The Black Swan

[Patrick_Bateman]

Fantastic film and a marvellous performance from Miss Portman.
Dark, disturbing, utterly penetrating and with a killer lesbian scene ;)

[LitNetIsGreat]

Cool!:santasmil I saw the advert when at the pictures the other week, it looked OK if a little strange for me. We went to see the George VI film (hmm?) but it was full (!!) so we went in for the Last Three Days, or whatever, with Russell Crowe, very good actually, worth seeing.

[OrphanPip]

I thought a lot of Black Swan was a bit gimmicky at times, and the continuous repetition of the plot of Swan Lake (in case you're too stupid to get the parallels or incapable of remembering the plot for a period longer than 15 minutes) a bit heavy handed. Overall, though, it's a fun ride.

The Fountain is the only Aronofsky film that I just absolutely can't stand.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

I have absolutely no interest in this film, as it was clear from the trailer that the ending would either be Portman's character was insane, or the ending would be ambiguous and it would be left up to the viewer to decide whether or not she was insane. Which, of course, would be the only logical conclusion, as it always is with such movies.

Frankly, I'm extremely tired with the "the main character was crazy the whole time!" plot twist. It's overused, cliched, and extremely lazy. I only remember one of the last ten-or-so movies to use this technique that was actually good.

The only draw in this movie is the Kunis/Portman lesbian sex scene. I Googled it and watched it from the first link I clicked. A well-saved ten bucks, as it wasn't even that hot (sex scenes being another thing Hollywood has grown lazy with).

[qimissung]

I loved this movie! Personally, I am always drawn to movies where the persons sanity is in question. It is a way for filmmakers to explore the different layers of a person, sometimes the bifurcation of our personalities, between the parts of ourselves we discern as good, and the parts that are either not so good, or downright evil. Perhaps between a public persona and our true selves. All of the above, none of the above and everywhere in between.

I loved the idea that the main character, in her own mind anyway, became for the duration of her perfect dance, the black swan, became, as it were, a sort of wereswan ballerina. I am swooning with happiness at the mere thought of Ms. Portman in her tour de force, scratching her back and looking at herself in the mirror and slowly, slowly going crazy. The horror, the horror.

Frankly she reminded me a lot of Norman Bates, and there's another wild and crazy guy that I adore.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

I loved this movie! Personally, I am always drawn to movies where the persons sanity is in question. It is a way for filmmakers to explore the different layers of a person, sometimes the bifurcation of our personalities, between the parts of ourselves we discern as good, and the parts that are either not so good, or downright evil. Perhaps between a public persona and our true selves. All of the above, none of the above and everywhere in between.

Agreed on all points, but this is when it's done correctly, which seems rare these days. Maybe Black Swan is one of them. In any case, I will rent it when it comes out.


Frankly she reminded me a lot of Norman Bates, and there's another wild and crazy guy that I adore.

Funny you should mention Hitchcock's Bates. As far as I'm concerned, all "crazy person" movies since Psycho are just imitators, some good, some bad.

[Patrick_Bateman]

I have absolutely no interest in this film, as it was clear from the trailer that the ending would either be Portman's character was insane, or the ending would be ambiguous and it would be left up to the viewer to decide whether or not she was insane. Which, of course, would be the only logical conclusion, as it always is with such movies.

Frankly, I'm extremely tired with the "the main character was crazy the whole time!" plot twist. It's overused, cliched, and extremely lazy. I only remember one of the last ten-or-so movies to use this technique that was actually good.

The only draw in this movie is the Kunis/Portman lesbian sex scene. I Googled it and watched it from the first link I clicked. A well-saved ten bucks, as it wasn't even that hot (sex scenes being another thing Hollywood has grown lazy with).

SPOILERS***


It's not that Portman is insane. It's the obsession with what she does and the role she desires which causes her deviate from her true self. The pressure to 'command and seduce' the black swan role of the queen takes hold of behaviour, ruining relationships and making her forget who she is because she is so obsessed with her progression in the company. The patent jealousy among her peers causes her to become paranoid (especially with regards to Lily) she imagines her peers jeering and plotting against her. Her desire to be perfect (like her predecessor) compounds the problems and - as becomes evident - she is not fighting others but herself in order to be perfect and give her best performance. Hence the allusions to her self harming, picturing her hostile face on others and other hallucinations.

in the end perfection comes only with living the role of the Swan Queen almost literally.
(Imagining herself metamorphosing into a swan, her true personality, sweet, nice and quiet (in keeping with the white swan) and her developing split persoanality which is being forced out through her obsession and the pressures laid upon her. Hostility towards her peers and more ominously her mother and her behaviour on a night out. (The black swan)
She begins falling for Tomas who is in charge of the production but later she has an hallucination where she sees him and Lily locked in passionate embraces. Like in Swan Lake itself where the prince(Tomas) falls in love with the wrong girl and so the swan queen kills herself.
(this parallel is also scene in winona ryder's character as Tomas has moved on to a new young lady who is the new star of the production. Tomas says he believes she deliberately stepped out in front of a car)

I don't want to point out all the symbollism, parallels and allusions (in case you change your mind about seeing the film) and because everything is coming to me so quickly that I am not articulating my thoughts and interpretation very well.

I consider myself to have a discriminating taste
and would urge you to go and see the picture.

The lesbian scene came across as veeeeeeeeery hott on the big screen let me tell you. My gf had a moan at me and claimed I knew about that scene all along and that I had taken her to see porn

*sigh*
She will remind me of that when I take her to see the actual ballet next month.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

I'll definitely see it when it comes out for rental, but the theater is just way too expensive to see any movie I'm not very interested in.

And, I can see how the sex scene may be a bit more effective on the big screen. Maybe I misjudged it. I'll give it another five or six views, just to reexamine it :nod:.

[Patrick_Bateman]

I'll definitely see it when it comes out for rental, but the theater is just way too expensive to see any movie I'm not very interested in.

And, I can see how the sex scene may be a bit more effective on the big screen. Maybe I misjudged it. I'll give it another five or six views, just to reexamine it :nod:.

I only go to the cinema when I think a film would be better appreciated with that atmosphere that the big screen generates.
And this was one of those films. But like you said the cinema is a racket these days.
Luckily I have a Premiere card so after every other visit I earn a free ticket or 2.

[OrphanPip]

The film got a best picture nom from the Oscars this morning.

Of the Oscar nominees I have seen I would rank them thus:

1. King's Speech
2. Winter's Bone
3. Black Swan
4. True Grit
5. The Kids are Alright
6. The Fighter

The 4 I haven't seen are Inception, Toy Story 3, 127 Hours, and The Social Network.

[manolia]

I'll definitely watch black swan since Aronofsky is one of the film makers i follow closely..(although none of his later movies comes close to pi imo)



Frankly, I'm extremely tired with the "the main character was crazy the whole time!" plot twist. It's overused, cliched, and extremely lazy. I only remember one of the last ten-or-so movies to use this technique that was actually good.


And let's not forget that noone does this as good as David Lynch : ]]]]]

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

Glad to see True Grit get nominated, because it was awesome, as was Inception, though neither will win. I'm not really a fan of this ten nominees for best picture thing, though. Too gimmicky.

[Desolation]

I didn't really care all that much for Black Swan. I thought that Darren Aronofsky tried too hard to be really dark and edgy (and anyone who's seen Requiem for a Dream knows that he really doesn't have to try that hard), but it ended up just coming off as kind of cheesy.

I really hope that it does not win Best Picture...I'm rooting for Inception, but I'm sure that it will either go to The King's Speech or The Social Network.

[OrphanPip]

I'd be deluded to think Winter's Bone has a chance to win, since absolutely no one bothered to go see it. I thought it had flaws, but it was a rare film, a picture of the rural and white American poor. I was actually surprised to see it nominated.

There's also a Quebec film I wasn't even that crazy about nominated for best foreign picture.

[Niamh]

I thought the Black Swan was an amazing movie and i'm so glad to see it get nominated. I really hope that The Kings Speech gets best picture with Firth getting best actor and that this movie gets best actress and cinematography.

[Patrick_Bateman]

Scenes in the Black Swan were a bit hackneyed I agree but overall it was brilliant.

[oshima]

POSSIBLE SPOILERS I thoroughly enjoyed the film, more the exceptional filmmaking craft on display here. I didn't care so much about all the little details or even the story content and SL parallels, it was the utterly convincing transformation of Portman. There were no "aha" or "oh, she imagined it, how surprising!" moments for me, just physical tension and release.

[qimissung]

I liked it. I thought her performance was excellent.

I also like "Winter's Bone." I'd be glad to to see it win, and the actors in it who were nominated for awards. Christian Bale did an outstanding job in "The Fighter"; I wouldn't mind seeing it win. I don't really want "The Social Network" to win, but that's really not fair of me as I haven't seen it yet. I just don't find the idea of it very interesting.

I haven't seen "Inception" yet either, or "True Grit" That's the one I want to see. It looks g-o-o-o-d.

[ceelo]

The Social Network deserves best picture.
It was amazing. Wonderfully cast, amazing script, fantastic score, and it was actually pretty thrilling + intense.

The Black Swan was not original

[Helga]

I really liked Black Swan, and Portman was very very good in it!! I loved how she was the white swan and how that was easy for her but the black one was a challenge. in my opinion it wasn't a film where the insanity of the main character was in question it was clear that she was slipping, fast.

I really enjoyed it, not as much as Requiem for a dream but a lot and I definetly think that Portman should get an Oscar (even though I am not a fan of the awards)

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

I just saw it. I guess you should put me in the "I don't get it category," because I definitely did not. Not "I didn't get it" as in I didn't understand it--I understood it well enough (what's real? is Lily real? etc.)--but "I didn't get it" as in I don't understand why it's so loved. Overall, it was an alright movie. Other than Portman's good acting (good, not spectacular), I really didn't see anything that special in this. Just another "what was real and what wasn't" movie. How many of these need to be made? Still, why this one has received such adoration is alluding me.

The music was wonderful, though. But, that's thanks to Tchaikovsky.

Also, I found the wing-growing scene incredibly out of place--and the CGI was pretty poor.

[JuniperWoolf]

I didn't think it was out of place. That scene portrays the epitome of her perfectionism. She wanted so badly to be the perfect black swan that during her preformance, she actually became a black swan (which would be pretty much the peak of perfect).

I loved it. I love how she literally killed the part of herself that was holding her back. Oddly enough, I wasn't saddened by the end. It was kind of happy, what if she had lived? She would have ended up like all dancers, just like the Winona Ryder character. It's a good thing that she died immediately after the best preformance of her life that no one will ever forget and didn't have to stick around for the expectations and eventual decline.

I liked the scene where she was trying to masturbate (on assignment, of course) and when she turned her head her mother was sleeping right there in the room with her. Her mom was terrible, there's no way to grow up and become a healthy sexually well-rounded person with a woman like that in your life. I'd probably end up strangling her if she were my mother. Cool cinematography = her bedroom was all white and princess-ey, with frills and lace everywhere, but sprinkled throughout her room you can see the occasional black stuffed animal or broken mirror. I think her bedroom represents her mind (with her mom smack dab in the middle of it when she's trying to get off, and the frills and lace with little pieces of blackness that don't belong, ect.).

Also, was anyone else attracted to her director (Vincent Cassel)?