the last twenty years, gone on to forge distinctive careers leaving a trail of awards and accolades in their wake.
But everyone has to start somewhere, and it’s sometimes interesting to go back and rewatch some earlier features of now-established directors, even if their edges might be a little rougher. Let’s take a look at two of them.
Hard Eight (Paul Thomas Anderson)
In the minds of many, Paul Thomas Anderson burst onto the scene with the acclaimed Boogie Nights, charting the rise and fall of adult movie star Dirk Diggler, which simultaneously transformed the career of Mark Wahlberg from a rubbish pop-rapper into an A-List Hollywood star. PTA has gone on to direct some of the best American films of the last two decades, such There Will Be Blood and The Master.
But PTA’s debut came in the form of Hard Eight, a tough, gritty crime drama set in Las Vegas, a town rich in film history. Casinos have often provided a rich backdrop for movies, and casino games are such a big part of our pop culture that they’ve become wildly popular online, with players able to enjoy slingo casino games alongside traditional classics such as poker, blackjack, and roulette. Hard Eight may not have propelled PTA to instant stardom, but it did drop hints as to his mastery of richly drawn, complex characters that have since become his trademark.
Pi / π (Darren Aronofsky)
Known for his heavily stylised and immensely ambitious productions (maybe over-ambitious in the eyes of critics, with films such as The Fountain proving a little too pretentious for some audiences), Aronofsky’s name is often mentioned in the same breath as his second feature, the grueling adaptation of Hubert Selby Jr.’s Requiem For a Dream. Noted for its quick cut ‘hip-hop montage’ technique — an average 100 minute film has roughly 600 cuts, Requiem has more than 2000 — it often overshadows his lower budget, but possibly superior, debut Pi.
An intriguing psychological thriller that follows paranoid, emotionally troubled genius mathematician Max Cohen, who, despite constant headaches builds a supercomputer in his apartment to predict the stock market. Pursued by Hasidic Jews who believe the true name of God can be revealed by numerical correspondence to the Torah, as well as aggressive and sinister Wall Street figures, the film depicts his deterioration into full psychosis.
Aronofsky canvassed everyone he knew to donate $100 to the making of the film, shot in black-and-white Super 16, and managed to finish it on a budget of $134,815 (it took more than $3 million at the box office, and became a cult classic). Pi is a tough watch, but its themes, built on mathematics, Jewish mysticism, and the ancient game of Go, make it distinctive and indicative of the young director’s potential talents, simultaneously launching the film-scoring career of Clint Mansell, who has worked with Aronofsky on several movies since.
Looking back at the early work of acclaimed directors is an interesting way to reflect on their ideas, themes, and techniques. Both Aronofsky and PTA have gone on to make high-profile, high-budget movies that sweep awards ceremonies, and their less honed, rougher debuts offer clues to their future success.
