"Nothing is True. Everything is Permitted"
"And now we leave technology and even reality behind, and enter a world where the cinema has always found an easy match: Fantasy. That movies were dreamlike was understood from the very beginning, and the medium allowed directors to evoke the psychological states of their characters. "Black Swan" uses powerful performances by Natalie Portman and Vincent Cassel to represent archetypal attributes: Female/male, young/old, submissive/dominant, perfect/flawed, child/parent, good/evil, real/mythical.
Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" provides a template for a backstage story that seems familiar enough (young ballerina tries to please her perfectionist mother and demanding director). Gradually we realize a psychological undertow is drawing her away from reality, and the frenzy of the ballet's climax is mirrored in her own life. This film depends more than many others on the intensity and presence of the actors, and Portman's ballerina is difficult to imagine coming from another actor."
The first comes from Assassin's Creed... weird but it works. The seconds is taken from Roger Ebert.
Watching "Black Swan"is like watching a dream. It contains Nina's (Natalie Portman) hopes and aspirations but it slowly turns into a nightmare showing off what she fears most. To say that she is going crazy is simplifying things. Look at this film with logic and you'll lose the intoxicating spell it casts. Watch it as more of a dream Nina lives in. Don't try to bring logic to that either, I could go on and on about it, but that's not the point. What I'm trying to say is that everything that happens on screen really happens to Nina, but not all of it's true. Nina is stuck in a dream she has about what she wants in life and a nightmare will show her what evil happen. I will say this to prove my point, it's little and stupid but I quite like it. The film opens with a dream of Swan Lake. Nina is shown in bed saying she had the weirdest dream... you never see her wake up. Her eyes are open and the dream-state continues. Hell the movie is more dreamy than "Inception", a movie about dreams.
I won't go into the plot much here. it should be experienced. Nina is a ballerina living in a small apartment with her mother ( a caged bird reference seems plausible) and works in a ballet company in New York. Thomas (Vincent Cassel, look at my "Derailed" about him, it works even better here) the director plans on putting on Swan Lake, Nina wants the lead and she is not alone, Lily (Mila Kunis showing she is so much more that a gorgeous face) stands in her way. The film deals with a myriad of genres, all equally great.
Darren Aronofsky has been building up to this movie all his life. It has all his previous films best elements. The grittiness of 'Pi", the idea of obsession in "Requiem For A Dream", The beautiful style of "The Fountain" (Black Swan is Aronofsky's best work, "The Fountain" may still be my favorite) and the details of a unknown field seen in "The Wrestler". Fincher and Aronofsky were the only two director nominees at the Oscars this year that were above and beyond. Then speaking of Oscars one must mention Portman.
Natalie Portman went on to win the Oscar for "Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role". Notice "performance", that's why she won. Portman gave the best performance of the year, she did not give the best acting. I'd say Michelle Williams in "Blue Valentine" did the best acting this year. Losing yourself in the character was not it either. Annette Bening in "The Kids Are Allright" gave the best lost in character performance then. Portman however gave the best overall performance. Her bathroom stall scene where she tells her mother good news his the best acted scene for actresses of the year. However there are scenes where it's painfully obvious she wants to show an emotion (look at the scene where Lily interrupts Nina, It's kind of funny how much Portman show's she was just hurt.) Portman however has an incredible physical performance. The ballet she does (when it was her and not her double) was wonderful. If Jennifer Hudson and Catherine Zeta-Jones can win Oscars for singing, why not Portman for dancing. However overall Portman turns in a tour de force and is performance only she could pull off. She deserved that Oscar. In fact everyone in the movie is award worthy.
"Black Swan" was my fifth favorite film of the year and was easily one of it's best. Everything in the film was perfect in the end. I wouldn't have it any other way. It plays off the strength of the real play Swan Lake and the little analogies you'll see are wonderful. "Black Swan" is going to be a future classic.
10/10
Recommendation: I've yet to meet a person who didn't love it. It's that majestic.
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