I went to see Black Swan yesterday. Here’s my review:
Remember The Red Shoes? It was a groundbreaking 1948 drama about a ballerina determined to be perfect, but driven crazy by being forced to choose between love and career. Well, Black Swan has similar concepts, if handled in a much more modern and graphic manner. But it’s disturbing with a capital D!
Nina, the Ballerina, around age 23, (Natalie Portman) strives to be perfect, and to be the swan queen in her company’s production of Swan Lake. But her instructor, isn’t convinced that Nina can play the evil black swan twin as well. He teases and taunts her to find her unbridled self, her inner bully, and her sexuality. And Nina is incredibly, emotionally stunted in her growth. Her mother is overbearingly protective, and Nina’s small bedroom is fine–if you’re a 5 year old. Pink butterflies surround her in the wallpaper and the room is full of stuffed animals. Her jewelry case has, of course a spinning ballerina, dancing to ‘Swan Lake’. There is an underscore of pink through the whole movie, and it is as imprisoning as the restrictions her mother forces on her. Her mother, (Barbara Hershey) a former ballerina who could be a cousin of the evil mother in ‘Carrie’. She calls her ‘Sweetie’ and is hovers almost constantly, trimming Nina’s nails and helping her dress,living vicariously through Nina. Throughout the story, Nina slowly becomes an advocate for her independence, defying her mother, but losing herself in her desire to be the perfect Swan Queen, and to be loved. She is purposely seduced by her strict dance master (The very creepy Vincent Cassel) and finds herself attracted to new student, the free-spirited Lily ( Mila Kunis). As Nina starts to explore herself, sexually and as a dancer, the story gets darker and darker. At first you’re not sure you see the little quirks; one of the many self-portraits her mother has painted in her studio seems to smirk at her through the door, a scratch on her back seems to be surrounded by goose bumps. But these short episodes of illusion evolve into full blown hallucinations, many very creepy and some downright frightening. By the end you wonder what was real and what wasn’t.
As a psychological thriller, Black Swan truly messes with your brain as well as Nina’s. There were several times when I was tempted to walk out, but like witnessing a house on fire, I had to stay to see how it ended, but I cringed and covered my eyes a lot! Black Swan is definitely rated R for a reason. There’s graphic violence, sex, nightmarish images, bulimia, and lots of the F-word. I do think the director pushes the soft-porn button a bit too often, and that much of the sex could have been hinted at, although I understand how Nina’s budding sexuality was central to the story, and how it helps her transform into the evil black swan. (However there were three football-player types who came into the theater, who probably wouldn’t be caught dead at a ballet movie otherwise).
A quick side note on the costuming–(I’m a costume geek) I noticed little subtleties which are always a hallmark of a good designer. The willowy white scarf Nina wears to her rehearsals is very fragile, feathery, and swan-like; the white gown she wears to her debut party (see sketch) has a delicate cross panel on the back of sheer white tulle that cleverly conceals the scratches on her shoulder blade. As pretty as this gown was, it accentuated her frailty as well as her virginity. I just wanted all the women in this movie to eat more. I could imagine this gown looking very beautiful on an average size woman; one with breasts! The Black Swan costume itself was amazing in that it morphed Nina completely into the character, with stunning impact. (again, what is real?)
The acting is first rate, Everyone from Natalie Portman to Wynona Ryder really made you love or hate the characters. The look of the dancers is both ethereal and scary– the women are all muscle and bones, so much that they could be snapped like a twig. Yet the cinematography is stunning. Although I was initially put off by the shaky camera documentary style, after 20 minutes you don’t notice it as much because the action is drifting into more bizarre, Twilight Zone territory. If director Darren Aronofsky’s goal was to have you question reality, he thoroughly succeeded! I might rent it when it comes out through Netflix just to pick apart its hallucinogenic puzzle. Note to self: Avoid Disturbing Movies!
Here’s the trailer:
12 Responses to “Black Swan”
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Hi Therese!
I just saw Black Swan today too. It was better than I expected in some ways and disappointing in others. The more I think of it the more interesting I think it was, particularly the mirroring of the film’s story with that of Swan Lake, and also the portrayal of striving for perfection. I was disappointed with some of the :questioning reality” moments, though. Like you, I’d like to rent it one day to really dig into it. I suspect, though, that if we plot them out, we’ll see that they don’t all tie up in a way that makes logical sense. This is a pet peeve of mine in these psychological films, because many times the writers/directors get so caught up with the “ooh we will make the audience question what is real!!” aspect of the movie that they forget to make sure it all stems from the same place. I don’t think they wove her insanity tightly enough, and some of the themes, particularly the mother daughter relationship, and her sexuality could have been explained better.
They made such a fuss about her being frigid in the first half of the movie that I expected that after she had her first orgasm she would completely change as a character. But nothing changed at all. She was still absolutely the same and everyone treated her as if she hadn’t changed. That weakens the sexual part of the story for me as it becomes less relevant to the character and more purely for titillation.
I also would have liked to see more in depth exploration of her relationship with her mother, since she seemed to be inside her head at crucial moments – most disturbingly when she keeps hearing Mila Kunis call her a “sweet girl”. I don’t want to give anything away, but that line comes at a very odd instance considering her mother is the one who always calls her that. What was Aronofsky trying to say?
Overall I think it is a good film, but I do wish it had been a little tighter. Ultimately its biggest strength was Tchaikovsky’s original music, which is so beautiful and evocative that one barely needs a film to be moved by it.
Good review. I saw Black Swan a couple of weeks ago, and liked it.
Last week one of my favorite movies, “Beautiful Girls,” was on cable. Natalie was in that one too (big ensemble cast). It’s from 1996 so she was around 15 or so. I really liked her in that one and it’s funny to see her now so grown-up and in such a drastically different role.
P.S. I’ve never seen The Red Shoes. Should I rent it?
#2: Have you ever seen “The Professional?” That was Natalie’s debut at the age of 12, with Jean Reno as the hitman who takes her under his wing after her drug dealing family is murdered. A lot of the film is pretty implausible, but when we saw it she was so striking, we knew she was going to be a big star, if she wanted to.
#3 Mad Chick, The Red Shoes is as over the top for its era as Black Swan sounds like it is for our time. It runs on TCM every so often. It seems rather dated and campy now and yet, it is a classic. So yes, see it.
I studied ballet as a child and have always been respectful of what ballet demands. So, I won’t be seeing Black Swan. I re-watched The Turning Point instead.
brenda, it is my understanding that Portman was a trained dancer before acting, and went back into training for several months prior to making this film.
@ 3: Mad Chick: Absolutely YES!
Mad Chick, The Red Shoes is one of those movies I Always watch when it comes on TV. Always. I urge you to see it!
That’s the often fascinatingVincent Cassel, not Thomas.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001993/
Happy New Year, everyone.
ruthiej (#4): Yes, I did see “The Professional” and liked it.
brenda, channelingpeggy, bestbets: Thank you. I’ll be sure to rent The Red Shoes!
#8 will fix! I goofed there! His character’s name is Thomas Thanks!
And yes Madchick-check out red shoes I think it’s on Netflix and TCM shows it from time to time!
Saw it on Friday…. very disturbing, the intensity goes to 11!
I was also frustrated with the closeup shakycam that was pervasive through the first part of the movie, especially since we were sitting close to the screen (small theater, full house). A brilliant cast. When the movie ended the entire theater just sat there for a couple of minutes before anyone could move…. I heard numerous exclamations similar to the “Whew” that was going through my head.