Black Swan

So I had wanted to see this movie since even before I had heard about it. I'm a big Aronofsky (Darren) fan for his past movies Requiem For a Dream and Pi. I had heard such great things about this movie and even some critics went so far to say this movie surpassed the two I just mentioned. My hopes were inevitably very high for this movie since I didn't think it was possible to exceed one of my top movies of all time (Requiem). Fortunately, I was able to see this movie at the one theater showing it in the entire city during it's initial limited release. It's about to go wide tomorrow and I'm glad a larger section of the public will have access to this movie. It's already grossed over $6 million despite it's limited release and is about halfway to is modest $13 million budget.

The movie is a dark psychological character study set within the New York Ballet Company and it's production of Swan Lake. Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis star as the frenemies the White and Black Swan. The weight of the role start to get to Portman, in a very literal sense and we watch as she struggles while unraveling at the seams.

The plot is dark and suspenseful, which makes for an entertaining ride. It's believable yet surreal - which is a hard thing to pull off. Portman's character is very well written and complex - as are the characters of the mother and the instructor. Kunis' character is very one dimensional, although this was clearly on purpose as her character was symbolic to the plot. There were some also genuine bits of humor thrown in a couple of places in the movie which helped ease up on the mostly constant suspense.

Aronofsky is one of my favorite directors because of the editing style and symbolic cinematography he employs in his films. Requiem is a masterfully edited film. The editing in this film is not quite as stylized however it flows gracefully with the beautiful handheld camera work and unique angles in the movie. The camera is right up there with the actors during the dance sequences, which was just beautiful. Instead of going to the standard wide shots and close ups using body doubles, the camera is right there with the actors. Portman was injured several times in this film and trained extensively throughout so that there were very few shots of body doubles used in the entire film. Once you see how beautiful she dances, you'll be amazed that it's mostly all her up there. He uses a lot of mirrors in the film and plays off those angles really well. Not an easy task to choreograph and stage and I respect the effort behind those shots - not to mention they were quite beautiful as well. Aronofsky also knows how to put the right people in place and get some amazing scores. He brought in Clint Mansell, who had previously scored the oh-so-amazing score for Requiem which was performed by the Kronos Quartet and arguably one of my favorite movie scores ever. Mansell took the original Tchaikovsky's original music for Swan Lake but played it backwards and distorted it. Pure genius. The result sounds very similar to the classic and amazingly, it works with the movie and enhances the suspense. Without seeing the movie, I would expect a classical score to greatly deter from the suspense and believability of the movie. Not only does it work to provide the right feel for the movie, it also is hugely symbolic as well and mimics what is going on with the characters and the plot.

I have heard some say that this is Portman's best role to date. She does an amazing job and I will be shocked if she doesn't get a nomination for this role. I'd put this right up there with V for Vendetta for her. There was more time with her character in this movie and so we got to see more of her raw talent than in V. Mila Kunis does a fine job as well although I'd be a little worried she is starting to become typecast if I was her. Vincent Cassel gives a really dynamic performance with his character. He really treads the line between exploiter and mentor and he leaves it up to the audience to decide for themselves.

Overall I was extremely pleased with this movie. I think that I built it up too much going into the movie. I loved it, don't get me wrong, but I'm not going to go rush out to see it as many times in the theater before it runs out. I was going into this movie positive that I would walk out with a new favorite movie, and that just didn't happen. This was a really great movie and definitely up there, but not at the very top. I wish more movies would be made like this - with obvious passion. I would recommend to anyone who enjoys a good dark thought provoking suspense. "That was me seducing you. It should be the other way around." -- Black Swan.

** For any who have already seen this movie and were also unlucky enough to see The Piano Teacher, did anyone pick up on the similarities in the plot as I did? While I did not like The Piano Teacher one bit or even have a shred of respect for that movie, I found these plots quite similar. It's almost as if Black Swan did the right way this type of prodigal mentally unstable character study should be done.Well just wondering. And for those who haven't seen The Piano Teacher, don't. **