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Black Swan (2010) - Trailer Included
Feathers are ruffled and fly in Black Swan
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Starring: Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder
Natalie Portman owns centre stage.
Compelling Director Darren Aronofsky leaps onto the stage of obsessive horror once more for Black Swan. Never lacking in power or imagery that resonates, this metamorphic waltz with the personal sacrifices of artistic perfection is orchestrated so that every note unbalances, prying beyond projection.
Taking the most recognized of balletic productions Swan Lake and pirouetting off stage to tell the characters stories through fittingly a tale of woe that is allegoric in its harrowing events. As nightmare and reality become indistinguishable, vile metamorphosis eclipses stability at the price of befallen beauty in an eroding art.
Nina (Natalie Portman) the pretty ballerina yearns to achieve her dreams of a flawless repertoire. Endlessly practicing to the point of self inflicted torture she is committed to one goal at the expense of social maturity and self identity. This stifled growth is her Achilles heel, the one thing that cripples her creative expression denying sheer excellence.
Vincent Cassell pushes his muse towards oblivion.
Embarking on a journey to dismantle her strict regime, the coaxing and constant prodding of her instructor forces accelerated experimentation beyond the threshold of Nina’s crumbling id.
The innocence and beauty of the role as white swan poses no challenge. It’s the sexual aggression and dark freedom of hedonistic spirit that must be evoked from the black swan that will disintegrate Nina’s reality and force a violent conflict between light and dark.
The intricate perspectives of a reality.
John Doe says:
Alone in the corridors of demise.
Pulsating with operatic power and desperate anxiety, impressively the film distills the psycho-sexual trauma of Depalma (Dressed to Kill), the introverted depths of Cassavettes (Opening Night) and the grandiose suspense of Argento (Opera), with aplomb. Reflecting the lead characters crumbling composition Aronofsky's (Requiem for a Dream, Pi) film operates on a heightened level of insanity without staggering into comedic farce. That the film retains its prestige and class is an impressive feat considering the lofty complexity of emotion communicated in the rigorous melodrama.
The bourree camera work heightens movement. The inversion of the original Swan Lake score by Clint Mansell (Moon) amplifies the senses. Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis and Vincent Cassell all straddle grandiose naturalism and the experience becomes unforgettable, possibly achieving elusive technical perfection.
The spiral of the lenses eye.
Refusing to allegro the pace the gradual descent is fractional, slipping into the ferocious confusion of an unstable perspective. What is real and what is hallucination spinning exponentially to make every moment preoccupied with suspenseful excess.
First time screenwriter Andres Heinz gets story credit and Producer turned writer Mark Heyman (The Wrestler) and John J McLaughlin collaborated on the screenplay but the script is certainly stamped with Aronofsky’s trademark flourishes. Originally penned as “The Understudy, an expose of New York Theatre, by transposing events to the land of first position, second position the Director explores an obsession and in the process makes a very self possessed film. The character of Nina was initially conceived as part of The Wrestler and there is certainly a merging of structure, theme and tone between the scripts.
Brave and fearless Portman simulates lifes pleasures.
That Kiss!
On imdb.com, according to the coolest Frenchman since Alain Delon, Vincent Cassel (La Haine, Mesrine) says that Thomas was based on co-founder of the New York City Ballet George Balanchine. "A control freak, a true artist using sexuality to direct his dancers". Cassel’s portrayal is volatile, menacing and unpredictable adding further texture to a cast that could have played into stereotype.
As Nina’s over bearing mother Barbara Hershey (Boxcar Bertha, The Stunt Man) controls the passive aggressive and manipulative nature of her role making Erica’s motives understood no matter how damaging they are to her daughter.
The lessons of finite beauty.
Darren Aronofsky is probably aware of the historical Black Swan Theory. According to Wikipedia, author Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s criteria for what is called a “Black Swan Event” are as follows:
1. The event is a surprise (to the observer).
2. The event has a major impact.
3. After its first recording, the event is rationalized by hindsight, as if it could have been expected.
Happy accident or not this is the ideal way for John Doe to sum up his feelings about the film and its long term effects.
Trailer for Black Swan.
Director and Cinematographer discuss Black Swan
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