Black Swan (2010-Nominated at the 83rd Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Cinematography, Film Editing & Winner Best Actress-Natalie Portman) Leave it to Darren Aronofsky to warp the perfect image that is a ballerina in Swan Lake. He is also the mastermind behind Pi, The Wrestler and the infamous Requiem for a Dream. I was scared to see this at first knowing his power of haunting your thoughts for hours or even days at a time after watching one of his movies. I had never really cared for Natalie Portman, in my opinion she is only tolerable to watch, I also saw the Oscars before this movie and was pretty shocked that she actually won an award for Best Actress, until I saw the movie. She did surprise me and I did enjoy her performance, she went from girl next door to a mature actor. She lost herself in the role of Nina, a young, boring, sheltered, little ballerina who spirals into self destruction, she didn't play it safe or pretty. She did deserve her award, but she hasn't won me over for good.
The lesbian sex scene between her and Mila Kunis will go down (no pun intended) in history as the best girl on girl action in a motion picture EVER. Whether gay, straight or asexual you can not watch this scene without getting all hot and bothered or squirming in your seat a bit (not recommended for watching with parents or in laws). Mila Kunis oozes sexuality throughout the entire film and this is the icing on the cake. She has come a long way from That 70's Show and I have grown to really like her as an actor. *Side note: Does anyone else think it's really strange that she is coming out with a movie that is an identical twin to Portman's "No Strings Attached"? She is doing a friends with benefits comedy (intelligently named Friends with Benefits) with Justin Timberlake, that looks a million times better than Portman's movie. Hollywood recycles romantic comedies over and over but they are usually better about disguising them as original thoughts. Essentially there are only 3 or 4 romantic comedy story lines and they switch up the actors, the plot changes a bit and the best friends get quirkier for the sake of the trailer. I'm not complaining, I enjoy the light hearted entertainment immensely, but these were released a little close to each other. Natalie Portman has starred in way too many movies as of late. She has been in Brothers, No Strings Attached, Black Swan, Your Highness and Thor. I'm getting a little tired of seeing her everytime I turn on the tv since I didn't like her in the first place.
All the relationships in the movie really interesting and clearly defined, everyone Nina interacts with has an intense part to play on her life. Her mother, whom she lives with, is psychotic and overly controlling, treating her daughter like she is still a little girl, in the most extreme way. The director of the ballet is a strong man who is controlling, demanding and sexually confusing to Nina, with him trying to make moves on her and encouraging her to embrace her sexuality. Lily and Nina's relationship is obviously the most intense, it has a Fight Club/Tyler Durden feel to it, the parallel between their characters is like looking in a warped mirror. The pressure that eventually consumes Nina makes her go slowly insane. She is constantly rehearsing to perfect her performance and the entire movie she is told to "be the black swan. be the black swan. be the black swan." It isn't until the time of the performance that she masters this, and her mind is so childlike that she is unable to separate her role in the ballet and her life and that is why she ends up picking feathers out of her skin and adopting various swan like characteristics....
This movie was perfectly constructed. The color is subtle, therefore the plot is the captivating aspect, same with hair and makeup, simple and classic so the performances are what is noticed. Dialogue isn't complex or hard to follow, direct and to the point. He got really creative with the mirrors, the way they shape the scenes, since she has an evil side of her subconscious he used the mirrors to make it look like it was two different people. It is very cut and dry with him, there isn't anything you really need to "read into". I really like that about Aronofsky, he's fearless and unapologetic with a take it or leave it attitude, he isn't afraid of pushing the envelope and it's obviously paying off, it grossed $106,954,678 at the box office. I hope he continues to make beautifully disturbing movies for many years to come. Farewell for now & happy viewing!
No comments:
Post a Comment