Jason KingBlack Swan (10/10) SALTY'S FILM OF THE YEAR
December 5th 2010 07:56
:
MIND BLOWING
Category: Reviews
This film is a perfect masterpiece and this year Oscar will be wearing a tutu. I cannot flaw one part of this movie and for a ballet movie to be better than a stunning Leo action film for me is unimaginable but Aronofsky has created a film that rivals his originality of Requiem for a Dream. This movie is ballet on crack and takes the viewer on a journey that will leave you spellbound with mouth agape.
It has taken me over a week to even contemplate writing this article as I have had no idea how to tackle something that is perfect. It is pretty much the last line of the film and it sums the film up "I saw it and it was perfect". That should just be the end of my article.
Even my best friend who considers himself a man's man stated at the end of a ballet film "it is better than Inception". My first comment at the end of the film was "it could possibly be the best film ever made". I was more blown away at the end of this screening than I was at the end of Avatar. And that's a big call - JC is my GOD. But Aronofsky has just equalled him in excellence.
This psychological thriller is about the emotional suffocation of one ballerina and her years of servitude to the art. She has finally gotten her first prima role and it is the truly all encompassing role of the Swan in Swan Lake. The story of Swan Lake is woven around two girls, Odette and Odile, who resemble each other so closely they can easily be mistaken for the other. Originally their roles were entrusted to two separate dancers, but as there is only one brief fleeting moment when they are seen simultaneously, it has long been customary for a single prima ballerina to perform both parts, differentiating them by characterisation and general style. The girls (or swans) are ying and yang, the black and white swans and one is pure and innocent while the other is dark and evil. The film itself deals with the battle of duality and as a Gemini it had special meaning to me.
What Aronofsky has succeeded in is bringing the emotional depth of the ballet that ballet companies only aspire to bring to many of their performances. He has done that by modernising the story and showing it through the ballerinas who are training for the production and then injected it with surrealist adrenaline. He has done for Swan Lake what Shine did for Rachmaninoff, only better.
Portman is just astounding in this role and was perfectly cast. Not having trained in ballet since she was 13 she became both swans in her performance. I find Portman to be too shiny white and innocent and perfectly represented as the white swan but her 5mins as the black swan when she becomes it has scored her an Oscar in my opinion. She is so elegant and her journey and transition into the black swan will have you enchanted, scared, mesmerised and spellbound. Originally Rachel Weisz was considered for this role but there is no way she could have pulled this off. Portman embodies the poise in every day life as a ballerina. She not only trained her butt off she also lost over 10kgs for the part, or probably from the gruelling training she went through. "It was a rude awakening to get there, and to be, like, I don't know what I'm doing," Portman said in a recent interview, "If I had known how not close to ready I was, I never would have tried it. I'm glad I was a little ignorant-slash-arrogant." In the film she performs choreography by Benjamin Millepied, the New York City Ballet principal with a side career as a choreographer, and Portman does indeed dance, about 10 sequences, with a lot of work for her upper body. The difficult point work and turns were performed by a body double, Sarah Lane, the American Ballet Theatre soloist.
Mila Kunis also trained very hard for this role. Kunis, 27, described her experience as "ballet on crack." At the end of her training, which includes three months of daily ballet practice, she said, she had probably lost 20 pounds (10kgs). "For me it was kind of like: How do you fake it?". Darren Aronofsky offered Mila Kunis the role of Lily over Skype, without an audition. After practicing with a ballet instructor from three months, three to four hours everyday, Mila Kunis learned how to dance en pointe. She had no previous ballet or dance experience before this movie and you would never tell, she is bloody amazing and the perfect partner for Portman in this movie.
Vincent Cassel compared his character to George Balanchine, who co-founded New York City Ballet. The actor said Balanchine was "a control freak, a true artist using sexuality to direct his dancers". He is a superb supporting actor in this film and has the strength to bring out the black swan in Portman. Also superb was Barnera Hershey as Nina's mum, originally Meryl Streep was considered for this role but I cannot imagine Streep "supporting" in a film - she only does lead parts now. But I am glad, Streep would have been great but Hershey is amazing and I was so glad to see her back on the big screen.
The film began as a screenplay called "The Understudy" and took place in the world of New York theater. Darren Aronofsky liked the script, but suggested it be changed to ballet. The script by Mark Heyman (screenplay) and Andres Heinz (screenplay) and John J. McLaughlin took around ten years to make it to the screen. And it was worth the entire wait. Not only this - the film was made for only a mere $17MIL. The budget was so tight that when star Natalie Portman had a rib dislocated during a lift and she called the producer for help. She was told that the budget was so low they had no medic. She stated that if they needed to cut items from the budget they could take away her trailer instead of the medic. The next day her trailer was gone. Another reason Portman deserves an Oscar - she truly believed in this film and was happy to sacrifice her luxury (not only for her health) but to make the film perfect.
Winona Ryder spent 10 days filming her role. Ryder who plays the former leading ballerina, only went to one ballet lesson as a kid. She never returned as she thought her teacher were really mean. We never see her dace in this film but she is what Nina could become if she sacrificed more of herself to her art and her interactions with Portman are great to watch.
The cinematography is very bleak with many overtones of grey and soft pinks (probably a ballerina thing) with occasional flashes of colour. Matthew Libatique DOP's this one and no wonder it is good. He has filmed things like the Iron Mans, all of Aronosfsky's films (excluding The Wrestler), The Number 23, Gothika, (the upcoming) Cowboys and Aliens and The Wolverine. And complimenting the film is art direction by David Stein - you have seen his work in such films as Enchanted, Godzilla, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Arlington Road.
I have said this in a few films I have written about over the years but it is very rare for all the planets and talents to align in a film and for me this one was a perfect alignment. You are mad to miss this one and if you don't like the film then you have a screw loose. It has universal appeal to everyone from bikers to high society socialites. Superb and out in Australia on January 13 with release in the US this week. Worth an easy 10 out of 10.
It has taken me over a week to even contemplate writing this article as I have had no idea how to tackle something that is perfect. It is pretty much the last line of the film and it sums the film up "I saw it and it was perfect". That should just be the end of my article.
Even my best friend who considers himself a man's man stated at the end of a ballet film "it is better than Inception". My first comment at the end of the film was "it could possibly be the best film ever made". I was more blown away at the end of this screening than I was at the end of Avatar. And that's a big call - JC is my GOD. But Aronofsky has just equalled him in excellence.
This psychological thriller is about the emotional suffocation of one ballerina and her years of servitude to the art. She has finally gotten her first prima role and it is the truly all encompassing role of the Swan in Swan Lake. The story of Swan Lake is woven around two girls, Odette and Odile, who resemble each other so closely they can easily be mistaken for the other. Originally their roles were entrusted to two separate dancers, but as there is only one brief fleeting moment when they are seen simultaneously, it has long been customary for a single prima ballerina to perform both parts, differentiating them by characterisation and general style. The girls (or swans) are ying and yang, the black and white swans and one is pure and innocent while the other is dark and evil. The film itself deals with the battle of duality and as a Gemini it had special meaning to me.
What Aronofsky has succeeded in is bringing the emotional depth of the ballet that ballet companies only aspire to bring to many of their performances. He has done that by modernising the story and showing it through the ballerinas who are training for the production and then injected it with surrealist adrenaline. He has done for Swan Lake what Shine did for Rachmaninoff, only better.
Portman is just astounding in this role and was perfectly cast. Not having trained in ballet since she was 13 she became both swans in her performance. I find Portman to be too shiny white and innocent and perfectly represented as the white swan but her 5mins as the black swan when she becomes it has scored her an Oscar in my opinion. She is so elegant and her journey and transition into the black swan will have you enchanted, scared, mesmerised and spellbound. Originally Rachel Weisz was considered for this role but there is no way she could have pulled this off. Portman embodies the poise in every day life as a ballerina. She not only trained her butt off she also lost over 10kgs for the part, or probably from the gruelling training she went through. "It was a rude awakening to get there, and to be, like, I don't know what I'm doing," Portman said in a recent interview, "If I had known how not close to ready I was, I never would have tried it. I'm glad I was a little ignorant-slash-arrogant." In the film she performs choreography by Benjamin Millepied, the New York City Ballet principal with a side career as a choreographer, and Portman does indeed dance, about 10 sequences, with a lot of work for her upper body. The difficult point work and turns were performed by a body double, Sarah Lane, the American Ballet Theatre soloist.
Mila Kunis also trained very hard for this role. Kunis, 27, described her experience as "ballet on crack." At the end of her training, which includes three months of daily ballet practice, she said, she had probably lost 20 pounds (10kgs). "For me it was kind of like: How do you fake it?". Darren Aronofsky offered Mila Kunis the role of Lily over Skype, without an audition. After practicing with a ballet instructor from three months, three to four hours everyday, Mila Kunis learned how to dance en pointe. She had no previous ballet or dance experience before this movie and you would never tell, she is bloody amazing and the perfect partner for Portman in this movie.
Vincent Cassel compared his character to George Balanchine, who co-founded New York City Ballet. The actor said Balanchine was "a control freak, a true artist using sexuality to direct his dancers". He is a superb supporting actor in this film and has the strength to bring out the black swan in Portman. Also superb was Barnera Hershey as Nina's mum, originally Meryl Streep was considered for this role but I cannot imagine Streep "supporting" in a film - she only does lead parts now. But I am glad, Streep would have been great but Hershey is amazing and I was so glad to see her back on the big screen.
The film began as a screenplay called "The Understudy" and took place in the world of New York theater. Darren Aronofsky liked the script, but suggested it be changed to ballet. The script by Mark Heyman (screenplay) and Andres Heinz (screenplay) and John J. McLaughlin took around ten years to make it to the screen. And it was worth the entire wait. Not only this - the film was made for only a mere $17MIL. The budget was so tight that when star Natalie Portman had a rib dislocated during a lift and she called the producer for help. She was told that the budget was so low they had no medic. She stated that if they needed to cut items from the budget they could take away her trailer instead of the medic. The next day her trailer was gone. Another reason Portman deserves an Oscar - she truly believed in this film and was happy to sacrifice her luxury (not only for her health) but to make the film perfect.
Winona Ryder spent 10 days filming her role. Ryder who plays the former leading ballerina, only went to one ballet lesson as a kid. She never returned as she thought her teacher were really mean. We never see her dace in this film but she is what Nina could become if she sacrificed more of herself to her art and her interactions with Portman are great to watch.
The cinematography is very bleak with many overtones of grey and soft pinks (probably a ballerina thing) with occasional flashes of colour. Matthew Libatique DOP's this one and no wonder it is good. He has filmed things like the Iron Mans, all of Aronosfsky's films (excluding The Wrestler), The Number 23, Gothika, (the upcoming) Cowboys and Aliens and The Wolverine. And complimenting the film is art direction by David Stein - you have seen his work in such films as Enchanted, Godzilla, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Arlington Road.
I have said this in a few films I have written about over the years but it is very rare for all the planets and talents to align in a film and for me this one was a perfect alignment. You are mad to miss this one and if you don't like the film then you have a screw loose. It has universal appeal to everyone from bikers to high society socialites. Superb and out in Australia on January 13 with release in the US this week. Worth an easy 10 out of 10.
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Comment by K @ the Lair
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness
Everyone is just too busy to comment or does not want to until they have seen the film.
You will love this one I am sure and so will Mike - such an awesome movie. Who is your ballet friend?
Comment by K @ the Lair
Comment by Michelle Sweeney
Competition Queen
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness
Have a great Xmas
Comment by Luke
Old Movies
Cane Toad Warrior
'Ballet on crack' is a great description.
I just came back from watching Black Swan for the second time. We sat down and I looked around at the other people in the cinema... mostly young girls and their mums. I thought, most of you are going to hate this film.
True enough, at least three people walked out before the film was anywhere near close to being over, and the teenage girls behind me were fairly vocal about how little they understood what was going on. Also, I noticed a few kids (!) coming out of the theatre afterwards with shocked parents. I guess those parents have just been taught a valuable lesson in paying attention to classifications. The film was MA , what did they expect?
Anyway, agreed - best film of the year!
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness
I can't wait to see it for the second time and even better, owning it on Blu Ray
Thanks for reading.