Darren Aronofsky, the filmmaker behind indie classics such as Pi, Requiem For A Dream, and The Wrestler brings us a new masterpiece in the form of Black Swan, a psychological thriller starring Natalie Portman.Black Swan centers around Nina (Natalie Portman), a young ballerina in New York living with her psychotic and over-bearing ex-dancer mother. A perfectionist in every sense of the word, she dances for a local company preparing for their production of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake. The ballet features one lead dancer in dual roles... one as the graceful and innocent White Swan and the other as the dark and sensual Black Swan. With her innocent demeanor, Nina embodies the White Swan perfectly while having difficulty adapting to the Black Swan. A new dancer to enter the studio, Lily (Mila Kunis) is the polar opposite as Nina. She's a free-spirited and impulsive individual with a passion for sex, drugs, and junk food... perfectly embodying the Black Swan. With increasing pressure from her instructor, mother, and a new rival, Nina slowly descends into madness and mutilation while attempting to find the Black Swan within.
I'm going to start by saying this... Natalie Portman is by far one of the best actresses working in the industry today. Few performers come even close to matching her talent, grace, and beauty. She's already shown her ability to perform in movies such as Garden State, V For Vendetta, and Brothers. With Black Swan, she has truly outdone herself. By far the best performance of her career, Portman goes to seriously dark territory showcasing an array of expressions and emotional instability. She is all but guaranteed to receive an Oscar nomination and stands a good chance at winning as well. I can't think of a female performance this year as incredible as Portman was in this.
Mulis Kunis plays Lily, a rival dancer and embodiment of the Black Swan. Kunis is probably best known for TV work, namely for roles in That 70s Show and as the voice of Meg on Family Guy.
She's shown she has some good comic timing, but until now all of her non-comedic roles have ranged from "meh" to just plain bad (American Psycho II anyone???). Here, she does beging to show more promise as a dramatic performer, going into darker territory than she usually goes. She does a solid job with the role and is really showing her range as a performer. Obviously Portman outshines pretty much everyone in the movie, but Kunis does a bang-up job (no pun intended) with some very graphic scenes that would probably make many actors uncomfortable. I look forward to see what Kunis will bring in future roles.
I'm going to start by saying this... Natalie Portman is by far one of the best actresses working in the industry today. Few performers come even close to matching her talent, grace, and beauty. She's already shown her ability to perform in movies such as Garden State, V For Vendetta, and Brothers. With Black Swan, she has truly outdone herself. By far the best performance of her career, Portman goes to seriously dark territory showcasing an array of expressions and emotional instability. She is all but guaranteed to receive an Oscar nomination and stands a good chance at winning as well. I can't think of a female performance this year as incredible as Portman was in this.
Mulis Kunis plays Lily, a rival dancer and embodiment of the Black Swan. Kunis is probably best known for TV work, namely for roles in That 70s Show and as the voice of Meg on Family Guy.
She's shown she has some good comic timing, but until now all of her non-comedic roles have ranged from "meh" to just plain bad (American Psycho II anyone???). Here, she does beging to show more promise as a dramatic performer, going into darker territory than she usually goes. She does a solid job with the role and is really showing her range as a performer. Obviously Portman outshines pretty much everyone in the movie, but Kunis does a bang-up job (no pun intended) with some very graphic scenes that would probably make many actors uncomfortable. I look forward to see what Kunis will bring in future roles. The rest of the cast also sell their roles efficiently. Barbara Hershey plays Nina's mother Erica. Both her and Portman work off each other really well and create a great mother-daughter dynamic that fits the tone of the film quite well. A typical trap among actresses playing psychotic mother roles is a tendency to overact (Faye Dunaway in Mommie Dearest for instance). Hershey has some memorable dramatic scenes, but never goes over-the-top.
There's also a memorable performance from Vincent Cassel as Thomas, the perverted director and ballet instructor. I suppose its not the most original character to grace screen, but he embodies the creepy character quite well... maybe a little too well at times.
Finally their Winona Ryder is a smaller role as Beth, a dancer who was recently fired from the studio for being "just past her prime." Normally, I'm not a huge fan of Ryder, she's had a few decent roles but in a lot of her movies, she fails to impress. For Black Swan, she sure makes an impact in her limited screen time. I don't want to spoil too much... lets just say you'll have a hard time getting her out of your head after you watch this.
Out of all the filmmakers who are either still alive or working in the industry today, Darren Aronofsky is probably my favorite. Taking inspiration from filmmakers like Kubrick, he specializes in movies depicting the human psyche and a descent into either madness or obsession. Whether it would about hallucinating dancers, former professional wrestler (The Wrestler), drug addicts (Requiem For A Dream), or psychotic mathematicians (Pi), his films are as emotionally impactful as they are visually stimulating. Psychotic characters are no stranger to film these days but nobody in the business today portrays them as well as Aronofsky.
Its a little premature to say Black Swan is his best movie yet (I'll need to watch it again to make that call), but its probably his most visually enticing. Featuring beautifully shot cinematography, great dance choreography, perfectly timed editing, and some of the best use of cgi I've seen in a long time. Every shot was perfectly positioned, every edit was cut as the precise frame, and every moment of cg was used effectively. Best of all, none of the visuals ever upstaged the actors or story. They found the perfect balance of acting, story, and visual so that nothing felt like too much or too little... it was just right.
While watching this movie, I couldn't help but draw comparisons to the 1984 movie, Amadeus. The movie was a heavily dramatized depiction of the life and times of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, inspired and styled after the operas Mozart was famous for composing.
Black Swan rides along a similar theme, only instead of an opera but more like a ballet (no duh!). The movie starts out graceful and slowly but builds to an epic and intense climax complete with the appropriate musical motifs. The score, composed by Clint Mansell features both original works and re-workings of Tchaikovsky's score. Its a flawlessly timed piece of screenwriting and music composition.
I couldn't think of anything I didn't enjoy in Black Swan. These are actually my favorite kinds of movies... intense psychological thrillers with creative imagery, great performances, beautiful scores, and fabulous directing. I'm just going to say this... its not for everyone. I've recommended Aronofsky's films before... only to have my friends return the movies to me saying that they only made it about 10 minutes into them. This, like most of Aronofsky's films, is one intense and brutal piece of cinema. Not for the faint of heart, it includes scenes of self-mutilation, nightmarish hallucinations, and really dark subject matter. Personally I love seeing thrillers taken into darker depths, but I know they're not for everybody.
Overall, Black Swan is the best film of the year! Beating out notable contenders like Inception or Toy Story 3, Black Swan delivered on everything that I could want out of a psychological thriller. Definitely gonna be buying this one on Blu Ray!
My Score: 5 out of 5!
There's also a memorable performance from Vincent Cassel as Thomas, the perverted director and ballet instructor. I suppose its not the most original character to grace screen, but he embodies the creepy character quite well... maybe a little too well at times.
Finally their Winona Ryder is a smaller role as Beth, a dancer who was recently fired from the studio for being "just past her prime." Normally, I'm not a huge fan of Ryder, she's had a few decent roles but in a lot of her movies, she fails to impress. For Black Swan, she sure makes an impact in her limited screen time. I don't want to spoil too much... lets just say you'll have a hard time getting her out of your head after you watch this.Out of all the filmmakers who are either still alive or working in the industry today, Darren Aronofsky is probably my favorite. Taking inspiration from filmmakers like Kubrick, he specializes in movies depicting the human psyche and a descent into either madness or obsession. Whether it would about hallucinating dancers, former professional wrestler (The Wrestler), drug addicts (Requiem For A Dream), or psychotic mathematicians (Pi), his films are as emotionally impactful as they are visually stimulating. Psychotic characters are no stranger to film these days but nobody in the business today portrays them as well as Aronofsky.
Its a little premature to say Black Swan is his best movie yet (I'll need to watch it again to make that call), but its probably his most visually enticing. Featuring beautifully shot cinematography, great dance choreography, perfectly timed editing, and some of the best use of cgi I've seen in a long time. Every shot was perfectly positioned, every edit was cut as the precise frame, and every moment of cg was used effectively. Best of all, none of the visuals ever upstaged the actors or story. They found the perfect balance of acting, story, and visual so that nothing felt like too much or too little... it was just right.
While watching this movie, I couldn't help but draw comparisons to the 1984 movie, Amadeus. The movie was a heavily dramatized depiction of the life and times of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, inspired and styled after the operas Mozart was famous for composing.
Black Swan rides along a similar theme, only instead of an opera but more like a ballet (no duh!). The movie starts out graceful and slowly but builds to an epic and intense climax complete with the appropriate musical motifs. The score, composed by Clint Mansell features both original works and re-workings of Tchaikovsky's score. Its a flawlessly timed piece of screenwriting and music composition.I couldn't think of anything I didn't enjoy in Black Swan. These are actually my favorite kinds of movies... intense psychological thrillers with creative imagery, great performances, beautiful scores, and fabulous directing. I'm just going to say this... its not for everyone. I've recommended Aronofsky's films before... only to have my friends return the movies to me saying that they only made it about 10 minutes into them. This, like most of Aronofsky's films, is one intense and brutal piece of cinema. Not for the faint of heart, it includes scenes of self-mutilation, nightmarish hallucinations, and really dark subject matter. Personally I love seeing thrillers taken into darker depths, but I know they're not for everybody.
Overall, Black Swan is the best film of the year! Beating out notable contenders like Inception or Toy Story 3, Black Swan delivered on everything that I could want out of a psychological thriller. Definitely gonna be buying this one on Blu Ray!
My Score: 5 out of 5!
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