Black Swan

Movie Title: Black Swan
Date: Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Genre: Drama/Psychological Thriller
Directed by: Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler, Requiem for a Dream, Pi)
Major Players: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis and Vincent Cassel

Notable Performances: Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis for their ballet skills. Both actresses had prior ballet experience when they were little, however it only took Kunis three months, five hours a day for seven days a week to learn to dance en pointe. Portman had 9 years of ballet experience when she was little and spent a year before filming training for the role. Both women are beautiful dancers in the movie. Portman did have a double for some of the more complicated dance scenes, but both Portman and Kunis should be commended for their training and abilities.

Synopsis: Nina is a ballerina who is selected to be the new leading ballerina in the New York Ballet’s Swan Lake. She finds herself easily falling into the role of the beautiful and pure “White Swan,” but has difficulty getting into the character the “Black Swan” who is the dark, evil twin of the “White Swan.” The movie follows her journey in becoming the Black Swan.

I think you should: Run To See It if you are not offended by any sexual content or if you are a dancer.

Review: When this movie concluded, I felt like the best way to describe it was “intense.” Black Swan is a psychological thriller that has you watching a beautiful ballet sequence one minute and shielding your eyes from blood or other chilling aspects the next. I am not a fan of “scary” movies and refrain from seeing “horror films” but, although Black Swan is considered a thriller, I would say that there were more “normal” parts of this movie than scary/thrilling. I did notice that I must have been holding my breath a lot during the movie because when the movie ended I felt like I needed to breathe more.

This movie was very well written so it corresponds, in some ways, to the ballet Swan Lake. The storyline is easy to follow, however some parts are hard to understand as to why they are happening until the end. Some of the more confusing things are the self-mutilation and the bleeding “rash” on Portman’s shoulder during the entire movie. The movie shows Nina’s life at the beginning as she strives to be perfect and then throughout the movie, we see Nina’s real life get cloudy and confused as she begins to lose a grip on reality.

The music used in the movie is a mix of beautiful classical pieces to some classical sounding pieces that just seem to be a bit off fitting well into Nina’s struggle between reality and dream. Overall the music was well done when used.

The acting and dancing were both well done. There are characters in this movie who are very real – people like Nina’s mother who was a former ballerina, Thomas Leroy who is the director of the ballet as well as the other ballerinas who are jealous of Nina. As a dancer, I have seen similar people in real life and so it made the characters seem very believable. Everything from the dedication the ballerina’s have to their need to be “perfect,” the movie from a dancer’s standpoint was very believable. From a slightly jealous mother to a ballet director who is very egotistical, this movie is filled with characters that you find yourself questioning their motives.

Memorable Lines:
Erica (Nina’s mother): “What happened to my sweet girl?”
Nina: “She's gone!”

Nina: “It's about a girl who gets turned into a swan and she needs love to break the spell, but her prince falls for the wrong girl so she kills herself.”

Thing I liked the most: The ballet performances and the storyline being set up like Swan Lake
Thing I liked the least: The sexual scenes – I understood why some of them were used, however I don’t feel like some scenes/shots were altogether necessary. I know - I'm a bit of a prude, but I am who I am! :)
Where I saw the movie: AMC 30 at the Block at Orange in Orange, CA
Who I saw it with: Two friends – Suzie and Allison
Snacks I enjoyed during the movie: Popcorn (because it is free every Wednesday for Moviewatchers at AMC) and Gummy Characters from Disneyland.
What I was wearing: Comfy clothes - Black sweatpants and a green fleece shirt.

First movie done - now on to movie number 2! :)