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loony_moonySorry. I don't think I'll ever be able to get that goddamn Tchaikovsky out of my head for the rest of my life.
And I saw it in a theater literally 100ft away from Lincoln Center, so the entire audience was either total high arts buffs and/or foreigners who were outraged, just outraged, at the sight of Natalie Portman getting her freak on.
Okay, so now I can actually get to my point, which is this: "Black Swan" is a deeply fucked up movie for any number of reasons, not the least of which is how ridiculously overly dramatic it is. I do, however, think this movie is an absolute must for any professional artist out there who has a mean perfectionist streak *cough*, because they would SO. GET IT. I'm not a crazy OCD as Portman's character is, but even I had a moment of alarm during the movie, when I saw myself mirrored in Nina. Grrrrrr that's gonna stick.
Anyway. This movie's anvilicious psychosis would make even Sera Gamble pale. It's all about deep repression that ultimately leads to a nervous breakdown that leads to Nina's suicide, and it's depicting it in what are perhaps too-stark colors (Nina's room, the music changes, the stage mom), but also pretty straightforward and frank. The choreography is breathtaking, and I definitely had several moments of chills from the dancing. It's an exquisite ballet movie.
Now, as for the performances, I'll just say this: Natalie Portman should get an Oscar, but not because her performance is central and overwrought like a romantic heroine straight from Eliza Haywood. No. It's because Portman's performance is good and she answers all the criteria Oscars are given by; she did a deep, method immersion into the role and obviously gave it everything she had, and actors who do that normally win Oscars, from Daniel Day-Lewis to Viggo Mortensen to even Charlize Theron on "Monster". Portman is Theron's mirror, to be honest, with her almost-skeletal appearance and phenomenally delicate body language.
Mila Kunis is lovely. I liked her before "Black Swan", and I'm not surprised she pulled her character off, and despite the hilarious anviliciousness the script gave her, she was nevertheless tame and even likable. Vincent Cassel is a total French asshole in the movie, in a very solid performance.
So yeah. This movie is about as fun as any Darren Aronofsky movie is (which is to say, total cinematic masochism), but at least it's super-pretty, even in its most horrifying moments.
Oh, and the Natalie/Mila scene? BEYOND HOT. Even if they do look like they each needed about 20 sandwiches.
But you know what? Even beyond the actual movie, have you SEEN the promo posters?
And I saw it in a theater literally 100ft away from Lincoln Center, so the entire audience was either total high arts buffs and/or foreigners who were outraged, just outraged, at the sight of Natalie Portman getting her freak on.
Okay, so now I can actually get to my point, which is this: "Black Swan" is a deeply fucked up movie for any number of reasons, not the least of which is how ridiculously overly dramatic it is. I do, however, think this movie is an absolute must for any professional artist out there who has a mean perfectionist streak *cough*, because they would SO. GET IT. I'm not a crazy OCD as Portman's character is, but even I had a moment of alarm during the movie, when I saw myself mirrored in Nina. Grrrrrr that's gonna stick.
Anyway. This movie's anvilicious psychosis would make even Sera Gamble pale. It's all about deep repression that ultimately leads to a nervous breakdown that leads to Nina's suicide, and it's depicting it in what are perhaps too-stark colors (Nina's room, the music changes, the stage mom), but also pretty straightforward and frank. The choreography is breathtaking, and I definitely had several moments of chills from the dancing. It's an exquisite ballet movie.
Now, as for the performances, I'll just say this: Natalie Portman should get an Oscar, but not because her performance is central and overwrought like a romantic heroine straight from Eliza Haywood. No. It's because Portman's performance is good and she answers all the criteria Oscars are given by; she did a deep, method immersion into the role and obviously gave it everything she had, and actors who do that normally win Oscars, from Daniel Day-Lewis to Viggo Mortensen to even Charlize Theron on "Monster". Portman is Theron's mirror, to be honest, with her almost-skeletal appearance and phenomenally delicate body language.
Mila Kunis is lovely. I liked her before "Black Swan", and I'm not surprised she pulled her character off, and despite the hilarious anviliciousness the script gave her, she was nevertheless tame and even likable. Vincent Cassel is a total French asshole in the movie, in a very solid performance.
So yeah. This movie is about as fun as any Darren Aronofsky movie is (which is to say, total cinematic masochism), but at least it's super-pretty, even in its most horrifying moments.
Oh, and the Natalie/Mila scene? BEYOND HOT. Even if they do look like they each needed about 20 sandwiches.
But you know what? Even beyond the actual movie, have you SEEN the promo posters?
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no subject
Date: 2010-12-30 04:46 am (UTC)I have yet to see it because I need to be in the right mood for the masochism of Aronofsky, but I'm totally loving the retro graphic design of the posters.
no subject
Date: 2010-12-30 05:06 am (UTC)I know what you mean. It took me a good two weeks to drag myself to the theater for this. I remember how fucked up "Requiem for a Dream" made me. However, the posters are PRETTYYYYYY. Clearly an extra budget was given for them, probably as part of the movie's award race. :D
no subject
Date: 2010-12-30 12:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-30 11:41 pm (UTC)