Finally saw Black Swan after months of seeing the trailer and weeks of listening (or trying not to listen) to people talking about it. Aronofsky tugged at my heartstrings with his last film, The Wrestler. Knowing the premise of Black Swan, I was expecting something more on the side of Requiem for a Dream, but hoped for a little of the soft-edge we saw in The Wrestler. Black Swan finds its place somewhere in between.
A ballet dancer wins the lead in “Swan Lake” and is perfect for the role of the delicate White Swan, but slowly loses her mind as she becomes more and more like the evil twin sister of the White Swan, the Black Swan.
Aside from the intensive ballet training that Natalie Portman did prior to shooting, her acting is simply amazing. There are moments (any mirror scene) where my jaw literally dropped. My only complaint, if I’m allowed to have one – there were so many extremes in the film. It could just be my love of subtle storytelling, but there little things that bothered me about the plot. Between the come-ons from the ballet director, the ridiculously overbearing mother (this was such an extreme, it made me uncomfortable), the relationship with fellow ballerina played my Mila Kunis, it was a just a bit much. I realize that all of these situations are contributing factors to Nina’s psychological undoing and have to be there, however the extremity of all these facets got under my skin. Maybe I started to go a little crazy, too.
The things that I loved about it: it was visceral. Every time something physical was happening to her body, whether it was her toenail splitting in her point shoes, or pulling out a black feather from her skin; it all felt real. I flinched and squirmed as I watched.
It was beautiful. Even the scary parts were beautiful. (I say scary, but you should know I mean all the parts that reflect the character’s psychosis.) The moment she came out as the black swan and “let go” as everyone had advised her, it just gave me goosebumps. Not to mention the audio in this film is perfection. Sound effects so subtle, yet packs a punch when paired with the visuals.
The film also drew really accurate and wonderful parallels on several levels. The story of Swan Lake is woven throughout the film’s narrative, not just in the ballet, but every relationship draws back to that story. Instead of a prince, Nina’s desire fluctuates between pleasing the director (who could be construed as the prince) and protecting her new role as prima ballerina. (Although, I didn’t see a whole lot of rivalry between Nina and Mila Kunis’ character, Lily, as advertised). It’s all really just in Nina’s mind. Ultimately, she desires perfection resulting in her unfortunate turn. Nina’s transformation into the black swan completes the story as she kills the white swan that she used to be. There are some notes in there regarding Nina’s psychological state even before she gets the lead role, which makes me wonder if there was as much character arc or if she always had something akin to multiple personalities, that perhaps had just been suppressed with the pressure of the ballet company lifestyle. (I’m referring to the beginning where she sees someone who looks remarkably like herself on the train, but doesn’t get a good look at the woman.)
Oh yeah, and Winona Rider. So glad she’s back.
In the end, Aronofsky made a film that stands up to his aesthetic style, not without flaws, but still a work that sets itself apart. Even if only for all those parts that made me uncomfortable. But isn’t that just the name of the game? Making the audience feel?
Part of Nina’s black swan performance: note the audio plz.
