This year marks five years since Darren Aronofsky made The Wrestler, which helped re-ignite the director’s fire in the filmmaking world, while also kick starting Mickey Rourke‘s then-dying career. The two men teamed up in (and out of) the ring to make a tough and gritty drama not just about the “sport” of professional wrestling, but a comeback story about one of the most unlikely comebacks.
I still hold The Wrestler near to my heart, both as a former fan of wrestling and as a big fan of Aronosfky as a filmmaker. Most say The Wrestler helped rebound him from The Fountain, which wasn’t the biggest financial or critical success. I still believe that The Fountain is his best film yet, but I’d give the second slot to The Wrestler.
Today, we have a 45-minute documentary on the film called Within the Ring, which was attached to the Blu-ray, but never before seen online until now.
Watch it and relive the making-of the film and perhaps get around to seeing The Wrestler if you haven’t already.