Last week I finally managed to watch Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan. I have to say that it is everything they say it is and then some. Of course, by now everyone has kind of decided on that best actress Oscar for Natalie Portman. So I shall not waste anymore time preaching to the converted. What I would like to share with you though are a few things that have stayed with me long after the film ended.
The awesome background score. It has a techno/electronica kind of vibe interspersed with classical pieces of The Swan Lake. Rather unusual for a psychodrama on ballet. But I must say it works beautifully to add to the dark, almost supernatural element of the narrative.
I also loved the visual treatment of the film in predominantly black, blue and white tones. The lighting, make-up and costumes all work towards this end. And it comes together rather brilliantly in that breathtaking performance by Natalie Portman in the grand finale.
However what hooked me most was the poignant struggle of the tearfully earnest Nina (Portman) to break free from her own perfectionist self. In life, Nina finds herself constrained by her relentless, overbearing mother (a retired ballerina) and her own rather submissive nature. This gets in the way of her art that demands a spontaneous losing of the self to her more ferocious wanton side.
To play the prized part of the Black Swan she has to live through her own terrifying nightmare of doubt, despair, fear and anxiety. And when she does manage to embody the beguiling and seductively dark Black Swan to perfection, she is a wreck, hurtling towards her own destruction.
Black Swan also brings me to two other movies on ballet that I enjoyed very much in the past. One is the all American Centre Stage and the other is the coming of age British drama Billy Elliot. Incidentally, both these films were 2000 releases and have great soundtrack encompassing a diverse musical palette. Watch them at leisure.
Black Swan image courtesy:http://www.imdb.com/
Black Swan image courtesy:http://www.imdb.com/
