The Wrestler
Randy, an ageing professional wrestler with a failing heart, tries to leave the ring, mend ties with his estranged daughter, and start over, but is pulled back to the fight.
Venice Golden Lion 2008 won
Randy the Ram, once a star of professional wrestling, now scrapes by on small-town cards and a supermarket job, his body wrecked and his heart failing. A health scare pushes him to reach for a life outside the ring, to court a stripper and to seek out the daughter he abandoned, but each attempt falters.
The film belongs here for its picture of an identity that exists only in performance, and of a man who returns to self-harm because the fight is the one place he still feels real, after reconciliation with his daughter breaks down. It won the Golden Lion at Venice in 2008.
Director
Darren Aronofsky
Darren Aronofsky is an American film director, born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1969. He is known for psychologically intense films including Requiem for a Dream, The Wrestler, Black Swan, and The Whale. His work returns repeatedly to characters gripped by compulsion: addiction that narrows a life, the body pushed past its limits, and the punishing drive toward perfection. For a clinically minded viewer, his films offer close portraits of people whose private obsessions reshape how they see themselves and others.
Details
- 2008
- United States
- English
- Film