Black Swan
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Black Swan
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Writers: Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz
Stars: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis and Vincent Cassel
Thomas: "Perfection is not just about control. It's also about letting go."
Stars: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis and Vincent Cassel
Thomas: "Perfection is not just about control. It's also about letting go."
Sometimes words are not enough. Art is an experience delivered to the viewer in a form that will burrow his mind in a trance. What Darren Aronofsky seems to accomplish in Black Swan is not something to be taken lightly. The daring synthesis of elements, theatre, ballet, cinema, is what makes this film an antidote and I am saying this in a surprisingly good year for cinema.
The bizarre, feverish depiction of "Swan Lake" enters the stage not with a bang but a whimper, the sounds of cracking bones and gasping breaths, rolling around the spotlight of her fragile dream , Nina (Natalie Portman), twirls passionately with clockwork precision.
Unfolding through the eyes of a silent narrator, Nina, wakes in a dream-state reality of Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake". Questioning her dedication , the director, Thomas (Vincent Cassel) sees through her inability to transform into the free-spirited black swan and the filmmaker sets it as a point of reference, a map of the road to her own perfectionism. Thomas seems to aggravate Nina's tremulous fears by openly admiring Lily's (Mila Kunis) sexuality and seductive spirit. Doing her part, Lily, impetuously pushes her buttons one by one, letting her slide into anxiety and jealousy. The black and white criticism lives on in her mother's (Barbara Hershey) eyes, treating her daughter like a little girl, insinuating a haunting past.
Mirroring her role as the Swan Queen, Nina slowly descends into madness while ascending her role from fantasy to reality and shattering the manipulative reflection of her limited abilities. Defenseless before her own insecurities, the White swan pukes out the obsession to strive for perfection, transforming her view and unlocking the fearless and decisive Black Swan. She can let herself go without remorse reaching the gripping crescendo.
The cast was spot on
Clouding us with Nina's existential fragility, Portman offers a communicative dualism unlike anything before. She keeps the balance on her character's many faces carrying a weight that could be unbearable for most actresses today. Her performance is transcendent, chilling and surely Oscar-worthy. Mila Kunis acts as a mentionable antithesis that drives the story forward and is a starting point for her career. Hershey will most likely get the supporting actress award, highly deserving it and the never-disappointing Cassel is the plot's vessel portraying a carnal, power hungry director.
Validating the premise of the movie, Aronofsky literally roams symbolism and brings back an elegant, perverse darkness. Artistically stunning cinematography and intentional messy use of close-ups and shoulder shots offer to the central theme a hallucinatory feeling. Kafka's influences are spread throughout the descending ladder of Nina's frightening, grotesque psychosis.
Like ballet, the physical fatigue it takes to perform is always reflected on the rehearsal mirrors. Where mirrors were, audience now is, reflecting back the nightmare of performers entertaining a voracious crowd. Monsters come in many forms and in "Black Swan" you could never point a finger towards good or evil. Every tragedy is a bewildering travel that questions reality's existence.
Thomas: "When I look at you, all I see is the White Swan."
