WOWWOWOWOWOWOOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOOWOWWOWOWOW! (literally that's all I have to say! just kidding!)
(Just to warn you guys, this will contain spoiler alerts BUT fear not, I will caution you before you get there) Also, this review is completely my opinion, I didn't read anyone else's reviews or brilliant ideas, although I'm sure they are all great, I just wanted to do it for my sake. Maybe I'll write a Part 2 review after reading what other people think. Real film critics and buffs. I am the furthest from that. I promise you.
Quick and dirty summary:
Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis are in a ballet company performing Swan Lake. Natalie Portman portrayed as the angelic protagonist, and Mila Kunis as the dark antagonist to the story line. It seems clear in the beginning, but the roles in where these characters are boxed into, become increasingly blurred. The Swan Queen, the principle ballet dancer of the production of Swan Lake has to embody both the perfect and innocent White Swan, and the guile and sensual Black Swan drawing parallels to both Portman's and Kunis' characters.
Trailer:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/172891/movie-trailers-black-swan---trailer
Review:
Black Swan was freaking amazing! It was mind-blowing. I think it was one of the best movies I watched this year, and I'm not kidding you or purposely finding a reason to like it because it was an opener for the Sundance Festival this year (and received a standing ovation, mind you!). But this movie was truly A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. This is a truly fantastic movie because I was so absorbed into the movie that at the end, I just didn't want it to end. I walked out really feeling like I was there in the world of the dark and twisted ballet fantasy that director Darren Aronofsky created. This is the type of movie where you leave the theatre feeling a little mind-fucked, you can't really think straight, and you can't really walk straight, wondering to yourself if you're crazy. Kind of how I was with Inception, but different. In comparison, Inception was really about making a blockbuster, a crazy movie with a genius idea, but this is not even close. Black Swan isn't made to be a blockbuster, to make money, to win Oscars or anything, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did, actually I am 100% positive that this movie is going to win a shit ton of Oscars, this movie is made to tell a beautiful story of a rendition of a modern Swan Lake. But this is far from the boringness that we usually associate ballet with. There is scary, gross, gruesome parts that left everyone in the movie theatre gasping and shocked (like, you could literally hear everyone sucking in their breath).
The trailer is a mind-fuck as well, you think you're going in knowing exactly what's going to happen, the predictability of it all. You see flashes of Natalie Portman picking out feathers thinking WTF?!!! but it's not that, you'll understand after you watch this. The acting was superb to say the least and Natalie Portman is brilliant. Honestly, she is a great actor, a great dancer, and she really embodies the character of a girl seeking any and every desperation to be perfect.
---
Spoilers? I don't know if you can exactly call it this but whatever, I'm going to talk about the movie now...
This movie is a literally a psychological mind-fuck, from the beginning to the end for both us as viewers and Natalie Portman's character. Each character starts off as black and white, the overprotective and overbearing mom, the crazy and brash Mila Kunis' character Lily, the sexually charged choreographer Thomas, played by Vincent Cassel (you might recognize him from Ocean's 12 and 13), and of course, Natalie Portman's innocent, angelic, and hardworking character, Nina. We see her character change in every minute of the 103 minutes that the movie has to offer as we become more and more immersed in this ballet culture.
There is a lot of symbolism portrayed in this movie, in where Natalie Portman starts off as the perfect and idealistic White Swan, you see her character wearing fluffy white scarves and baby pink jackets, and then as the movie progresses, and as she meets Mila Kunis' character, her wardrobe changes as well, this is probably the most obvious part of the movie, especially when she puts on the black lacy top that Lily gives her.
She strives for perfection which leads her to actually get the role of Swan Queen, well actually that cheeky bite gets her the role, but she learns that she has to lose control in order to play the Black Swan, something that she has no intention of ever doing. On the other hand, Lily is already the perfect Black Swan, she has the carefree freedom and talent that Natalie Portman wants and craves, but just doesn't understand how to achieve it. As she explores her sexuality through the help of Thomas and Lily, and finally breaking free from her crazy mother, Nina is becoming more carefree. But the thing is, she also watched Winona Ryder's character, Beth, and her great downfall from the ballet world as she becomes older and less wanted. Once, Nina's idol of perfection, she watches Beth spiral out of control, and we, in turn, which Nina spiral out of control.
She is getting mind-fucked as the movie goes on, eventually becoming quite schizophrenic at the end in which the viewers don't even know who's who anymore. And the movie parallels Swan Lake (the ballet) as well, with the White Swan and Black Swan actually being the same person, the choreographer playing the Prince in the ballet, AND OF COURSE the ending. Lily seems to be the evil one, but in the end, they're both Nina, she's finally the ideal Swan Queen but innocent and evil at the same time. Nina is only personifying Lily to be the antagonist when the only thing that's stopping her perfection is herself. She is creating an outward enemy in order to combat her own fears. Lily is actually quite normal for the most part except she is brilliant in every single one of Nina's insecurities, such as control and sexuality. Nina only wants to believe that Lily is evil, but in all those scenes that Lily is in, Nina's face, for a split second, pops up instead of Nina. It's an interesting way of creating an evil character when in fact Nina herself is dynamic, constantly changing, brilliant, schizophrenic and battling her own fears and desires. The ending is perfect, literally and figuratively.
Favorite scene:
When Nina is on stage as the Black Swan and she's doing her pirouettes and turning into a swan at the same time. We watch her ending pose as literally a Black Swan, feathers, wings, and all of that but panning away, we see that it was Nina all along as a human. Who's who? We don't know!!! AHHH!
Last remarks:
I urge all of you to see it, even if you hate it, hate the storyline, hate the trailer, hate ballet, but you should still definitely see it just to know the struggles that Natalie Portman's character endures.
(Just to warn you guys, this will contain spoiler alerts BUT fear not, I will caution you before you get there) Also, this review is completely my opinion, I didn't read anyone else's reviews or brilliant ideas, although I'm sure they are all great, I just wanted to do it for my sake. Maybe I'll write a Part 2 review after reading what other people think. Real film critics and buffs. I am the furthest from that. I promise you.
Quick and dirty summary:
Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis are in a ballet company performing Swan Lake. Natalie Portman portrayed as the angelic protagonist, and Mila Kunis as the dark antagonist to the story line. It seems clear in the beginning, but the roles in where these characters are boxed into, become increasingly blurred. The Swan Queen, the principle ballet dancer of the production of Swan Lake has to embody both the perfect and innocent White Swan, and the guile and sensual Black Swan drawing parallels to both Portman's and Kunis' characters.
Trailer:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/172891/movie-trailers-black-swan---trailer
Review:
Black Swan was freaking amazing! It was mind-blowing. I think it was one of the best movies I watched this year, and I'm not kidding you or purposely finding a reason to like it because it was an opener for the Sundance Festival this year (and received a standing ovation, mind you!). But this movie was truly A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. This is a truly fantastic movie because I was so absorbed into the movie that at the end, I just didn't want it to end. I walked out really feeling like I was there in the world of the dark and twisted ballet fantasy that director Darren Aronofsky created. This is the type of movie where you leave the theatre feeling a little mind-fucked, you can't really think straight, and you can't really walk straight, wondering to yourself if you're crazy. Kind of how I was with Inception, but different. In comparison, Inception was really about making a blockbuster, a crazy movie with a genius idea, but this is not even close. Black Swan isn't made to be a blockbuster, to make money, to win Oscars or anything, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did, actually I am 100% positive that this movie is going to win a shit ton of Oscars, this movie is made to tell a beautiful story of a rendition of a modern Swan Lake. But this is far from the boringness that we usually associate ballet with. There is scary, gross, gruesome parts that left everyone in the movie theatre gasping and shocked (like, you could literally hear everyone sucking in their breath).
The trailer is a mind-fuck as well, you think you're going in knowing exactly what's going to happen, the predictability of it all. You see flashes of Natalie Portman picking out feathers thinking WTF?!!! but it's not that, you'll understand after you watch this. The acting was superb to say the least and Natalie Portman is brilliant. Honestly, she is a great actor, a great dancer, and she really embodies the character of a girl seeking any and every desperation to be perfect.
---
Spoilers? I don't know if you can exactly call it this but whatever, I'm going to talk about the movie now...
This movie is a literally a psychological mind-fuck, from the beginning to the end for both us as viewers and Natalie Portman's character. Each character starts off as black and white, the overprotective and overbearing mom, the crazy and brash Mila Kunis' character Lily, the sexually charged choreographer Thomas, played by Vincent Cassel (you might recognize him from Ocean's 12 and 13), and of course, Natalie Portman's innocent, angelic, and hardworking character, Nina. We see her character change in every minute of the 103 minutes that the movie has to offer as we become more and more immersed in this ballet culture.
There is a lot of symbolism portrayed in this movie, in where Natalie Portman starts off as the perfect and idealistic White Swan, you see her character wearing fluffy white scarves and baby pink jackets, and then as the movie progresses, and as she meets Mila Kunis' character, her wardrobe changes as well, this is probably the most obvious part of the movie, especially when she puts on the black lacy top that Lily gives her.
She strives for perfection which leads her to actually get the role of Swan Queen, well actually that cheeky bite gets her the role, but she learns that she has to lose control in order to play the Black Swan, something that she has no intention of ever doing. On the other hand, Lily is already the perfect Black Swan, she has the carefree freedom and talent that Natalie Portman wants and craves, but just doesn't understand how to achieve it. As she explores her sexuality through the help of Thomas and Lily, and finally breaking free from her crazy mother, Nina is becoming more carefree. But the thing is, she also watched Winona Ryder's character, Beth, and her great downfall from the ballet world as she becomes older and less wanted. Once, Nina's idol of perfection, she watches Beth spiral out of control, and we, in turn, which Nina spiral out of control.
She is getting mind-fucked as the movie goes on, eventually becoming quite schizophrenic at the end in which the viewers don't even know who's who anymore. And the movie parallels Swan Lake (the ballet) as well, with the White Swan and Black Swan actually being the same person, the choreographer playing the Prince in the ballet, AND OF COURSE the ending. Lily seems to be the evil one, but in the end, they're both Nina, she's finally the ideal Swan Queen but innocent and evil at the same time. Nina is only personifying Lily to be the antagonist when the only thing that's stopping her perfection is herself. She is creating an outward enemy in order to combat her own fears. Lily is actually quite normal for the most part except she is brilliant in every single one of Nina's insecurities, such as control and sexuality. Nina only wants to believe that Lily is evil, but in all those scenes that Lily is in, Nina's face, for a split second, pops up instead of Nina. It's an interesting way of creating an evil character when in fact Nina herself is dynamic, constantly changing, brilliant, schizophrenic and battling her own fears and desires. The ending is perfect, literally and figuratively.
Favorite scene:
When Nina is on stage as the Black Swan and she's doing her pirouettes and turning into a swan at the same time. We watch her ending pose as literally a Black Swan, feathers, wings, and all of that but panning away, we see that it was Nina all along as a human. Who's who? We don't know!!! AHHH!
Last remarks:
I urge all of you to see it, even if you hate it, hate the storyline, hate the trailer, hate ballet, but you should still definitely see it just to know the struggles that Natalie Portman's character endures.
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