Ah, Black Swan. I could talk about this one all day -- and I often do. I've been waiting a long time to write about this one, so excuse the built-up passion I am about to send through this keyboard. Black Swan is about Nina, a hardworking ballerina who wants to get the lead part in her ballet company's new production of Swan Lake. Her eagerness to be precise with her technique makes her born to play the white swan, but she has to be able to pull off the black swan in order to be the swan queen. Once she convinces her attractive director to make her the swan queen, she slowly brings out her darker side, trying drugs and alcohol, experimenting with her sexuality, and fighting back against her controlling mother, with whom she still lives. Lily, who plays the black swan in the same production of Swan Lake, brings Nina closer to the dark side. Lily has the natural, though sometimes sloppy, talent that the part of the black swan requires. She allows herself to let go when she dances, a skill that Nina is pushed by her director to try. The characters and plot of Black Swan coincide with the parts and events of Swan Lake. This leads to my favorite ending of all time. It is simply perfect, and those of you who have seen this magnificent spectacle know exactly what I'm talking about. Black Swan is the story of growing up and entering womanhood, which is very easy for me to relate to as a girl. Guys can like this movie too, of course, but I think it cannot be completely understood or appreciated in the presence of a Y chromosome.
Now that the basic storyline has been illustrated, we shall move on to the technicalities. Despite the relatively-low budget, the cinematography is perfect for the tone of the movie. So shout-out to Matthew Libatique, the D.P. A simple Canon DSLR, similar to the one that I own, was used for the subway and dancing sequences. The dark production design makes the actors stand out in the foreground, especially the dancers on the stage. The score is wonderful, incorporating Swan Lake themes at appropriate times that coincide with pivotal moments in the ballet. Now for the director. Darren Aronofsky did an unbelievable job coordinating this amazing project. It took years and years for the idea to finally be projected onto the screen, but he made it when it was ripe. I recommend watching the separate DP/30 interviews of him, Portman, and Kunis sometime. They give you insight into how he got the project going and how he coached the two lead actresses into giving what I think are the best performances of both of their lives.
Natalie Portman plays the naive swan queen, Nina Sayers. Words cannot express how flawlessly she slips into Nina's mind and physique throughout the feature. Her performance brings tears to the eyes, and all aspiring actors ought to study her performance in this role. In addition to nailing her character as a person, she faced the challenge of having to dance at a level so high that even professional dancers have troubles achieving the difficult steps of Swan Lake. She trained with Mary Helen Bowers, a former dancer of the New York City Ballet, for a year prior to filming. Although body doubles were used, Portman was able to do and did do most of the dancing required for the film. She did a fantastic job, even dancing to the point of injury. A real physical therapy session is included in the movie, as Darren advised Portman to stay in character for it.
Mila Kunis, the actress most known for playing Jackie in That '70s Show, laid-back girlfriends in movies such as Ted, and voicing Meg Griffin on Family Guy, plays Lily, the black swan in Black Swan. She only trained for three months (I say only, although she practiced for approximately five hours seven days a week, in comparison to Portman), which gives her that edge of sloppiness needed to show that she has natural talent, as opposed to Nina's hard-earned abilities. Lily is basically a foil character; she counters Nina's initial personality to be compared to as the evolution of Nina's womanliness progresses. Kunis still plays the laid-back girl that is her go-to role to play, but she just sparkles in a different way than usual in Black Swan.
Much like how the ending is my favorite, the movie poster of Black Swan is my absolute favorite of all time. It shows our hero, Natalie Portman, as the hero, Nina. She is in the beautiful makeup that she wears in the grand finale. The precious crown on her head shows that she is the swan queen, the chosen victim of darkness. She is focussed on dancing in the moment and trying to let go, and the redness in her eyes shows the sheer determination she has to impress her director (played by French actor Vincent Cassel. He did a tremendous job.) and fulfill her dream of being perfect. It shows the sleep she has lost over practicing to the point of physical and mental exhaustion, and all of her life has led up to the moment in the film depicted by this poster. In this picture she is the black swan, even if just for a fleeting moment for us all to crowd around and see Portman's singular greatest moment in the spotlight, the one that earned her a well-deserved Academy Award and great respect from the bottom of my heart. All the other talent in front of and behind the camera aside, she makes this movie what it is, and I owe her a lot for entertaining me every exciting time that I decide to watch this movie again and again. Just like Natalie Portman's performance, I think Black Swan is perfect.
i like this story
ReplyDeleteblack swan is very good