Friday, February 3, 2012
BLACK SWAN - CLASS SCREENING
Place your reaction to BLACK SWAN, our first class screening, in the comments section. Stay away from summarizing and discussion your reaction to it. Why you liked it? Why you didn't like it? And support your statements with the film. Remember form and content should go together.
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I found Black Swan to be both engaging and interesting as well as disappointing. The film did an excellent job of conveying its major themes of a descent into madness and a loss of innocence in the progression into adulthood, but at the same time many aspects of the special effects reduced the emotional power of the plot for me. The best aspects of the film lay in its cinematography and color schemes. The heavy use of close shots and the camera following Natalie Portman throughout the film emphasized the focus on her mental state and ultimate insanity. By focusing on her character for the majority of the film, it not only created the effect of being intimately involved in her closest thoughts and emotions, but it also pushed the other characters to the periphery of the plot so that, as the audience, you viewed the majority of the events from Portman's perspective and not as an objective third party. This effect made it very difficult to distinguish which events were reality and which were hallucinations; I found the most effective scenes that conveyed Portman's decaying mental state were the ones that involved her confrontations with Mila Kunis. As their confrontations escalate, it becomes more and more obvious that the conflict is merely a figment of Portman's character, Nina's, imagination, and less a result of Mila Kunis', Lily, being "out to get her". The heavy use of close shots also created a suppressive, claustrophobic feeling throughout the movie that reflected Nina's oppressive relationship with her mother. The color scheme of the film, most blacks, whites, and grays, also emphasized the contrasting battle of white and black going on in Nina's subconscious.
ReplyDeleteDespite these excellent aspects of the film, the overall dramatic effects of the plot were ruined for me by what I felt was an overuse of computer generated effects. For me, the symbolism of Nina's transformation into a bird was overemphasized by literally transforming her in post production into a bird. These scenes, such as the breaking of her legs, lengthening of her neck, and sprouting of the feathers were not only ineffective, but almost absurd to me, to the point that they reduced the potency of the symbolism. As a viewer, I was able to grasp the symbolism without these added effects; I felt they were only in there to add to the horror/thriller aspect of the film. The same goes for several scenes, including the one of the man on the subway and of Beth stabbing herself in the face, that seemed very out of place and more silly than dramatic. To me, the reduced the potential of the film's emotional power. However, overall Black Swan did an excellent job of conveying its themes and symbolism powerfully and dramatically.
is basically using long shot and close-up to tell us the story. I think the filmmaker used these two methods very well to bring us into the film. I am involved in it and I also like the whole story of this film, especially the two sides of personality Nina has. We all know that, at the beginning, Nina is a very pure girl. But due to the essentiality of being a bad girl to better play the part of “black swan”, Nina is trying her best to find out the ego Nina. That is the first time Nina confront to her real desire, jealousy, violence and rebellion. Since she has lived with her pure and beautiful for a very long time, she now has fear and pain when she is confronting to her different personalities. So, being well behaved is actually oppressive, and the ego self is actually emancipation.
ReplyDeleteThere is a scene; Nina wants to keep the chance of acting black swan, she kills Lily, but actually she kills herself. Later, she goes to the stage and does a very good performance. That episode is the climax of this film I think, Nina’s true self has been released totally at that moment. I can see Nina’s pure self is dead, and the ego self is finally being generated. The black feather comes from her body, and then the wings come out ultimately. She finishes the acting of black swan and simultaneously fulfils her own dream. The sound effect is very fantastic to make us feel the same way as Nina does. Everything is vivid, not only the white pure swan, but also the black one. I am really enjoying watching this kind of film which makes us ponder and also gives us such a great view of ballet show. I like this film so much, although it makes me a little bit down.
Black Swan
ReplyDeleteAfter viewing this successful movie,I feel this is more like a story of growing up.The complicated relationship between Nina and her mother cause me to think deepest about.
Every single role in this movie remind me different character real exist in my life,mother always wants their daughter to be their tender girl,as she keep saying "sweet girl"though the whole movie,but Nina wants to grow up although she doesn't wants to disappoint her mother and prove her self,the biggest challenge for her is she needs to play a role which has a opposite characteristic with her,the biggest trait of the role black swan is danger,sexual attractive for men,Nina desires to grow up and get all these experiments and make her feel "perfect"I define the word"perfect "in this movie more like"complete".
All the hallucinants shown in the movie from Nina,and the jealous to others,resisting to the desire from her deepest heart is the appearance of Nina's unconfident and self-straggle,till she accepted all these hallucinants and kill her competitor,she feels confidence and complete the performance,but the death of Nina metaphorically tell the audience that growth charges you and at the end of movie story goes back to the tender sweet girl which depends on family,Nina look at her mother's eyes,they are full with love tears Nina feels "I'm perfect".
When I first watched Black Swan, the movie left me confused, unsatisfied and even a bit traumatized. After watching it a second time, I felt the same built up feelings of tension and suspense only this time, paying attention to the special effects, sound, colors and themes. It wasn’t hard to ignore the formal content as I felt that much of the effects were intentionally exaggerated. The film focuses mostly on Natalie Portman’s character, Nina, and her performance with the camera while using the close up shot, which in a way becomes suffocating for the audience but at the same time lets us into Portman’s muted monochromatic world reflecting her internal suffocation as well. This type of shot was essential to the film by giving the audience more insight to the feelings and emotions that were going on with her as a dancer in the studio, out in public and under her mother’s exerting control at home. Long shots were used as well to illustrate the corporeal basis for the actual Swan Lake performance.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, throughout Natalie Portman’s strive and hunger for perfection, the obsessive relationships around her are what contribute to her ultimate insanity. The creepy relationship with her mother I feel had the biggest impact on leading her to get in touch with her dark side and to her internal corruption. It was when Portman leaves her “innocence” and “sweet girl” qualities behind for Lily, that I began getting confused again on what was real in the film or not. I know that her hallucinations in the tub and the continuous finger habits were to allude to her obsessive and mental state but the thematic aspect of psychological repression and dreams somewhat made the cerebral basis for the entire film a bit hard to comprehend entirely. The ending always leaves me wondering if the whole thing was actually the “perfect” dream that Portman envisioned in the beginning or if it really happened. Overall, I enjoyed the film and saw it as a compelling and emotional lesson.
I really like this film. During the whole film you do not move your eyes from it. You always have to be watching it if you do not want to lose important parts from the movie. While I was watching it, I feel that I was part from Nina’s mind. For example, first I actually believe that she really killed Lily, when it just happened in her mind. The best word that describes this movie is physiological. I got so involve on it, until I realized that it was just a movie. The director of the movie made a great job. He knew how to keep audience attention during the film. Sexuality, darkness, craziness are some of the things that the movie transmitted to me. Natalie Portman also did a great job. I used to remember the girl who interpreted the angelical role being princess in Star Wars. However, I think this girl made a great jump and she has to be considered one of the best actresses nowadays. The same happened to me with Mila Kunis. I remember her from comedies, not serious movies like black swan; she also did a great job. The cast in general was wonderful. The shots were right for each situation on the movie. The perfect combination between close up and long shot. So, Black Swan is one of the movies that have to be obligatory for everybody to watch. It is classic absolutely.
ReplyDeleteNina clearly has psychological problems. The fact that she sees herself as other people and sometimes can’t tell the difference between reality and her imagination reflects that she has schizophrenic symptoms. Her insanity is driven by her obsession to be perfect, which is fueled by her mother’s broken dreams. It kills her that she naturally can’t dance in a free, seductive way like Lily. I think her jealousy/obsession with Lily is what causes her to have a sexual fantasy about her. The fact that Lily turns into Nina during the dream shows how much Nina wants to be more like Lily.
ReplyDeleteNina also was obsessive about Beth. She wanted her role and to be called the little princess, so she stole things from her room to be more like her. Although insane, I don’t think Nina is evil. In the beginning of the movie she defended Beth when the other dancers were talking about her. She also was legitimately sad when she heard about her accident and wanted to go see her. Also, when she felt that Lily was trying to take her place like she once wanted to take Beth’s, she felt bad and went to the hospital again to return her things and apologize. This shows that she is capable of compassion and sympathy. Thinking that she murdered Lily is definitely evil, but I think she was so insane that she really thought Lily was after her and therefore believed that killing her was justified.
Subconsciously hurting herself somehow helped her to relieve her stress and ultimately give a good performance. Finishing her dance and looking into her mother’s proud eyes made it perfect for her. She completed the goal she had been striving towards, and that satisfied her, regardless of the fact that she killed herself.
Black Swan is not a film for the faint of heart. When Nina is in the hospital to visit Beth and starts stabbing herself with the nail file, it’s a very graphic, intense scene. It is completely unexpected that Beth would turn into Nina in the wheelchair and start stabbing herself. Granted it is not a super gory horror flick like Saw, but it still falls into the category of horror film, especially with the sexual scenes. I have found that most horror films tend to have a couple sexual scenes in them. Whether it’s like Nina “exploring” with her mother right next to her in the chair, or it’s a full on sex scene like in Halloween, it seems to be another aspect besides the gore that helps hold the audience’s attention.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning, the black swan symbolizes what is in the shadows, the thing you do not want to see or know, otherwise described as evil. Later in the film the black swan is representative of the darkness or temptation in all of us. This theory is demonstrated by Nina’s transformation. Nina starts as a pure, innocent, “sweet girl”, as she goes through the film and as she is tempted by sex, drugs, (and unfortunately no rock and roll), she turns into a flirtatious, lustful, “dirty girl.” This is visually shown when Nina puts on Lily’s black shirt instead of her traditional white clothing.
This film reminds me a lot of Shutter Island with the psychological thriller aspect that leaves the audience wondering, “did that really happen?” At times, this psychological cat and mouse is interesting and serves to keep the audience’s attention, like when Nina stabs Lily with the mirror, but then Lily knocks on her door. Other times, the psychological cat and mouse is annoying because some events would be better solidly portrayed, such as when Nina leaves the hospital for the last time and is holding a bloody nail file in her hand, did she really stab Beth or not? I, for one, would like to know.
I definitely liked this movie alot better the second time I saw it. The expectations you have going in to view a film really influence your opinion of it. This time, I went in expecting nothing and having a clear open mind on what I was watching.
Black Swan is a devastating, exciting, and tense movie. It is an exquisite movie that shows the battle of a ballet dancer with her inner self. Natalie Portamn (Nina) does an amazing job doing the part of a ballet dancer who is over protected by her mother by embodying the look of a professional dancer. She portrayed both, the reality of what it is to be a ballet dancer and the emotions in trying to become a ballet character. This movie does an excellent job in showing the story of a child who was pressured into living out her mother’s failed dream. The way the director uses sounds to get into our head is marvelous but at the same time creepy. Close-up is used constantly during the movie to help the audience get into the head of Nina and see her suffering and the psychosis she is developing. Also, the movie is filmed using white, black, grey and red colors symbolizing the fight between the white swan and the black swan. Also along the movie, Nina struggles to establish her identity, separate from that of her mother. Nina creates an alter person to escape from her reality which is the black swan. She goes through a metaphysical change, which is first imposed to her by her ballet director. Through the use of mirrors and reflections in several scenes the audience is reminded of Nina’s altered perception of reality. For example, the reflection of her in the mirror, which seems to acquire life of her own, is Nina’s visualization of her dark, hidden side. As reality and Nina’s schizophrenic visualizations come together, the movie builds to a frenzied crescendo as overwrought as Tchaikovsky’s music, which captures the movie drama. I believe that the ballet director acts in representation of the entertainment companies, which control artists into becoming alternate persons with the idea of interpreting characters, but ultimately disposing of them. A clear example, would be Heath Ledger who interpreted the joker in the Dark knight but who created an alternate personality when interpreting this assassin. So most of the time addictions and self-destruction arise come alone with creative genius.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that I really liked about Black Swan was that the film did not treat the audience as if they were stupid. Some films feel the need to explain each and every point they make as if the audience was not going to get it. Much like Inception, at the end of the movie, Black Swan allows the audience to formulate their own theories as to what had happened. Ergo, in this brief reaction, I will be discussing my theories of things I noticed in the film.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing that I noticed was the doppelganger effect throughout the movie. In virtually every scene there is a doppelganger. This may take the form of one character wearing white, and another black. It also takes the forms of youthfulness and age. The most interesting one though was the doppelganger of healthy body, destroyed mind versus destroyed body, healthy mind. I am of course referring to Nina (Natalie Portman) visiting Beth (Winona Ryder) in the hospital. I thought that this doppelganger was more interesting than any other simply for the fact that they both realize that they are damaged. Beth knows that with her leg being busted, she will never dance again. A large part of who she is gone. Nina on the other hand recognizes that a large part of her identity is gone as well. So much so that when she looks at Beth, she sees herself in her place. Nina then sees herself stabbing herself with a knife. She recognizes that her mental state is killing her, and there is nothing she can do to stop it.
Nina’s plunge into insanity is a very interesting trip to watch. If you watch the movie, her house mirrors her mind. Both are a prison in which she is trapped in. Every time that Nina returns home, she becomes more and more insane. It is well established that her mother and her have a disturbing and strange relationship with each other. Since we know that Nina imagines things to have happened (events with Lily (Mila Kunis) in particular) we are left to wonder how much actually happened at the end of the film. It is my belief that it did not happen at all. Nina is imagining herself performing Swan Lake, and she imagines herself playing both parts perfectly well, something she has not been able to do thus far. But because it is her imagination, emotions are wrapped up in it and take control. The murder of her rival, who she believes is trying to take her spot confuses Nina later when Lily reappears, alive and well. This is because Nina cannot separate what is reality, and what emotional imagination. Therefore, I believe that Nina really did commit suicide at end, however, it is in no way what we see it. The ending that we see, is Nina’s imagination, where everyone loves her, everyone thinks she is wonderful, and she performs swan lake as both swans without mistake. But in reality, Nina is alone, and committing suicide, most likely by either jumping off a cliff, or stabbing herself. We can come to these conclusions through foreshadowing in the movie.
Black Swan
ReplyDeleteAlthough, I liked the movie a lot I am disappointed, as well. It was the first time that I watched the movie. My expectations were high as everyone I know told me how exciting this movie is and what an impact it had on them. As I danced ballet in my past, I was interested in the mixture of drama and dance as I read in German reviews that the balance between the elegance dance and the psychopathic Nina (Natalie Portman) is breathtaking and a reason for the movie’s fascination.
As I said, I liked the movie. The visual effects and play with lighting are genius. One can take Nina’s dance in the disco on drugs as an example. The combination of dark and bright light, the balance of colors and the fast shot-taking are making her process of losing herself obvious. Moreover, the short appearance of the black swan made this scene to a depressing, but somehow independent and relieving scene. I think this is the key scene where Nina finally losses herself and transforms into the black swan. Therefore, it is marvelous that this scene is due to the brilliant mixtures of the visual effects so memorable.
Moreover, I liked that the director used wide shots and close-ups most of the time. This gave the scenes more depth and emotions, especially, in the last ten minutes when Nina is dancing the white and black swan. Natalie Portman’s performance is, therefore, impressive. Her facial expressions and body language stress Nina’s mental disease and give the viewer the change to get into touch with her strange mental world. However, and this is the part where I felt somewhat disappointed as I did not like the composition of her mental breakdowns. At first she thought slept with Lily (Mila Kunis), then she saw Beth (Winona Ryder) stab herself with a nail file. I did not understand why there was this monstrous change in her. Why did the movie changed from the elegance ballet dance to a sexual and then to an aggressive and deadly theme? I did not see any connections there and, therefore, especially her suicide felt for me out of place. Of course, it fit to the story of the swan lake and emphasized the beautiful dance even more. But, I did not understand the fascination to which reviewers always refers to.
I find expectations are usually a mixed experience when it comes to not only film but with my television-obsessed self as well. Being excited for a movie is nice, but it rarely ever lives up to those expectations - not because the movie isn't good, but because the expectations are so high it's hardly possible for whatever you're watching to live up to them. That's partly why films or shows that you keep your expectations low for are SO GOOD - because the bar isn't set as high.
ReplyDeleteNow, with something like Black Swan, it's not that I was that excited to see the film or that my expectations were that high - it's just because so much buzz had been around it for so long and all the awards it had been getting that I was probably more critical of it had it been a random movie off the street. I find hype has a tendency to hurt films, even with big blockbusters - there are numerous cases where a film is long-anticipated and yet still underperforms. But it's still a different kind of expectation than with a movie like Black Swan.
For example, Natalie won the Oscar and all, which is good on her, but after seeing the film I was kind asking why. I'm curious had she not been so hyped up about regarding her performance if I would of thought differently coming out of the film. And as more and more people seem to talk about how much they like it, the more I find myself having disdain for it - which is usually true about me in that I tend to hate what everybody else seems to think is SOOO awesome. It's like with good shows that become bad once they're popular - I'm not talking about dedicated cult followings, but huge I-just-like-it-and-watch-it-because-it's-on followings. I have no doubt that so many people thinking it's so good negatively affects my perception of the film because I honestly don't see what is so special - I've tried, but I just can't seem to see it.
Personally, I think everyone in the film is a nutball. In regards to the protagonist, you're supposed to care about them, and perhaps that's one of my biggest issues with the film - I don't. I don't care about her or any of the other characters. Nina is a messed up fruitcake, which can be interesting for a story, but only when done right, and I don't feel that this was done right. It's hard to watch something in which there is no connection to any of the characters.
Added to that, I feel like the film took place entirely in the middle - there was a little bit of background with issues like the scratching and stuff, but I like clarity in a film, or at least something that may not give you an answer, but definitely implies it enough that you can pretty much guarantee you know where it went.
They started many different things in the movie but all seemed to just get dropped somewhere along the way - like they were throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what would stick and never gave the full attention to any particular storyline through and through. It was like Lost - a bunch of mishegoss that never really went anywhere and you wonder why we're watching it in the first place.
I did like the striving for perfection bit and how she had trouble throughout the film getting it and then finally did - I liked that aspect of the story.
Though she still messed up at one point in the performance at the end - just saying :/
DeleteJeffrey Kaminski
ReplyDeleteBlack Swan
For the most part, I enjoyed Black Swan. The movie only hiccuped a few times and made me disinterested in continuing. This was my second viewing of Black Swan, the first on a big screen. I thought that the story line was great. I also believe that the castings were spot on, especially for Natalie Portman. She can play the innocent, quiet girl better than anyone else. She also shines near the end when she snaps at her mother, turning into a completely different character. Her performance was the best in my eyes. Mila Kunis did well in her role, I think I just dislike her character more than I disliked her acting, so my opinion of her is a bit skewed. Vincent Cassel is a favorite actor of mine and he does a great job here. The only quip for me was some of the sexual scenes he was in where he goes way out of line and makes the movie uncomfortable to watch. This takes me to my reason for disliking this movie, there were too many unnecessary, crazy parts that involved sex. When I think back on the film one of the main themes I recall is everyone going to town on Portman's vagina. I just thought that Erinofski took too much out of the film by adding in all of the sex scenes. Also, another scene unnecessary to me was in the restaurant with Portman and Kunis where Kunis and the waiter start speaking with bad sexual innuendoes. These just took away from the film in my eyes. Although, other than this setback, I did enjoy the film as it gave insight into the dance world, and perhaps how crazy it can make some people. The film constantly keeps you on edge, more and more as the film progresses. The ending is awesome as I believe that Nina does die, and her last line is the perfect thing to end on.
Black Swan
ReplyDeleteHonestly it was just the first time I watched “Black Swan” because I was never really interested in it. Like a year ago all of a sudden everyone started talking about it, and I became curious. Now that I have seen it, I think I have some mixed feelings about it. It took me a while really to get into the movie, since at first I was bored and did not feel very entertained. It seemed to me that at the beginning the film was sort of the same all the time, like monotone. But when Nina, Natalie Portman, suddenly changed after going out that night and getting that drink, it finally got me. Strangely enough, I appreciated both love and tension in the daughter-mom relationship. Then Nina loses it and rebels against her mother, like finally saying and doing what she wanted. In the film I also find very important the use of sounds, like as mentioned in class, when she rips off a bit of her skin, the sound made it sound creepy and disgusting. Mirrors in the film are fairly significant, as reflections become a pattern throughout the movie. Also, the majority of the film is in close up, as trying to make the viewer analyze deeper each character and make him feel like one of them almost (or at least it happened with me). I also think the film had some weird scenes, like the one with the old man in the metro/subway, although it exemplified also one of the main aspects or topics of the movie itself, erotism.
From a psychological perspective, Black Swan is a film unlike any I’ve seen. Coming from a background in this field and having close family members who work in it, this movie brilliantly portrays the struggles of a sick young woman, and how the pressures of her equally sick mother and the lights of the bright stage compound her problems. My initial reaction to this film was that for me to fully understand and be able to analyze it I would need to see it again as there are so many minute nuances throughout that I feel could make me see certain aspects in a new way. The production of Black Swan was so brilliant and in-depth that it is one of those films that make you feel as if you didn’t get all the answers needed to fully comprehend the little nuances it by watching it once. The aspect of the movie that intrigued me most and left me wondering were the psychological ramifications being portrayed. The main argument I would make that the film was trying to reveal was that the only thing in Nina’s way was herself. This was, in my eyes, the heart of the movie. Whenever she would look in the mirror she wouldn’t see the reality, that being herself. She has a clear disorder that was always holding her back from being happy and sane. It wasn’t until the closing seconds where Nina appears pleased, and ironically this happens while she appears to be dying. She appears to always let the pressures of being the lead get to her and it seems that this veering away from her true colors and identity gets her in trouble mentally. The pressures from her mother, who is clearly trying to live through her daughter, seem unhealthy to be around and I couldn’t feel comfortable seeing Nina depressed as I constantly felt as if she was only making things worse by not fixing her issues. That being said, the casting and production of Black Swan was phenomenal and each actor played their roles as flawlessly as could have been asked.
ReplyDeleteJason Koreen
DeleteAfter watching Black Swan, I thought it was a very psychological and dramatic film. Through the entire movie, you could see how Nina suffers from some kind of frightening hallucinations that she mixes with reality. This left me wondering if something really happened or if it was all just part of her imagination. When Nina is named the “Swan Queen” the movie becomes very confusing because this is the moment when she starts developing a diverse personality; her mind starts creating different scenarios that weren’t truly happening. The Black Swan, an alternate person, haunted her. Nina tries to reach perfection and becomes obsessed with improving her dancing skills, because she feels that Lily, is trying to take the roll from her. This makes her very jealous and she becomes obsessed with Lily, which causes her to fantasize with her opponent. At the same time, Nina’s relationship with her mother wasn’t helpful at all, because she felt she was being forced to do what her mother was never able to accomplish herself. This made Nina feel that she was being treated like a little girl.
ReplyDeleteThe ending of the movie was very tragic, but at least she dies feeling satisfied with who she has become, because she was able to reach her final goal. Finally, she accomplishes her dream of performing as the perfect Black Swan she always wanted to become.
Overall, I did enjoy watching this movie because of the horror, suspense, and drama that goes on throughout all of it. I thought some of the scenes were very explicit and disturbing, and I didn’t enjoy them at all. In some other parts, it was a little difficult for me to understand what was truly happening, but in the end I think it delivers a clear message. It is an interesting movie that stands out among the rest.
Aronofsky does an excellent job in putting Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake ballet into a movie plot that is both invigorating and captivating. Swan Lake, an infamous ballet, requires a ballerina to play both a white and black swan. Natalie Portman is ultimately chosen to play this part and turns out to be surprisingly fitting for the role. At first, despite the buzz from the media and various nominations, I was skeptical if a movie based around a ballet would be able to capture my attention. But not more then 10 minutes into the movie, I was sold on Natalie Portman’s character. I liked the unique way the movie was filmed. Throughout the entire movie we are presented with close-up shots of Natalie Portman, often from her perspective. This allowed me to more closely relate to Nina and put me in her shoes while giving the scenes more depth, especially, in scenes where Nina has hallucination-like experiences and the final scene on opening night. I also appreciated the overall theme of striving for perfection and how it can drive one crazy. I think the desire to be perfect is a problem that many can relate to. And although Nina pretty much does reach perfection in her performance, I think the one fall she has helps attest to the fact there is no such thing a true perfection. Lastly, I like the fact that the movie left off on cliff hanger- with many questions unanswered. Overall, I truly enjoyed this film and felt intrigued and satisfied with the outcome.
ReplyDeleteKevin Hoffman
A powerful, captivating film, Black Swan does its job of getting inside Nina Sayers’ head to illustrate her descent into madness quite well. Unlike literature, film is not usually able to convey the thoughts of a character successfully; voice-overs can convey what a character is thinking, but can become tedious unless they are done correctly. (An example of a film in which narration successfully conveys a characters thoughts without interfering with the movie is Fight Club, often seen as the male counterpart to Black Swan.) Instead, Aronofsky shows the viewer what Nina sees and experiences in her own mind; it is up to us to determine what is real and what is merely a figment of our protagonist’s increasingly-degenerating mind.
ReplyDeleteAronofsky’s use of close-ups throughout the movie creates a claustrophobic effect, as well as getting the audience more involved with the emotions of the characters, particularly Nina. It is clear that Nina is the focus of the movie and, while unreliable, we must view the events that unfold through her eyes and attempt to make what sense of them we may.
Aronofsky also utilizes colors to set the mood of Black Swan. The whites and blacks that are prominent throughout mirror Nina’s role as both the white and black swans in the play. The grays serve as a sliding scale, paralleling Nina’s descent into madness. The pinks initially present in Nina’s room represent innocence and, as the movie progresses, they are replaced by the reds of passion and the greens of decay.
I have always liked Aronofsky’s work, and Black Swan is easily one of his best. From the very beginning, the film captivated me with its tense and mesmerizing prologue. The set design was genius, balancing the strong use of blacks and whites with purposeful use of green, red, pink, and gray. The camerawork was also superb. The heavy use of close-up and rapid shot changes made me emotionally uncomfortable throughout most of the movie, which was exactly what these techniques intended to do. The film was so emotionally engaging, that I almost jumped out of my seat when Nina’s self appeared in the shower, a testament to the power of the cinematography. Furthermore, the score was a perfect complement to the cinematography. The gradual crescendos made me sit up, eyes wide open, my heart beating faster, anticipating what was to come. Nowhere was this more evident than when Nina was masturbating as her mother slept a few feet away. The music perfectly punctuated the moment of utter mortification. Moreover, the score transcended marvelously from the classical opera of Swan Lake to the modern groove crafted by Clint Mansell.
ReplyDeleteThe acting in Black Swan was also stupendous. Mila Kunis carried about Lilly’s capricious personality with ease. Vincent Cassel, Barbara Hershey, and Winona Ryder were also great supporting actors. However, it goes without question that Portman’s performance solidified the film. It was easy to forget that Portman was portraying a girl much younger than her. She exuded natural feminine purity and naiveté, contrasted with psychotic obsession. It is commendable how Portman combined two separate personalities into one believable human being. Considering that almost every shot includes Portman, the film’s overall quality rested heavily on Portman’s performance. Portman did a fantastic job, well deserving of the Oscar.
Overall, the film requires much thinking. I generally like movies that make me think, as long as it doesn’t detract from the enjoyment of the film. Black Swan did not suffer from this. I remained entranced throughout the movie, even though some things remained ambiguous. However, the ambiguity added to the brilliance of the film. Everyone who’s watched the film has their own equally valid interpretation of it. Movies like Black Swan allow viewers to project their own experiences and appraisals onto the film, making it more personal. It is this quality of Black Swan that makes it so special. Did Nina die at the end? Was it real, or was it all a dream? There are no right or wrong answers; it is all up to the viewer.
What I like the most about Black Swan is the movie's ability to complete set-up the story and communicate so many personal details about the characters right from the beginning without hindering the plot's storyline. There isn't any sort of "ice breakers" in revealing the characters hard personalities. For example the first time we see Nina's mom she is already giving off her uber creepy obsessive vibe, which startled me at first and made me turn to my friend who had already seen the film and be like "what is her deal?" However, in getting that reaction out of me it achieves the desired result in understanding the severity of the characters which is an important element to the film's purpose.
ReplyDeleteI also really like how Aronofsky includes the viewer's own imagination into the development of the story. When Nina has her psychotic episodes, the viewer is just as confused as she is regarding if it really happened or not, who it was (herself or lily), etc. This establishes a relationship between Nina and the viewer, we are now both trying to figure out what is going on with her. Getting an audience to follow just how crazy Nina is going is a challenge, but making certain details ambiguous helps the viewer go along with the movie on their on conclusions rather than keeping them wondering if they got it "right."
The fundamental plot of the film is one that anyone can relate to: the strive for perfection and the obstacle of a "Lily-like" character getting in the way. However placing this plot into the already intensely perfection-based environment of ballet enables the movie to to explore and stretch the possible extremes of this scenario and the degenerative effects on the human body and mind.
Black Swan has many great qualities as a movie and does do a good job showing multiple sides of multiple problems. One such problem is Nina's insanity. I actually have family members that are diagnosed with mental problems like Bi Polar, schizophrenia, etc. So I have seen people act the way Nina did and they do not realize what they are doing. They may also cause danger onto themselves to reach what they want. In the movie Nina did this in her reach for perfection. Nina's fear that someone, in this case lily, will take it first so tries to stop them from doing it. I have seen this same way of acting done by family members. That being said even though this was the first time i watched the movie i was able to follow along since i was aware what was happening. I might also add that i think Aronofsky did a wonderful job showing a mental break down. That's also why this film makes me wonder why no one notices the size of this break down by just calling her crazy. But it is probably just me since not everyone has seen and knows what to watch for when it comes to a major mental break down and what to do when one comes. Another side of the movie i was let down on simply because it was all you heard about was the scene with the two female actresses. My main point is that anyone who had seen the Black Swan had mainly talked about the one scene as if it happened multiple times and that it was what the movie about. While it was their and was a huge part in showing how unstable she had become and was just the right amount for the movie the build up from listening to people talk about it was to much. but everything together it was a great movie that had many things done right in it. I would watch this movie again and recommend it to a friend without boosting certain scenes beyond what they were.
ReplyDeleteAronofsky does an amazing job in creating a film that I feel makes up it's own new genre. Black Swan is genius in that it's the first movie I have seen where the audience is capable of completely escaping the reality of their own lives and venture into the mind of the main character, Nina. Black Swan is a thriller/art film where reality and illusion come together to create a story line that each person in the audience can differently. I love the fact that it's so easy to distinguish why Natalie Portman's character is a real life example of the "White Swan" and Mila Kunis' character is a real life example of the "black swan." The events that take place in Nina's preparation to take the role of the Black Swan in Swan Lake are paralleled by Nina's transformation outside of the dance studio from "mom's little girl" into a mature independent women who has experienced the other side of life.
ReplyDeleteBesides the transformation from the White Swan to the Black Swan, and these two roles representing innocence and experience, another important theme in this movie is that nobody is perfect. All throughout the film, Nina displays her flawless dance skills to Leroy, but there is something that is strangely holding him back from immediately giving Nina the role, and that is that she can't dance like the black swan if she doesn't feel it from the inside. That is when she meets Lily and realizes that you have to experience both sides of life, the good and the bad, to be the true swan queen, and thats whats what was keeping Nina from reaching her true potential all along as the best dancer there is.
I thoroughly enjoyed this film from start to finish and didn't feel that there were any real weak points. The movie was extremely difficult to understand at times, but then I thought that art films appeal to different people in different ways, and relay different messages depending on the person in the audience.
This was my second time seeing Black Swan and just as the first time I thoroughly enjoyed the film, but left the theater confused. Aranofsky’s ability to intertwine what is real and what Natalie Portman’s character is seeing is genius. The fact that the viewer has to stop and question scenes like when Portman stabs Mila Kunis, or when Portman believes she is having sex with Kunis keeps the viewer riveted to the film. To this day I still cannot say that I fully understand the film, but the fact that Aranofsky leaves indeterminacies in the film is, in my opinion, part of his genius.
ReplyDeleteAranofsky’s use of close up shots throughout most of the movie was another aspect that I enjoyed. When the film first begins Portman seems like a naïve young dancer who has not been exposed to the world. As the movie progresses and Portman delves further into her role the use of close ups truly show the downward progression of Portman’s psychological state. The fact that the viewer can easily see that Portman is going crazy is complemented well by the score in the movie. The movies itself is intense, but Aranofsky’s score adds well to the intensity. Because the plot of the film revolves around ballet there classical music is heard throughout the film and that classical music lulls the viewer into a calm state. When combined with the sharp tones such as when Portman rips of pieces of skin the viewer is almost reawaken to the intensity of the film.
I loved Black Swan the first time I saw it, and after seeing it a second time, I appreciate it even more from an artistic standpoint. Aronofsky's use of closeups, horror-influenced sound design, and jarring editing perfectly reflect and enhance Nina's rapidly deteriorating mental state. The film's casting is excellent; the ensemble of dark haired actresses with similar features adds to Nina's identity crisis. The use of color in the mise-en-scene, particularly the costuming, both creates a dark, sinister atmosphere and underscores the themes present in the film, such as the duality between good (white) and evil (black).
ReplyDeleteAs a performance piece, Black Swan is stunning. Natalie Portman has received a lot of praise for her physical dedication to the role of Nina, but what stands out to me is her emotional arc throughout the film, especially in the scenes with her mother, who was portrayed equally wonderfully by Barbara Hershey. As Nina slowly makes her transition from the "White Swan" to the "Black Swan", I never for a moment doubted Portman's performance.
Overall, I thought Black Swan was an excellent film, with fantastic storytelling, production, and performances.
Black Swan is a successful movie launched in 2011. This movie, is not one my favorites, but that doesn’t mean that it is an awful film, the contradictory is an outstanding movie in modern films. The reasons why I think that is an exceptional film are many, but basically are the theme and also the direction of the movie.
ReplyDeleteYou can really see how psychology plays a really important role throughout the movie, even sometimes confusing the public; for example in the part of the movie where the alterego of Nina think that is turning into a swan. All over the film you can experience how Nina, the main character, is growing up from an innocent child into a woman. During the development in Nina’s life, her mother and Thomas, the dance director, influence her a lot. Playing important roles in the movie. Also there is strong evidence on how, the black and white history complements with Nina’s life. Because by watching the movie you can feel how the innocent mind (white swan) of Nina, step by step turns into a corrupted and psychological instable mind (black swan). Eroticism also is a very important aspect of the movie. In many scenes, like the one with Lily (Mila Kunis) and also the one in the bathtub, you can see the presence of sexual ambiguity in Nina’s life.
Another aspect is that there isn’t too much dialogue in the movie. This is an important aspect, because I think that a movie without an excessive dialogue in order to be successful needs to be extremely well directed, incredibly expressive in the aspect of acting and mostly the use of sound effects. To catch this expressiveness, they used a lot of close-up and medium shots. Focusing in the technical aspects, as we discussed in class, the outfits during the film are very peculiar, beacause they have a relationship with each personality in the movie. I really liked the dresses that Nina uses at the end of the movie, especially the black one.
Finally, “Black Swan” is victorious film, that everyone should see at least one time to see how psychology and different personalities can take part in ones behavior. Even though I think that much of its merit was thanks to Nathalie Portman (Nina), the movie is worth to see.
Black Swan, a 2010 American psychological thriller film directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Natalie Portman, revolves around a production of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake ballet by a prestigious New York City company. The production of the story in this film requires a ballerina to play both the White Swan and the Black Swan, showing innocent and sexual qualities successively. Nina, played by Portman, acts as the White and Black Swan in the production, finds the dark side within herself throughout the movie. Watching this film, I found Portman’s transformation from the innocent, peaceful White Swan to the sexual and violent Black Swan extremely disturbing and frightening on many levels. I found it interesting that, although Aronofsky first discussed the film project in 2000, Black Swan was not produced until 2009. Nevertheless, I was thoroughly impressed by the realistic nature of the film, and, with a little research, learned that Portman and Kunis trained in ballet for several months prior to filming. Notable figures from the ballet world also helped with the film production in order to shape the ballet presentation. The setting of the film at the Metropolitan Opera House and Avery Fisher Hall in New York City was amazing beautiful and added to the extremely poignant nature of the film. In conclusion, I found the setting of the movie, the actors, the choreography, and the direction to be well thought out and exquisitely crafted.
ReplyDeleteI had never seen Black Swan before. The trailer I had seen, portrayed it as an horror film. Horror films have always been something I stayed away from watching. After watching Black Swan for the first time, I noticed how beautifully it was written. I felt like every aspect of the film, whether it was the clothes Natalie Portman wore, or the colors of her home, everything had a meaning behind it. Throughout the film, I could really tell the Nina's transformation from white swan to black swan in the ballet and in her own personality. Nina's psychological issues are shown at the beginning of the film and only get worse as the film goes on. As her issues deepen, her innocence diminishes. The film uses sound to convey Nina's transformation. Whenever Nina would do something that was hurting her body, a hissing sound would play in the background. Sound also played a role when she would hear voices screaming at her during certain scenes. I felt like the sound gave an aid to the visuals by making viewers aware of Nina's lose of innocence and disapproval. The colors used in the film was another thing I noticed. Each day is very cloudy whenever Nina leaves her home for the dance studio. She never wears any bright colored dance outfits, her clothes are always grey or white. Nina's bedroom is full of light pink wallpaper which shows Nina's childlike behavior. The only time we see any sort of vibrant color is when Lily brings her out to a club. The dancing scene shows Nina finally letting lose. The film is filled with scenes of mostly white and black signaling the transformation to the black swan/loss of innocence. Red is sometimes shown throughout the film representing Nina's harming of her body, another sign of Nina's issues getting worse. Black Swan is also full of close-up shots. These close-up shots allow me to see the character's emotions clearly. Close-up shots make it seem as if I was in the scene with the actor. The director, Darren Aronofsky, does a wonderful job leaving it up to the viewer to decide what is real and what is not in the film. I personally felt Nina falling onto the bed and all the dancers surrounding her as blood takes over her body, represents Nina's death. The sex scene between Nina and Lily made me question if it really happened or if it was just Nina's dream. When Nina goes and visits Beth to return the items she stole, Beth begins stabbing her own face. I could not determine if that scene really happened or if that was just Nina's imagination. Aronofsky allows the viewers to figure out on their own what is real which I think is an important aspect of the film. Even though I do not consider this a horror film, there were parts of Black Swan that were too gruesome for me to watch. I know Nina's habit of picking at her skin showed her mental issues, but I could not handle watching her pull off her skin. The scene where Beth is stabbing her face was also something I had to turn away from watching. Overall, I do not think I could handle watching this film again because of Nina's harming of the body scenes but I do think Aronofsky did an excellent job combining horror with beauty at the same time.
ReplyDeleteIronically, the film Black Swan struggles with the same problem as its main character Nina Sayers; it tries too hard. The director, Darren Aronofsky, does not seem to trust that the audience will understand the themes of the film unless he forces them down their collective throats. This is not to say that I did not enjoy Black Swan. Aronofsky’s attention to detail really drew me into the Nina’s disturbed psyche. But it was still too much. Such scenes as when Nina’s legs snap back as if she is turning into a bird were overkill. They belittled the more realistic horror scenes such as when Nina was peeling skin from her finger in the bathroom at the party. Aronofsky was equally heavy-handed with the plot and symbolism. Black Swan seemed to me the kind of film where you could walk out of the theatre feeling good about yourself because although it was “intellectual” you still “got it”, instead of having to try too hard to understand it. In the end, the film tried to hard so the audience wouldn’t have to. Despite this, as I said before I enjoyed it. I just feel as though the overall heavy-handedness capped it at being a good film and stopped it from becoming a classic.
ReplyDeleteThe first time I watched Black Swan, I left the movie theater feeling tired and confused. I didn’t dislike the film at all, I just felt so heartbroken that it seemed easier to disguise it as indifference. I watched it again in the comfort of my own home, but I kept all the lights off to have the full effect again. I finally get it: I feel attached to Nina’s character. Her struggle with anxiety, her desire to please, and her undying need for gratification are all such relatable and human traits that Aronofsky brings to life in an unusual and inspiring way.
ReplyDeleteNatalie Portman has been my favorite actress for as long as I can remember. I’ve always vouched for her, regardless of the roles she’s played…But Black Swan exposes a side of her that I’m almost afraid of. I love her ability to keep up with the darkness of the entire story. She never tires, she never gives up on fighting Nina’s battle and that just makes the film even more admirable. She has the capacity to portray the flawlessly white swan and nothing stops her from unleashing the same fearlessness we saw in V for Vendetta. I value Portman as an artist and I just keep thinking that she was the perfect candidate for the role.
I never voluntarily watch horror or suspense films because I’m so easily afraid of them. The second hospital scene with Winona Ryder will probably haunt me for the rest of my life. I saw Iñárritu’s Amores Perros as a kid and it left me with a seemingly irrational fear of car accidents that would carry on in to my days as a licensed driver. The shot of Beth’s severed leg aroused the same discomfort I felt when the female supermodel in Perros lost hers in the accident. In Black Swan, the contrast of the darkened blood and stitches against the blanket (or hospital gown) combined with the sharp sounds in the background just frightened me so much. Her sudden appearance in Nina’s kitchen after the second visit also startled me in a mildly unfair way. I see the importance of both scenes, though, and they definitely contribute to the overall tonality of the film.
I love Black Swan more than I’ll ever admit, but it’s just not something I can effortlessly watch over and over again. I appreciate the idea of working so hard that we become our only opposing forces because it happens to everyone, even if not as intensely as it does to Nina.
This was my first time seeing The Black Swan. It was much different than expected, but I think that it was beautifully done. Unfortunately, the ending seemed to fall short for me. It was meant to serve as some sort of twist or surprise ending, but to me it was being set up to end this way the entire film. The theme of her becoming the swan literally was throughout the film, and the only logical ending then would be for her fate to match that of the swan's which is to kill herself. I feel that the movie deserved a better ending. It was thrilling and unexpected for the rest of the film, and I feel that it should have been a more inventive ending in some way.
ReplyDeleteOverall though, I feel that this was a beautiful movie of the struggle that comes with striving for perfection and letting go. The relationships in the film were really what made it a great movie, to me. They were the most strange and even awkward parts of the movie as well though. This was what made them so interesting to me.
Having never seen Black Swan before, I could only go off of what people had told me. The first time I watched it, I found myself being drawn in from the very beginning. The movie really captured my attention from the opening scene where Nina's dreaming of performing Swan Lake, up until the final scene where her dream becomes a reality. I found the movie to be well paced throughout and the suspense kept me glued to the screen. I thought that the sound effects also worked well at adding to the intensity of certain scenes, especially when she is ripping the skin off of her finger.
ReplyDeleteOverall, I thought the movie was beautiful and I would definitely watch it again. Natalie Portman is a phenomenal actress and even though Mila Kunis was only in a few scenes, she was the perfect choice as the "Black Swan" in contrast with Natalie's "White Swan." In terms of directing, I felt that Darren Aronofsky was able to successfully blend together a mixture of genes, including horror and suspense, without losing the beauty of Swan Lake.
Devika Boodhoo
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Black Swan was the 5th Aronofsky film that I have seen, and I must say that it is arguably my favorite. I had never seen Black Swan until the screening on Wednesday and I think it was because I was unsure of how I would like a film about ballet. After viewing the film I realized that the ballet is simply a vehicle for the storyline which can be compared to what is happening to the occurances of Nina's life. I tend to like psychological thrillers so Black Swan was perfect for me.
ReplyDeleteI loved how Aronofsky used close ups to really put us into the life on Nina. We saw what she saw, so in turn, we felt what she felt. With the close ups we were able to experience things exactly as Nina did even though some things aren't necessarily real. Aronofsky's use of sound is also brilliant. In ballet, every minor detail is important and he mirrors this with the sounds that we hear. We hear every crack and scratch of Nina's body which adds suspense and a sense of authenticity to the film.
Colors play a large role in the film as well. Aronofsky only uses about five colors throughout the film. He uses white, black, gray, pink/purple, and green. The white and black colors play a major part in Nina's transformation from the White Swan to the Black Swan. Nina's transformation is painful and uncomfortable for her but it is necessary in order for her to accomplish the goal at hand. In order for Nina to become the Black Swan she must 'let go' and let her body and mind act simultaneously to become free. This is difficult for her because she is so obsessed with being perfect and she is such a pure, rigid person.
Throughout the film Nina has to find a way to become a blend of the Black and White Swans but it is extremely difficult for her. With Lily and Leroy's help she uses her sexuality as a release, but is interrupted by visions of her mother and herself/Lily each time. She becomes so obsessed with her part in the play, perfection, and becoming the Black Swan that it drives her mental disorder into overdrive. Ultimately, she must let go and when she does she achieves perfection.
Finally, the score of the film ultimately, in my mind, makes the film the success and the attraction that it is. I believe that if you took the music out of the film, the film would be no where near as successful as it was. Through the use of music, we are able to feel suspense, joy, saddness and anything else that Nina may be feeling. This, in combination with the close ups and the particular focus on sound, make the film very personal to the viewer. This puts us as viewers into the scene either with or as Nina, and we are able to experience things as she experiences them.
Overall, I was not at all disappointed with Black Swan. Aronofsky's combination of sound, camera shots, music, and the overall clashing themes of Black and White made for a very suspenseful, thought provoking, and extremely interesting film that I will look forward to viewing again in the future.
Overall, I felt the movie was powerful and touched upon many important themes. Just as I expected, Darren Aronofsky created a psychological thriller that gripped the attention of every audience member. Over the course of the movie, Nina skews farther and farther away from the innocent dancer she once was. Throughout the movie, Nina strives for perfection to embody both the white and black swan in the production of Swan Lake. There is both an internal and an external struggle that Nina faces. The different up close camera shots used throughout the film mesh perfectly with a psychological film like this one.
ReplyDeleteIn the film, there are constant scenes where Nina is dreaming and the scene is not actually in reality. Towards the second half of the movie, it frequently switched off between dream and reality. While watching I felt confused and put off by not knowing what was real and what wasn’t. Afterwards, I realized the film is intended to confuse the audience and dispose the confusion in the conclusion. I now appreciate the film much more then I did while I was watching it. I feel that both Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis did an excellent job in this film and demonstrated their capability to expand to other genres of film. I also feel that Vincent Cassel excelled in his role as Thomas Leroy. I would definitely recommend this movie to anybody who has not seen it.
Black Swan
ReplyDeleteI have several different thoughts on the film Black Swan, ranging from positive to negative. I did think that the film as it was made extremely well and Darren Aronofsky is an excellent Director in several of his choices. The film had great use of color, by choosing a color palate of Black, Grey, White, Pink, Red and a putrid Green to show the mood of the each scene, it gave us a warning as to what to expect in that scene. The music was also well thought out; it gave us insight into Nina’s mind with an almost chilling feeling and expectations of doom. The cinematography was great, in the scenes where you weren’t sure if Nina was alone, seeing herself or seeing Lilly, this really kept you on the edge of your seat. The acting was also brilliant and I can’t image anyone better in the lead role than Natalie Portman.
What I did not like about the film was that it left me guessing in the end. I wasn’t sure if Nina was dead or alive. I also did not know for sure if the dreams that Nina had about Lilly, Thomas and Beth were real or in her head. I felt unsure if indeed Lilly was haunting her or if it was just a doppelganger effect and Nina was just a bit out of her mind. Also, I personally always love a happy ending and stay away from any type of blood and gore.
Black Swan
ReplyDeleteI was originally intrigued by this film when I first saw the trailer for it. I immediately was interested in the darkness and suspense of this film, though I had no idea of the story as trailers usually display. The subject matter of ballet was not something I really would naturally find engaging, so that was really my only reservation with the film. I appreciated the talent of the cast because I found both Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis endearing in their own ways from watching previous films with those actresses. I thought Natalie Portman could do a good job in it before I even saw it. When I first watched this film the blacks and the whites and the distinct color changes were something that I could immediately notice. Along with the pink and the putrid green in various scenes, these colors helped drive the narrative and the mood of each scene. I enjoyed the camerawork where there were many shots that seemed to have been handheld rather than stable. I don’t know if that has been a recent trend to create cinematography using the handheld effect, but it is something I enjoy when I feel that it is used properly. It doesn’t seem stilted. The only time I would I thought that style was maybe distracting was through the Jason Bourne movies. As the film progressed, I could start to see the psychological themes developing with Portman’s character, Nina. The various shots with the doppelgangers and the double-takes along with key color contrasts added to this sense of psychosis that was stirring in her. The moments where reality and illusion were blurred definitely put me in the place where I could understand and feel the paranoia and schizophrenia that Nina was going through. The extremes of close up shots and then longshots also added to that effect making me question what was either actually happening in the reality of the film or perhaps in the mind of Nina. I was very pleased with the ambiguity of it whereas others may have been frustrated by it. Overall, I enjoyed the purposeful technical artistry of the film, and I could tell that there was a lot of thought put into how each shot would be made to support the narrative and themes. If I can sense that and appreciate it, then it’s a mark of a good film in my book.
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ReplyDeleteAt the beginning , Nina danning with voldemort in the darkness of the dream has excellent results. Even for the kind of audience like me, who have no interest at ballet, is still shocked by it---from solo dancing to group dancing, its artistic value is expressed at its best. Furthermore, the demon’s expression makes people fascinated about the leading role’s fate.as soon as the dream ends, audiences’ attention focus on the leading role’s fate.
ReplyDeleteThis movie uses a lot of following shot，the movie itself focuses on Nina, audiences could be able to pay attention to her fate. In this general environment, the part about Nina is fascinating. Audiences could feel whatever Nina feels---unstable, scared, worried or struggling. Most of the time, the fiction in crimping and bars, which clearly can use the vision of the shooting, the director is still use of this kind of technique, is more strengthened this magic effect
With the movie into the climax, it's even pass over the first part of the movie's dance. When Nina dance black swan on the stage, plume change longer than before, her dance change faster than before, and the shot focus on her. Finally, we can see the Nina stay on the high stage. Every audience applause for her. In the that time, I believe that everyone wants to dance. And I also like the night before opening dance, Nina feel bad, and she cannot control herself.
However, everyone wants to successful who will have some experiences or is exprening with heart demons Beware . when the existence, how to dance with demon sand fight over the heart's is not highest state , to dance with heart demons the reform it take until the taking it for oneself, which is the biggest challenge. The film depicts a deeply each more or less some inner struggle that is unavoidable.
Not everyone need to play two roles in our life, but in everyone deep heart, we have a black swan. They have different character，and they is other side from our real heart and mind.we do not need to keep them zoom out and show to everyone. We just need to know when they change to strong part in our heart, we should understand face with it, or dance with it.
I have never seen Black Swan prior to this class. I remember someone telling me about the scene where Nina took Leroy's advice and gave herself some self-love, but I never made an effort to actually go and see it. I didn't even know how popular it was until the class discussion about it. I liked the movie because I enjoy thrillers. It was somewhat confusing because I could not tell what was real and what was not. I liked the dancing aspects of the movie. It was nice to see ballet because whenever I see a dancing movie, it is usually two dance teams battling against each other.
ReplyDeleteI liked the dark versus light theme of the film. I felt like Nina had a breakdown within her self and also some kind of self dicovery. She was trying so hard to be perfect that over time, it became harmful to her. She pratically had a mental breakdown because she wanted to be "perfect". I honestly believe she was mental from the start and landing the leading role in the Black Swan play brought it out of her. It was like she was having a war within herself between darkness and light. Naturally, Nina was a goody-two-shoes, so she really had to go to a dark place to bring out her dark swan. In the end, she got what she wanted. Nina discovered her black swan, but I don't think it was worth a stab wound to the stomach.
Overall, this movie was quite disturbing, which is why I liked it so much. I was hoping that they would show what happened to Nina. I don't like it when I am left wondering what happened afterwards. They should have at least let us know if she died or not. A part of me wanted her to die. The whole movie had a build-up of Nina inching closer and closer to insanity, and her final performance was the peak of her mental breakdown. I believe that her death would have made her final performance more meaningful. Another part of me wanted Nina to live so that she could get some help and move out of her mother's house. Since the movie ended the way it did, we will never know.
Going into this screening, I hadn't previously seen "Black Swan." I had heard that it was a great film, and won a ton of awards, but a ballet film simply did not appeal to me. Throw in a few disturbing images in the trailer, and I was even less likely to see this film. Having seen this film now, I can say that I probably wouldn't watch this film again, but not because I didn't think it was a good film.
ReplyDeleteStarting with acting, the movie makers did a good job at casting a solid cast. /natalie Portman was sweet almost to the point of being too sweet, and I certainly didn't believe her when she claimed she wasn't a virgin. Vincent Cassel portrayed what I would imagine a big production director to be like. Winona Ryder was crazy. Nina's mom was creepy. Mila Kunis was an interesting pick, but she played the role well. She was the polar opposite of Portman's Nina, the black swan to her white.
Black Swan was a tale of doubles, stressing opposites. Natalie Portman's imaginary double represented the darker side of her. Mila Kunis was the most obvious double, being Natalie Portman's polar opposite. Portman was a sweet girl at heart, but she struggles with the search for perfection, often driving herself mad (even to the point of death). Throughout the entire movie, she fails to find the balance between white swan and black swan, not achieving perfection until the finale of the film.
An interesting quality of the film was all of the symbolism weaved into it. Winona Ryder represented the has been star that Natalie Portman admired at the beginning, but resented the idea of becoming her by the end. The scratching on Natalie Portman's back indicates a deeper problem than simply nervous syndrome. The colors of this movie were usually neutral, pink, red or dull green. The red, usually seen in blood, represented the craziness creeping in to Portman's thoughts. The pink represented Nina's innocence. The green was a nauseous rotten green that represented a kind of decay. Images of swans or other images referencing Nina's decay.
Overall, it was a great movie, and I can understand why it won so many awards. What really turned me off about this movie was the graphic images and sound effects. When Natalie Portman pulled off her skin, it made me cringe in my seat. So while it was a good film, I can do without cringing in my seat again.
BLACK SWAN
ReplyDeleteAlthough I had seen Black Swan when it was first released, rewatching it was useful. Apart from just being creeped out by the premise of the film, I realized just how psychological the film is. In a way, I think that many of us are like Natalie Portman’s character. We all have ambitions and insecurities. The difference is how cope with these. For some, the personality qualities can bring us over the edge at various points in our lives, leading us to do things that we never could have imagined or wanted. That darkness exists in each of us to some extent, I believe.
The gritty depiction of the world of ballet was refreshing, with the inclusions of drugs, sex, and all-around cutthroat competition. I think that many of us have seen ballet as one of the most sophisticate but, more importantly, “innocent” forms of art. We do not associate ballet with sex or sexiness and violence or mutilation. In a way, tinkering with our preconceived notions of ballet takes us into a reality check into our own lives and the perversions that they can go, some of which occur without our realization. In a way, the movie really is about growing up and realizing that the world is hardly as pretty or optimistic as we might have envisioned it as kids. It is a sad reality.
Aesthetically, the movie hit me very viscerally, with scenes of blood and mutilation. The lighting in the film gave a dreamy feeling, sometimes literally. However, its shifting between atmospheres of the real world and the dream world blended the two together, reminding me that sometimes the two are not inseparable.
Overall, the film was very well-done and had many thematic elements that remain unseen by some moviegoers who see the film as a simple horror film.
Jokira Jiles
ReplyDeleteThe Black Swan was very good in my opinion to have that much suspense and thrill in such movie. I would have never just went and watched the movie on my own I’m very glad I actually seen it I would have never imagined that the movie would be that interesting even from the previews. From my knowledge on screen shots I would have to say the shots or angle of the cameras definitely let you know that something was going on in the movie where you needed to pay attention or something serious was getting ready to happen. Through out the movie I would say I was a little confused at times as to who is actually keep reappearing is it Nina or lily? Although a lot of the movie is easier to comprehend such as Nina trying to make that change into a woman and she obviously having serious complications throughout the movie. Also it is very cool because the effects and the way Nina and everything around appear to be making that cross over. One of the shots that really stood out to was Nina in a white fluffy looking costume that still shows some sort of purity about her but her eyes are obviously red, dark and evil looking and the background behind her is gray and back. I really enjoyed the movie but it was the first time watching a movie that I ever noticed screen shots how much a movie really relies on them.
Black Swan
ReplyDeleteThe first time I viewed “Black Swan” I took everything too seriously. I didn’t realize that the film was part reality and part dream-like, taking everything I saw too literally. I understood that she didn’t kill Lily in the end, but thought that her lesbian action with Lily was real. Watching it a second time I grasp a better understanding for why she loses control and for her insanity. I feel the film has a connection to almost everyone over the age of 16, because Nina is becoming independent, but is in this stage that’s in-between. The supporting characters were very convincing, relating to roles that are seen in common daily life. The characters relate to the audience as; the controlling mother figure (Barbara Hershey), the evil girl that looks just like you (Mila Kunis), director who pushes you to the limits (Vincent Cassel) and the jealous older figure (Winona Rider).
The imagery is what made the film. The black, red, grey and purple colors gave an eerie feel leaving me at the edge of my seat, even while she was simply alone in her room. Since there is so little use of color, each placement of color pops on screen. Close-ups were the main focus of the camera. The detail in a close-up is so precise, thus displaying a greater depth to the emotion in Natalie Portman’s character.
All in all the film was spectacular. I loved the irrelevance between; Nina being stuck on becoming the black swan and how Nina is was also caught in a different reality.
Upon watching Black Swan for the first time in a long time, the thoughts that raced through my head the most were, “How much worse can it possibly get?” Every time Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) appears on screen (basically the whole movie), tension fills the audience as to what might happen next. My concerns are constantly on the physical aspect of her. Her body is falling apart on the outside, which parallels the fact that she’s falling apart on the inside.
ReplyDeleteAronofsky loves to focus on her intense inner turmoil by turning the smallest most disturbing acts that occur with her into the biggest questions. Did she really scratch her back? Did she really grow wings? Is she dead or alive? The truth is, Nina barely knows what’s going on with herself, so the audience never really knows the true side to the story. The ambiguity is strengthened by small details like the scene in the hospital when Nina visits Beth (Winona Ryder) and gives her back her stuff, and Beth stabs herself in the face with a nail file, and then her face morphs into Nina’s. As Nina is running away, the bloodstained nail file is in her hands. Since the audience follows Nina, and only Nina, throughout the film, we never see another side to the story. If she didn’t stab her, then where did the blood come from? Most of the time, so many unanswered questions can be dangerous to a film, but in Black Swan’s case, it works.
Beth’s accident is Nina’s worst nightmare, amongst other things we later learn. Her leg is ruined, which is the worst thing that could ever possibly happen to a dancer, and the film’s main focus is the loss of self, the loss of identity. Nina strives to be perfect, the perfect girl, the perfect dancer, and one accident could ruin all of that. Because she tries so hard to stay put together, she is cracking in every other place. Nina could never lose her leg; she would choose death over never being able to dance again. The scene where Nina sees Beth’s ruined leg is a pivotal scene in the film. It gives us a glimpse into who she never wants to be, a bedridden, fallen dancer. The farthest from perfect anyone will ever be.
This was my second time seeing Black Swan and I found the film even creepier than the first time I had seen it. The film does a wonderful job showing Nina's mental and physical decay in her quest for perfection. I thought Aronofsky did a good job combining all of the film elements to really get the audience to connect with Natalie Portman's character. I think the close-up shots of Nina combined with the sound elements were what really made the film a psychological thriller. The scene where Nina is pulling back the skin on her finger is a good example. Not only was the ripping of the skin shown it was also heard. When Nina is practicing the black swan dance in her apartment and breaks her toenail is another good example of this. Both of these scenes made me cringe a little.
ReplyDeleteThe psychological aspect of the film was probably what interested me most. I found the relationship with Nina and her mother to be very fascinating in a disturbing way. Barbara Hershey did a great job portraying the smothering mother who is ridiculously controlling given Nina's age in the film. I thought Mila Kunis did an amazing job playing opposite of Natalie Portman. The film is all about doubles and I think both actresses complemented each other well. All of the cast did a good job portraying their particular role. The use of close-up shots was done well to show that the movie was all about Natalie Portman/Nina. I think using close-ups was a good way to get the audience to connect with Nina since her character is not conventionally relatable. Overall the film was very well casted.
The use of color in the movie is not something I paid much attention to the first time I saw it. I do think it was used well and is very important to the film, though. The use of black, white, and red is obvious and very noticeable to the audience. White was used well when Nina wore the white dress to the party and then went back the director's apartment, which also happened to be all white. This was shown at the beginning of the film when Nina is still completely innocent and lacking all black swan characteristics. The use of green and pink were less obvious colors in the movie and were seen mostly in Nina's apartment. The all pink childish bedroom was shocking to see at first.
Overall, I think the film was well done. It is definitely more of a psychological thriller than a movie simply about ballet. I think it showed some realistic elements of the ballet world that aren't often seen or talked about. This isn't the type of movie I would watch on a regular basis, but it is a great film to analyze and discuss.
Black Swan
ReplyDeleteThe black swan is a movie produced by Darron Aronofsky in 2010. I had high expectations to the movie, especially after seeing the trailer. I wasn’t disappointed, however I was more shocked by some scenes in the movie.
I believe the movie started a bit slow, even a bit boring. Too much dancing for my taste, but this was only the beginning. After a while the movie is more about crazy sex scenes, drugs, fighting and extremely nasty blood scenes. I believe there is hard watching the movie without being tempted to look somewhere else in some of the scenes, as when Beth is cutting up herself or when Nina is cutting off her nails.
After the film, I was somehow very shocked, and a bit confused on what I had just watched. In the end, where Nina really starts loosing it, I believe I lost sense of if everything was just going on in Ninas mind or if it was the actual story. Nevertheless, another immideate feeling was that the movie was very much well directed by Daron Aronofsky. I also believe that the music throughout the movie was one of the key factors of its success.
Moreover, I believe the movie had a lot of contrasts. The scenes changed frequently and fast, from a room dull of flowers to completely darkness as an example. The plot is also rapidly changing, from anger to ballet dancing.
Furthermore, I believe the movie had great actors that played really well. Natalie Portman played very well, and so did Mila Kunis. One of my immideate reactions was how great the actors were throughout the movie.
The first time I did see black swan, I appreciated it mainly for the powerful impact it provided on the viewer. However after watching it the second time you learn to appreciate the cinematic and artistic elements. Its sound design that not only complements the mood but heightens the terror and tensions within every critical scene. The cast is an integral part of the movie. Natalie Portman’s character is portrayed brilliantly and along with her tremendous acting it aids in developing a unique relationship with the audience. What really struck me, as big surprise was Mila Kunis. Prior to this film, I had rarely credited Mila Kunis’s performances in her previous works. However she definitely proved herself through this performance. It was clear that she stepped out of her comfort one however she portrayed the role with ease and was definitely provided good support to Natalie Portman. One of the film’s strongest features is it’s symbolism. Sexual and dark imagery scattered throughout along with underlying theme of good vs bad mold this movie into a theatrical masterpiece. Aronofsky was certainly another critical part of the movie; his creative vision provides the daring, ambitious and horror the black swan really is. The film is certainly a different experience every time you watch it. I remember the first time I stepped outside the theatre; it took me about a minute to grasp on what I had just seen. The second time, it provided with a similar thrilling and deep emotional experience. If a work of art can do that, it certainly is a masterstroke.
ReplyDeleteMichelle Yidios H.
ReplyDeleteThe movie Black swan always called my attention. I’m not really into horror movies, but everyone was talking about it, and it had so much impact in the audience, that it became a must see movie. The first time I watched it, I thought it was amazing, well I did get scared and closed my eyes a couple of times, so I didn’t get to appreciate the scenes, the music, and all of the details the director and actors put in every single scene. The second time I watched it with a different purpose. Natalie Portman as well as Mila Kunis did wonderful roles. The movie seemed as realistic as it could, and interesting. How they manage to play with innocence and evil at the same time was capturing, and also very intriguing. How the colors Black, Grey, White, Pink, and Red were present during the whole movie let the audience perceive the deepness of the matter. Nina as the principal actress did an amazing job, you could actually feel what she felt. Every scene has a level of details that grabs your attention and gets you totally involved.
The scenes that most impact had on me were when Nina would hurt herself; when she was in the bathroom at her house and she cut her nails and actually cut her finger. When she pulled of a piece of skin from her finger, or took the black spines from her back. I actually felt her change, frustration and pain. For every moment there was music that would describe what was going on. I loved the music selection, I couldn’t think of better music to narrate what was going on. I had a strong feeling when Nina was battling herself to transform and become the black swan. I did identify myself with some of her innocence, but to watch how painful and how hard she tried made me panic. I did get scared.
I want to point out that the body language is very important. In this movie there was more body language than actual dialog. If you mute the movie, you can still understand perfectly and determine the situation. The face expressions amazed me; Kunis always had that evil and sexy attitude she reflected it all the time, on the other side, Ninas mom was always really worried, and Nina did express herself through out the movie as a little girl, and the self destruction to achieve perfection.
I would definitely see the movie again. I know for a fact every time I watch this movie I will always realize new things I hadn’t seen before because there is so much to discover. I love how it plays with the human mind.
Black Swan- Ximena Manrique
ReplyDeleteBlack Swan is a psychological- thriller that takes place in a ballet scenario. This film intrigued me since the beginning because of how it was portrayed in the trailer. After actually seeing it I confirm my curiosity, it had elements that made it interesting and approachable. It called my attention they way the director managed the essence of a mysterious movie along with a constant suspense of what was happening to the main character, Nina (Natalie Portman).
It frequently highlights the importance of how the people surrounding Nina were constantly oppressing her to act a certain way. Her mother could be one of the most influential individual that created a conflict upon her. Followed by her ballet instructor that forced her to submerge in a constant psychosis of what perfection and liberation means while dancing. And last but not least, there was Lily (Mila Kunis), a very eccentric ballerina that represented the alteration of Nina’s inner peace. Which means, while Nina was the perfect white swan Lily was the opposite, she was the perfect black swan.
Once Nina gets the role of her life, it is presented upon the eye of the audience the inner struggle that is dominating her to become perfect. This obsession for excellence, that can grant her the dream of her life, can also deeply harm her. The highlight of this process relays in the metamorphosis the character is force to undergo. Constant inner and self-pressure creates in her mind a delusional world, were she is unable to differentiate what’s real and what’s not. I really liked this film because of all the different components and the constant appeal to think further and deeper. How the true psychosis is presented and how the person undergoes a whole new process of identity and a different reality.
I was excited to see Black Swan because I the only reviews I had heard of it were that it was really good but it was very different from other movies. They also thought it had the potential to be one of the best movies of that year because it had aspects of it that made it appeal to the movie buffs and the occasional movie goer. In brief, Black Swan is about a sheltered ballet dancer named Nina who gets the role of the Swan Queen in Swan Lake. In order to play this role effectively, she has to embody both the White Swan (who is pure and innocent, like herself) and the Black Swan (who is dark something Nina is not). As Nina gets in touch with the “black swan” within her, she becomes so obsessed that she begins losing touch with reality and resemble the story of the Swan Queen she plays.
ReplyDeleteThe first main theme is perfectionism and reality. Nina is obsessed with ballet dancing. Her drive to be perfect at it becomes so extreme that she quickly begins losing touch with reality. For me, this was most apparent when a guy in a bar asked Nina who she is, she replies, “I’m a dancer.” He responds by saying, “No, I meant what’s your name.” It’s meant to show that Nina doesn’t just do her art; she has become her art. Which all foreshadows her later visions of actually becoming the black swan.
The other main theme is living at one of the extremes. Throughout the film, Nina struggles to find the balance between light and dark. At the beginning, she is entirely like the “white swan” – innocent, sheltered, graceful, etc. But as she starts getting in touch with her inner “black swan,” she completely loses touch with her prior self (shown by the fact that in the end she falls during the white swan performance). She’s all one way, and then all the other way; never does she exist in the middle ground.
Overall, it was a very well done movie and I enjoyed the experience of watching and analyzing it.
I was definitely looking forward to watching the black swan because I heard a lot of good reviews from my friends. I also was told that the filming style of the movie was somewhat dark and a depressing atmosphere. I also was planning on watching it but never got around to it, but I’m glad I got to finally see it. First off I really enjoyed Natalie Portman’s performance taking the role of a ballet dancer forced to partake in the look of a professional dancer. While I watched the movie, I noticed that she clearly had some mental problems due to her alternate personalities and her problems with differentiating reality to her imagination. It was also very interesting seeing the dynamic importance of her transformation from a white swan to a black swan. She is pushed by her mother to be perfect and she starts to lose all control which you see in her flashes of herself stabbing Mila Kunis’s character with the broken mirror glass. Another theme in the movie is exploration of sexuality, which was seen in the bathroom scene. I also noticed various aspects of the film including the intense sounds of music, the disturbing voices in the background, and the various close up shots used to express the emotion of the actors clearly. Lastly I enjoyed the ending because it left the audience wondering if she was dead or alive. Personally I believe that the whole movie was leading up to her achieving a perfect performance a black swan and her dying allows a believable conclusion to her fate.
ReplyDeleteI had seen Black Swan before, but the second time through left a more lasting impression. I would describe this film as "The best film you never want to see again." This film, while certainly earning all the various awards it won, is one of the grisliest movies I have ever seen. The sheer level of uncomfortableness escalates as the film drags on, making ordinary objects like fingernails seem abstract and horrible. Perhaps this adds to the film's flavor, one that an upset stomach would find attractive. Needless to say, the film has a genre of its own, a blend of depressing situations mixed with horror and insanity at a nonstop confused pace, often leaving the audience wondering what the truth really is. Several scenes that stick out to me were the ones involving Natalie Portman by herself, slowly descending in a downward spiral of perfection, hiding from herself when all she really needed was an understanding friend. In that sense, I also see this flick as a coming-of-age story for Portman's character Nina. She grows to become a woman rather than a student, even if the path she chose wasn't of the most orthodox of methods. One such example includes the bedroom scenes, which I found to be the most depressing. Here Nina learned about herself though, she learned her art could take over her mind, as well as her life.
ReplyDeleteSo even as I sat apprehensively and expecting the worst (yet again), I absorbed the film, learned from it, and once again vowed to myself to never watch it again. However, I would recommend it to anyone who is interested, but not with any sort of warning for the more gruesome scenes. I believe they were meant to take the audience by surprise, shocking us with a pain we had all experienced in the pressures to succeed in everything we do. Is it Oscar-worthy? In my eyes, it is, however, there is a deep lesson to be learned here, so don't let the bright lights blind you.
PAUL AHERNE
ReplyDeleteWhen I first heard we were viewing Black Swan, I was very upset. I thought it would be a boring, drawn out movie about ballet. However, I could not have been more surprised and impressed about this movie. When I think of Mila Kunis, my first thought is the giddy and pretty girl from That 70’s Show. She broke that image and is phenomenal in this movie because she plays a dual role of character. She has to be a normal ballerina for part of the movie, and also be Natalie Portman’s inner fears, insecurities, and sexual frustrations. Natalie Portman also has a very interesting and well-played character in the movie. She needs to show the growth of the character she is playing in the ballet and into insanity. As she embraces the role of the swan more, her hallucinations and eruptions at others become more intense.
In addition, to the amazing job the actors have done in portraying their characters, the dark themes shown through the mis-en-scene make this movie even better. Portman’s eerie hallucinations make the viewer very uncomfortable but somehow glued to the screen. A perfect example is the hangnail scene in her bathroom. She pulls off a large portion of her skin, only to show a few seconds later she didn’t. Furthermore, when she morphs into the black swan on stage the camera shows he shadow as a bird, but her as a person. These are all genius film making techniques that may not be noticed on the first viewing, but are definitely felt sub-consciously. This movie was able to break my previous prejudices and win me over with exceptional filmmaking techniques, something not many common Hollywood productions can accomplish.
Every time I have watched Black Swan, I am left completely in awe. The impeccable acting, the gorgeous costumes, and the eerie score contribute to an overall beautiful film. The first time I saw Black Swan, I was immediately immersed and began questioning the reality within the film. When Nina takes ecstasy on her crazy night out with Lily, reality definitely comes into question. After dancing at the club and hooking up with countless men, Nina returns home with Lily to her overprotective mother demanding to know where she has been. Nina and Lily immediately run off to Nina's room for the infamous lesbian sex scene. The next morning, Nina wakes up late, rushes to rehearsal and confronts Lily. Lily explains that she never went home with Nina and it must've just been a dream. After hearing this, I reflected on the past scenes- particularly when Nina arrives home after the club. When Nina's mom is scolding Nina in the front hallway of their apartment, Lily can only be seen in the reflection of the mirrors but not physically in the room with Nina and her mother. A more apparent question of reality is during the sex scene, NIna looks at Lily and suddenly sees her own face as well as the wings tattooed on Lily's back spread out and move around. These altered-reality scenes add to the genius that is Black Swan, and are significant to my involvement and reaction to the film.
ReplyDeletemy perception of some images of color and clothes have been shown in the movie
ReplyDeletepink, white/fuzzy,soft materials--Nina
black,dark-colored/tight clothing--Nina's mom, lily, the black swan
grey --Thomas and other establishing scenes
white: Nina's pillow with black and white flower patterns, in some scenes, it looks like if Nina's head gets tangled by those cirrus; Nina's scarf was white, soft and fuzzy, fur-like, stands for the white swan and pureness of young girls;
pink: Nina's bedroom is painted with this creamy and lovely color, representing her immatureness,spoiled and undercontroled by her mom. She was wearing a pink scarf during rehearsing, she replaced this scarf after been selected as the swan queen and went back to it again at the time she could not perform the black swan and been seduced then "dumped" by Thomas (the timid and overcautious girl-->confident and wilder/black swan is awaking-->turn back to the timid girl once frustrated).
grey: once Nina has been selected as the black swan, her surroundings started fading in grey.(clothing,weather etc.)
On the night when Nina and Lily went to the club, Lily gave Nina a black tank, Nina put it under her white sweater. The color looked like dark grey later after Nina took Lily's "energy pills".
during Nina's "white" time, she was wearing UGG compared to Lily's aggresive and wild leather boots.
I remember the first time I saw this movie. I had heard a lot about it, I had heard both, good and bad reviews. But I was so excited and had really high expectancy. I went to the movie theater with my mom. Most of the time, we have really similar taste in movies. As the movie progressed, I was so uncomfortable; my mom was looking at me as if she was going to kill me for bringing her to see this movie with me. I really enjoy this movie, in fact, it is one of my favorites. But I hated the moment when I first saw it.
ReplyDeleteSince that time, I’ve seen this movie I cant even remember how many times, and each time I see it, I love it even more.
I think that the story is really good and the way they casted the actors is so brilliant. This is one of the best movies I have ever seen, one think I really liked about it is that the intensity of the dispersion of Natalie Portman’s character is really well expressed, and as an audience you almost can feel it.
Of course, academy award winning actress Natalie Portman performance is just the icing on the cake.
The whole movie is brilliant!
Rebeca Drucker
C09289368
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteBlack Swan is really has what I look for in a psychological thriller. There are times when I am not sure what I’m watching is reality or dreams, times when I want her to wake up but she can’t and times when she is awake and I want everything to be a dream. I have always been a fan of Darren Aronofsky and his ability to really connect you with the main character in the film. I really empathized for ‘Randy Robinson’ in The Wrestler and Aronofsky really displays his ability to do this in Black Swan. He starts off by showing us her talent but lack of confidence to fulfill the black swan roll. Lily (Mila Kunis) shows her up in practice and we see her crying to her mother. Just like The Wrestler Aronofsky shows the weaker and vulnerable side of the main character. I loved to constant switching in and of reality and the enigmatic people Nina meets throughout the film.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I enjoyed most of the film I thought that her relationship with her mother could have been improved. We are shown small parts of them interacting and I feel she meant much more to Nina than the film let on. Nina had lived with her mother throughout her life and we I feel there relationship deteriorated too fast during the film.
Nicholas Sando
C10186082
Black Swan could be used to prove a point about society today. Some strive so hard to be really perfect, but can we truly reach a point of perfection? I myself would have never watched a film like this but it was pretty interesting to see how crazy someone can become just to make others happy. Nina was forced to live her mother's dream, so she did not know how to be her own person.She lived to please her mother and her ballet instructors. It was also ridiculous how her mother was so controlling; she took it overboard. Because of her mother, Nina seemed to have trouble trusting people. She never had friends over nor was she allowed to leave the house whenever she pleased, except for when she was going to ballet rehearsal. However, it was great to see how the show director got her to break out of her shell a little. I wonder if Nina ever knew how it felt to be kissed or touched by a man? I especially loved the fact that Lily got Nina to finally take an actual risk and have fun for the first time in her life without her mother's permission. The ending of the film sort of confused me because I wasn't sure if she died or if she made it. Nina allowed her dark side to take over. However, she did finally reach her state of perfection.
ReplyDeleteWephnirva Nonord
C# C07404423
Black Swan was a great movie because Natalie Portman’s performance was given the screen time and focus it needed. I feel that too many movies allow themselves to be distracted from their focus. Scenes with ancillary characters can completely stop a film’s narrative flow, especially when they explain something that should not be explained. Films are meant to be an experience; it is impossible to experience the same uncertainty that a main character has, say, walking through an abandoned house, when the prior scene showed the killer talking about his trap.
ReplyDeleteBlack Swan was perfect in this respect as a movie that only shows you what the protagonist experiences. Nina was without question the main character: she is in every scene in the movie, and the movie ends with her (possible) death. We can assume she hallucinated certain things, but it is impossible to know just how much she was hallucinating. And we get the reveal of her hallucinations along with her: for instance, at the end of the movie, when she goes back to her dressing room and finds Lily’s body and the mess are both gone, both the audience and Nina have the same realization that none of the murder may have been real. The film only includes things Nina sees and the only reality it cares about is Nina’s reality. Personally, I love when a movie is focused like that, and the entire story was anchored by a truly great performance by Natalie Portman.
John David Agliano
C05580571
Ting Wang
ReplyDeleteThere is no doubt that the "black swan" is an Oscar-level movie. Fine too meticulous sound and subtle sound, almost like a silent commentary, the film is more full, adds fantasy, branching off the charm. The screen repeatedly dwell in Nina's fine hair, thin scapular, swan, like the elegant slender neck, people earnestly feel that this is the career ballet dancer. Nina always be confusion, to brow Jincu timid expression, by too many minus points too few. Somewhat fly in the ointment is that the "Black Swan" upper body, the magic of the lack of a little, but fortunately the Black Swan thriller glamorous makeup to provide the impetus, eyes wide open in that debut, still is the heart of a cold.
Frightening is that she is still so young, Oscar sooner or later her - but, maybe not this time.
"Goddess of the man," Vincent - Picasso, the ordinary at first glance, more Kanji Yan, will feel elegant and charming, Speranskia from Antan Monica to pick the pillow look really amazing. Vincent's face right on a little sensual color, when Mei gas flash, in line with the identity of the heap in the women hang out; special about his eyes raw and some open (Qian cloud: slightly lovesick), I feel like Pan Pan's Labyrinth "- half man half goat god Pan, coincidentally, also a symbol of desire.
"Lily" Mira - Kuni Si seen her, "Forget about Sarah - Marshall" and "date night". She is indeed to make people forget the heroine's beauty! Black Swan Xiemei beauty can be regarded as a spokesperson - but, against the background of the heroine must smoky eyes? "The Devil Wears Prada," Emily - Blount smoky eyes once they stardom magnanimous, I hope Mira girl can do this "smoky eye law evidence.
Winona's few scenes, but rather the color. In fact, the absence of a theft of twists and turns, the role of "White Swan" by her featuring nor can not, however, the heart of the black swan ruined her. White feather dyed soap, she could not fly, and now can only look young Portman Xiefeng straight to barbarian like Italy. The scent of the drama off screen, I do not know how about?
Dance Company teeth Ling tooth Lee, mean, frivolous Veronica meat face, thick lips, but also impressive. Small groups of a woman is bound to be one such character.
The first time I saw Black Swan, I just thought it was about a psychotic ballerina going crazy over playing a one part. I did not understand the full meaning of it even as we watched it in class, but after reviewing the themes, symbolism of the colors, ect., I began to gain a greater appreciation for the film. I can now interpret the deeper meanings behind the colors of clothing or walls and why Nina “feeling herself” was an important component to her being able to portray the black swan as well as the embodies the white swan.
ReplyDeleteNatalie Portman and Mila Kunis are two of my favorite actresses and putting them in the same film worked well and flowed flawlessly. I think their character’s are perfect counterparts of one another – Nina being the white swan in reality and Lily the black. The actresses were able to parallel the story of the ballet into the movie almost seamlessly.
My favorite scene in the film was the last because Nina was finally able to “let go” and be both the perfect white swan and black swan. I like this because Nina put so much effort and obsession into becoming perfect and was finally able to accomplish her goal. I do think there is a lesson throughout the film, though, that obsession and striving for perfection can only cause one pain, jealously, and suffer mental, psychopathic-like tendencies.
Holly Bensur
C09668372
Marc Pollack
ReplyDeleteC10553848
Out of all of the movies that I have seen lately, Black Swan was one of the most technically innovative films that I have seen in recent date. The distinction between good and bad, which equivocated to black and white, was superior. One of the scenes that really grabbed my attention was the scene where we see Nina walking to her rehearsal; with her feathered scarf around her neck, to me, it was one of the first signs that she is transforming herself into the role of the Black Swan. On a different note, Mila Kunis couldn’t have done a better job portraying Nina’s opposite. Another very interesting scene where we see the good cross the bad is when the two girls go clubbing. We see Mila Kunis’s character, Lily; convince Nina to take drugs and to live the life that she was accustomed to living. This is one of the first steps that jumpstarted the downward path that we saw Nina take. Another interesting aspect of this film was how Nina literally transformed during the performance. Upon being on stage, she began to ‘sprout’ feathers and a beak, thus completing her transformation into becoming an official Black Swan
When this movie first came out, all of my friends got to see it before I ever got to take a trip down to the movie theater. So of course when I heard that we would be watching this movie for class I got really excited. Personally, I love horror movies and all of my friends that had seen the movie told me it was a very scary film to watch. This got me very excited for the movie, but when I started watching it, it was something completely different than what I was expecting to see. Instead of the plain, run of the mill slasher movie with cheap scare tactics, this film took on the psychological aspect of becoming a true horror flick. The stark contrast between the dark (evil) and light (good) forces included in the movie was part of the reason why it was so moving. As the audience, we got to see the deterioration of the human mind that was contained by a fragile and innocent ballet dancer. The transformation from sweet, innocent, and pure into the dark, demented, and edgy girl was the reason why this movie kept the audience involved and interested. We got to see Nina truly turn into the black swan and grow out of the little girl persona that she started out with. I enjoyed this movie so much because it was an innovative idea for a movie that has never been done before. It takes a believable story of a sweet girl losing her mind and shows us how it can happen to anyone, making me want to watch this movie again and again.
ReplyDeleteAlexandra Ball
C07809270
Black Swan
ReplyDeleteAs a male I was not very excited when I heard we were going to be watching Black Swan in class. Ballet and drama are not my two favorite things and therefore did not think I would like the film very much. Throughout viewing the film though, my opinion changed. I did not love the film but did enjoy watching it. The plot was very unique to me and the juxtaposition of the two actors (Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis) was PERFECT. They complimented each other as “good girl” “bad girl” so well and truly made the movie what it is. The more “erotic” scenes made the movie interesting and unique as well as surprising for me because I did not expect it to be as dirty. I also felt that the sound and music used in the movie helped convey the mood and purpose of each scene better. The use of many close-up shots also contributed to the films success because it allowed the viewer to truly see Nina and Lily’s emotional reactions. When we discussed automatism and surrealism in class they were just simple definitions but Black Swan brought those words to life. It helped me understand how automatism (especially thourgh dreaming in Black swan) can be used in film and showed me what a movie involving surrealism was. The movie Black swan was overall very enjoyable and a pleasant surprise to me.
Erik Rueckle-c10166645
“Black Swan” seems like momentous but has a lot of implied meaning in every each shot. Actually, at beginning part, I was disappointed about their obvious contradictions such as color and characters. For instance, they use black color for black swan to show typical dark personality and white color for white swan to express pureness. It seemed too obvious how story unfold. However, while watching this movie, I realized I was wrong. During the movie, it made story become more complicated and confused by portraying innate human mind. Moreover, they expressed red color in the movie by showing the scene such as Nina bleed at her nose unexpectedly. Such expressions made audience get curious and feel thrill. Also, its close-up parts made me feel like to watch documentary. In other words, its scenes are exuberant and vivid. After watching “Black Swan”, suddenly I came up with one famous writer, Edgar Allen Poe. Whenever I read Poe’s short stories, his expression makes me get nervous, uncomfortable and fearful. He used to use dark mood terms such as death, blood and suicide. Black Swan assumed such depressed atmosphere like Poe’s writings. Even those are similar each other that they described about someone’s fantasy and conflict with schizophrenia. At the end of movie “Black Swan”, I felt like I finally escaped from dark, gloomy and empty space.
ReplyDeleteBlack swan is a movie that channels one's fear as well as intrigue. I is a highly psychological film dealing the the fragile mind of Nina who is a perfectionist pushing herself to be a great ballet dancer. The film deals with familial problems as well as the social strife that consumes one who becomes so enveloped in perfection. The movie centers around the topic of obsession and how far it will drive one's mind. The film is quite focused on color schemes such as black and white representing the black swan which embodies sexuality and freedom, and the white swam which would characterize social norms and rigid organized behaviors. The interesting idea presented by this, how ever, is an obscurity as to whether one or the other is actually good or evil. We are originally lead to believe that the black swan is the evil one, but come to question that as we enter the mind of Nina, which represents the white swan, and see how disturbed and repressed she is. It seems there is no black and white to sanity, and sanity relies on a healthy balance of both organization and temperance with freedom and sensuality.
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ReplyDeleteMichael Lerer
ReplyDeleteThe movie Black Swan truly showed how filmmaking is an art form. One way this is shown is how there are small things in every scene that seem unimportant until they are truly noticed. For instance there are references to the play Swan Lake throughout the entire movie. For example in the bath scene there is a rubber duckie that is shaped like a swan. These subtly indicate that her life literally revolves around the Swan Lake play. It’s this obsession with the play that truly drives the main character crazy and warps her into the black swan. Her madness is another key aspect of this movie. Although she starts off crazy, as shown by the scene where she walks by herself fairly early in the movie, she is controlled and her madness doesn’t interfere with her life. As the movie goes on she falls deeper and deeper into her madness. This is shown by her increasing hallucinations of Mila Kunis’s character with the grand finale of her imagining murdering the girl. Another key technique in this movie is that both the sane and insane scenes are shot the same way so it is impossible for the viewer to know what is real and what isn’t until the hallucinations are disproven later. Often times the shots are frantic. This has two purposes; one being to show you the madness and confusion of the main character, and the other to let the viewer experience some of her madness. I truly enjoyed this movie and felt it was a good start to my introduction to film.
Christian Casas
ReplyDeleteC10592802
The movie Black Swan, directed by Darren Aronofsky, which one of the main characters is Natalie Portaman, was a bit two dramatic and visual for me. The marketers had done a great job in promoting it, so the first time I saw it I had a notion of what it would be like. Regardless of my taste in movie genres, the actress Natalie Portman did an excellent job in transforming herself. She is usually perceived as the girl next door, so this role was excellent for her. She wanted to show the worl what she was capable of. In addition, the relationship with the mother is still a bit unclear for me and should have been a bit more descriptive of this relationship. In addition, I believe the use of costumes and make up are incredible. For the first time she has impeccable costumes, her acting is exquisite and she truly excelled in herself in the ating part. The part where she is taking out a father is truly gruesome for me, so I would have preferred not to see that part.
Swan lake is one of my favorite story which is the love between princess which has the destiny to live as swan and the prince. Sadly, prince choose black swan for his fiancée by mistake and in the process of fighting with devil, the prince and white swan died. In black swan, this plot is completely expressed in modern way dealing with nina’s growing stage. Nina has two aspects of self image. One is the white self which is really pure and delicate girl who was treated like a baby. However, as she competes for the part of swan lake, she begins to discover her inner badness. She had to develop that side to be both of white swan and black swan. However, in the process of hard trains she experienced her inner breakdown of egos. And that comes along with a visual hallucination. I think this appearance of her dark side shows many things in terms of our inner side. We also have our both side of ego, one that forces us to act a good deed and the other which attracts us to the deviation from the daily life.
ReplyDeleteBlack Swan
ReplyDeleteI like this moive so much because it had a wonderful and frightening story.
"Black swan" tells the story of a supernatural horror stories about ballet. The heroine is a senior ballet dancer (Natalie portman act the role ofing), she found herself was stuck in a and the other a dancer's competition in the state. As a great show of increasingly is near to come, and a lot of trouble has intensified. And she's not sure the competition is the illusion of a supernatural, also or just she appeared illusion. Nina (Natalie portman) is a New York's ballet dancer, and she is the mother of the players live together. Her mother was a ballet dancer, to put her in the stifling of control. In a new season of "swan lake" before the premiere, art director for Beth dancers to chief (WeiNuoNa · ladd). He has two candidates: Nina and Lily (merari · library ni silk). The play a performance requirements to the innocence of the white swan with black swan cunning self-indulgence actress. Nina suitable for white swan, and Lily is just the embodiment of the black swan. They developing in competition for a distortion of friendship. Nina began to more found his dark side, which can destroy her.
There are many brilliant dialogue like "I felt perfect. I was perfect" . "Surprise yourself so you can surprise the audience".
"Every great career has to come an end".
Without growth, it is impossible to have a true self. To the transformation of the blackswan, it was Nina to find and tap the process of self, and this change is Nina yearning,but a huge gap between desire and reality, this process has become particularly painfuland extreme. (Which suddenly made me think of childhood teeth experience: the originalwisdom teeth just loose, new teeth are already coming to the fore the face of this situation are only two options, either turn a blind eye, then the new tooth grows crooked, or wisdom teeth hard pull out the pain to die)
ReplyDeleteNina transformed the process of growing, mother, Thomas, Lily, Beth is the most important, four of the most emblematic figures. Discussed the authenticity of these fourcharacters (mainly the three roles of mother, Lily, and Beth), but this view is mainly based on the theme of "split". In my opinion, these three characters are real and objectiveexistence. The film completely belongs to Nina, most of the lens is followed her, the audience sees is Nina see; the music completely fit Nina's psychological and emotionalups and downs. It does not mean the film to strengthen the concept of the subject to ahigh level such as "Fight Club" From this perspective, two films did not comparable."Black Swan" to show the mental process is quite true, and the reality of the growing,many people around, such as mother, Thomas, Lily such a person. If the movie really will be this line ends this scene, it would be too cruel: Is it self to find the expense of deserted? Fortunately, the last moment, the crowd, the eyes full of tears of themother, full of pity and worry for her daughter, Nina saw her mother when slightly themouth of the countryside that, whether grown up or not, in the most vulnerable everyone isa child instinctive dependence on the home end.
This movie is why i love filmmaking. It changed my view on so many aspect of it and really showed me how every details is important and every detail can hide something and show something. Music, colors, walls, background... everything no matter how little the detail. I loved this movie it was frightening and fun at the same time. I love scary movies but this isn't really a scary movie it just prepares you for a scary movie which is even better, since it keep you on the edge of your seat. I also loved the trailer. i know its not the main part of the movie but i though it was great. did a great job promoting the movie, the editing was perfect and the whole team who made this movie are pure genius.
ReplyDeleteThis is a fantastic movie by Aronofsky and it was probably one of my favorite movies when it came out.I really appreciated everything that the director did in this movie. The casting was superb, with Portman and Kunis doing outstanding jobs. At first I thought that the movie was very strange and I was a little freaked out by it but then the movie grew on me as it got further and further into the movie.
ReplyDeleteThis movie did a great job at making it easy to distinguish the white swan, Natalie, from the black swan, Mila. They were basically real life examples of them. There were also many scenes that were very disturbing and because I felt like I was a part of the movie it made it that much more disturbing. I enjoyed watching all the themes in this movie evolve. From Nina's innocence to her flaws, the movie described it perfectly.
I would recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys film.
The class screening was my second time seeing “Black Swan” and it only contributed to my appreciation for the film. Considering the fact the original script for the film had been bouncing around Hollywood for a long time, Aronofsky deserves a lot of credit for adapting and perfecting a seemingly stale screenplay. Originally Aronofsky wanted a 30 million dollar budget to make “Black Swan”, but he made the 12 million he was granted enough to still make a classic film. Natalie Portman nailed her lead role as the psychologically unstable ballet dancer Nina with a nearly perfect performance. Mila Kunis was also painfully good at juxtaposing the innocent Nina in her role as Lily, a ballet dancer that was challenged Nina’s dream spot as the lead role in an upcoming production.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the film there is a very deliberate control of color in both lighting and in costume selection. I don’t think the viewer sees bright sunshine once in the entire film. The lighting Aronofsky uses during practice is very different from the lightning prevalent in actual performances. I really liked the scene in the nightclub when Nina is rolling face to the strobe light and having subtle hallucinations of Lily’s face. The costumes and clothing in the film are predominately black, white, and grey. The black obviously represents darkness and sexuality whereas the white represents innocence and purity. Nina’s weird grey armband is the article of clothing Aronofsky uses to eventually overtake and consume her during her final performance.
Natalie Portman plays a ballet in which Nina - she is really suitable for this role. So many people envy the figure, so many people love the face! But the ballet is one of the hardest things in the world, and figure skating, gymnastics and acrobatics, too need talent, too need to sweat, but also gives too much sad. Nina's mother is a good teacher, knowing how to train their children to be a hard ballet, but it is this excessive physical exertion and control, causing Nina to put up with weak personality, so that in the Ballet gives only for the White Swan, is not suitable for the feeling of the black swan.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the dance is beyond their art, and acting, his tears flow in someone else's story. Many times you are not, but another you. But how to find another, how to make another occupation of their own? Ballet contradiction in the fact that the difficult technical needs of dancers such as painful ascetic training and moderation of life, but some of the role of personality and actor indulgence and let themselves go. Dancers and actors, between restraint and indulgence, between hell and heaven, between the Black Swan and White Swan. Natalie's choice is a tragedy, can not be changed, a pursuit of self ballet eventually away from the self, which is the greatest tragedy of the film.
Played by Vincent Picasso the troupe guidance show European sensual, I always count on him and Natalie to hang out, but unfortunately unable to do so. But the film's style is very bold, sex, suspense, terror and gay elements in the plot, but not for grandstanding specially whom, but the delicate story to attract viewers shortcut. Natalie's show to make people cheer, almost entirely in this dance movie, she also showed a weak dancer feeling in the world is also a lot of hard work under the technical. From the learned of his election on the protagonist surprise tears, to the last Black Swan turned out to shine are the film's CLS. Winona, Rider, until the end of the subtitles, only to find that her in the film, is really aged beauty, this is the greatest tragedy.
Black Swan
ReplyDeleteBlack Swan is an awesome psychological thriller. Going into it I didn’t have high expectation because I know very little about ballet, and from what little ballet I have seen in my life I wasn’t all that into it. However; the movie took me by surprise and I ended up loving it by the end. Getting into the mindset of the character Nina was awesome because you there’s a lot going on inside her head. The movie always leaves you guessing as to whether a scene actually happened or whether it just happened in Nina’s mind. I love the director’s use of colors to give us a sense of what to expect in the scene ahead, as well as his use of close ups to try and get us to feel the turmoil Nina was going through. My favorite scene was when Nina was staring at the mirror and the reflection of herself was staring back at her in a menacing manner. It showed everything that was going on with Nina’s psychological meltdown without saying a word. I am curious as to how they pulled that scene off without the camera being shown in the mirror. In the end, I believe Nina died. At the start of the film, the director stated the purposes of Black Swan. He said that in death, the white swan finds release. Nina was obviously going through some severe psychological issues, and in death, Nina could find release.
Black Swan is not an easy movie to watch. The trailer definitely prepares you for the movie because it demonstrates the suspenseful thriller you will experience by watching it. Still, no one expects the gentile and virginal Natalie Portman to touch herself, do drugs, have a homosexual relationship and go psychologically insane.
ReplyDeleteThe choice in the actress Natalie Portman was perfect for this movie. Darren Aronofsky had already asked Natalie ten years in advance to act in a movie involving ballet. She is a perfect choice because she represents the white swan in the play Swan Lake. Her counter character, played by Mila Kunis is also perfect because she is physically similar to Portman yet sexually different.
The scenes where Natalie Portman is at the nightclub are very well made. Aronofsky illustrates the scenes of her and Mila Kunis doing drugs very chaotically, choppy and even at times scary, relating to her feeling on ecstasy. There are frames of Portman wearing the Black Swan makeup in between frames of her dancing and even making out with Kunis. These frames work as subliminal messages foreshadowing the events to come. The frames where she is wearing the Black Swan makeup shows how she becoming the character from her ballet performance, and how much it is affecting her.
While I was watching Black Swan I felt scared, tense, and captivated. The content of the film is not scary; however, the form of the film gave it horror characteristics. I was scared especially in the beginning of the film when Nina is in the subway and her reflection suddenly appears. What is happening is normal but the way it is edited makes it creepy. She is by herself, it is dark, and you can only hear the subway. Also, since the pace of the movie is slow, it added more suspense and intrigued the viewer. The colors in the film supported the ideas being conveyed with the plot. The most dominant colors were grey, black, white and some red and pink. They were not lively colors that would be associated with happiness. The grey, black, and white made the feeling of the movie darker and since red is associated with blood, it helped make the movie suspenseful and tense. The sound also played a key role in order to make the movie more horrifying. For example, the score from Swan Lake was distorted and a sharp, piercing sound accompanied pain. In addition, two girls kissing and dancing sexually is not something completely accepted by society and incorporating this into the film added to making it disturbing. Something that I thought was very interesting was how the costume also accompanied the story. At the beginning of the movie Nina is wearing a grey spider-web armband and as the film progresses larger spider-web accessories start being incorporated. It seems as if the web is overtaking Nina like the character is overtaking her. Throughout the film, Nina starts to become the character from Swan Lake. At the end, just like the character dies in the ballet, Nina dies. I think Nina had schizophrenia and that is why the movie as a whole is confusing and deals with the subconscious. It contains aspects of automatism and surrealism. Overall, I thought the cinematography, sound, costumes, lighting, mise-en scene and everything that made up the movie supported the plot and the ideas being conveyed. The form of the film intensified the content.
ReplyDeleteBlack Swan was different than any movie I have seen recently. It was very intense, dark, and intriguing. When I first heard about it, I thought it was a movie about ballet and dancing and I wasn’t very interested in seeing it. However, I was pleasantly surprised. I thought it was perfect that the two main actresses resembled each other and played opposite roles. The entire movie was psychologically thrilling. I was questioning each relationship and the movie got more shocking as it went on. Everything about the movie and the characters was so dark and bizarre. Nina’s relationship with her mother seemed very unnatural- her mother was too controlling and even dressed her. It seemed like the mother was living out her dream of becoming a dancer through Nina. She treated Nina like a child, which was disturbing. It made me wonder whether Nina really wanted to dance, or wanted to please her mother. It seemed like psychological abuse. Nina was so sheltered and innocent, but she wanted to lash out and rebel. The pressures of wanting to be the perfect black swan and the confusion of whether she was her mother’s innocent sweet girl or whether she was the girl that slept with the dance instructor and did drugs drove her crazy.
ReplyDeleteThis was yet another great movie. Black Swan hit all the feelers I wanted to get out of this movie. It was dramatic, deep, artsy, and clear. I loved revisiting the scenes in class to see even more stuff that I had missed watching it the first time around. I think Black Swan is a great example of what a good 21st century movie should be like taking advantage of good production and cgi but not overdoing anything in order to keep the real factor in play. The set of A-list actors also helped the movie a lot. Mila Kunis and Natalie Portman ended up synchronizing in the movie very well. The drug references were well placed and added a certain "edgy" feel to the movie. The movie did a great job of explain the role of innocence and sex in the play itself and in Nina's life. The dark feel that came along with the movie made for an exciting film.
ReplyDeleteThis was my first time seeing Black Swan and was a fantastic way to open the class. I had been hesitant to watch the movie because I did not find ballet too interesting. Upon watching the movie I was intrigued by the way Aronofsky used different techniques such as sound, colors and editing to turn a seemingly tame topic into an eerie psychological thriller. The plot itself was very intriguing as well. It featured the talented Nina trying to attain the main role in the new play Swan Lake which would be her breakout role. In her quest she is consumed with the pressures of being a professional dancer as well as outside forces including her overbearing mother, the new star dancer Lily trying to steal her role and the perfectionist director Cassel. Her transformation climaxes during her performance where she is finally able to perfect the role of the black swan and literally transforms into it, with the help of special effects.
ReplyDeleteThis is a perfect way to begin the class because you can really appreciate the mise-en-scène, from the clothing to the colors and general way the whole film is shot. Then we took these different significant cues from the film that enhanced the plot. I enjoyed the way it tied in analyzing and inspecting a film and its different intricacies.
BLACK SWAN
ReplyDeleteMatthew Head
I did not think that I would enjoy a movie about ballet as much as I did, The acting in the movie was Amazing. Kunis and Portman created a ying and yang effect. Portman brought an beautiful elegance where Kunis brought more of a sexual element. The theme of light vs dark could be seen everywhere in this movie. As the movie progressed Portman became more and more crazy, losing sight of everything but perfection. Because of this it is hard to tell what actually happened in the movie. Even though I dont really like when movies do this I think it worked well because of how good the chemistry between Portman and Kunis was. Portman represented everything fragile and young in the movie, where Kunis represented much more of a dark mysterious figure. There were some amazing effects used in the movie that really helped it. Not only was the cgi great but there would often be piercing sounds that would make the audience feel uncomfortable. The most horrific scene in this movie was when Portman peels her hangnail and it peels the skin off her finger. This was such a great scene because it represented Portmans sanity being peeled away.
I was not particularly excited to see Black Swan, as I didn’t have much interest in a movie centered around ballet. However, the movie turned out to be much more of a psychological thriller than I had anticipated. The movie centers around Nina, played very well by Natalie Portman, and the paranoia she goes through trying to be a star ballerina in Swan Lake. The movie is extremely engaging by focusing on the relationship Nina has with Lily, Mila Kunis’ character, and also her own sexuality. I also enjoyed the use of the in-your-face symbolism the movie employs, such as the transformation Nina has at the end of the movie when she turns into the Black Swan. The vivid imagery used really emphasizes her transformation and makes it clear what is happening, which sometimes can be an issue in psychological thrillers that become too complex for the audience to follow. The use of the obvious color difference of black and white, symbolizing good and bad, also reinforced much of the imagery. Overall, I liked Black Swan much more than I thought I would, mainly because it focused less on the ballet aspect of the film and instead dove inside of the minds of the participants, which was much more suspenseful and intriguing.
ReplyDeleteBlack swan
ReplyDeleteI have to admire the director’s talented, and brought the very good works, "Black Swan" The Wrestler. Black Swan The film tells the dream of blood and tears In fact, wrestling king. More wrestling king life, Black Swan is more human nature. Switch between the black and white on both sides of human nature is repeated so impermanent. Angels and ghosts flow in the human heart never clean.
The film also discusses a similar education - the hope of the previous generation to the next generation of sustenance, as well as to withstand the pressure of these 'next generation'. This pressure will always pushed metamorphosis. It becomes an adult hearts of the ghosts, all the time, hovering not. This is a terrible thing. I do not know how many people were pinned regret and dreams of the previous generation was brought up to do a previous generation want to do but not made. But in terms of respect I have ever seen, they are painful, they are nothing but helpless, unable to get rid of. This is a bit like a more cruel fate than fate. Fate may be able to rely on the rotation of the gear change, but this 'heritage' and 'blood' does not. These people still reluctantly and painfully continue to 'dream' that do not belong to them.
Natalie Portman in this film performances earlier there are a lot of praise, this time to see, really extraordinary. May be regarded as one of the best role of her career. This is an Oscar-level performances. Her a person narcissistic ego and self-confidence trinity of personality performing penetrating, without the slightest affectation and exaggeration, completely and whole-heartedly, my ecstasy. It is worthy of admiration perfect performances.
Although I had heard many great comments regarding Black Swan, I did not see the film until our class screening. Through close analysis of the film, I believe that through the use of colors, acting, and editing, one is able to gain insight into the themes the film conveys.
ReplyDeleteThe colors used in the film are kept rather basic as white and black are two of the main ones used. In addition to the notion that white and black commonly represent good and bad, I believe that these colors depict perfection and flaw. As there exists a parallel relationship between the play featured in the film, Swan Lake, and the actual storyline of Black Swan, the white swan played by Natalie Portman represents perfection and Mila Kunis, the black swan, represents flaws and imperfection. The constant strive for perfection in Portman’s character’s life is made apparent by her playing the white swan. The desire for perfection leads to destruction and ironically, imperfection which I believe is one of the themes of the film. Once Portman’s character begins down the road to destruction, quick editing is employed in order to convey the intensity of the situation and the lack of control. Another subtle theme in the film is that imperfection is beauty. Kunis’ character plays the role of the black swan which does not employ perfect ballet technique and is still considered beautiful and highly desired by Portman’s character. In conclusion, I was satisfied with the screening and I enjoyed the complexity of the film.
Black Swan:
ReplyDeleteIf I had to sum up Black Swan in one word it would be: disturbing. When one would envision a movie about ballet, they would not picture this surrealist, melodramatic film. Black Swan explores the inner culture and the dark side to the fierce competition of ballet and dancing. Furthermore, it explores how this intense competition affects the individual and their psychological well-being. Some of the other main themes deal with sex and the supernatural. Throughout the movie, there is a lot of sexual tension and sexually charged scenes. Many of these elicited controversy, such as the underlying mother-daughter relationship and the poignant lesbian scene between Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis. At numerous points in the movie, the viewer if left wondering whether what you are seeing is real or just a dream. For example, the marks Portman’s character has, was that caused by a supernatural force or did it actually physically occur? The director, Darren Aronofsky, does an effective job with using sound, color and the close-up to really make Black Swan a strong picture. I believe one of the most important aspects to the film is the choice of actress for the lead role: Natalie Portman. Natalie Portman, in some respect, makes the movie what it is. She seems absolutely perfect for the role. She shows incredible versatility and her performance alone is reason enough to go see Black Swan.
Nathanael Skinner
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this film. I felt that that the figurative and literal transformation of port mans character was very interesting. Also her inner psychological demon's at work were entertainingly disturbing. I felt that I was not supposed to like Vincent Cassel's character. He seemed sexist, and it felt like he took advantage of his dancers.
I liked the chemistry between Kunis and Portman. It added an interesting dynamic to the film. I'm still a little unsure of how the sex scene played into the whole film. It was cool, but a little out of the blue.
I did not like the ending scene. I felt that the end was abrupt, and didn't give the film a sense of closure. But I did see it coming.
I defiantly enjoyed the music in this film. It helped paint the picture of the craziness that eventually got to Portman. The music served the film very well.
Black Swan
ReplyDeleteAfter having never watched black swan till the class screening, I have to say the film is brilliant.The parallels made were visionary and the acting was terrific. It was very artsy in ideals, but very inspiring. Having danced my whole life, I feel the movie portrayed how professional ballerinas really are. The role Natalie Portman played as the principal dancer of the new york ballet was played perfectly. In the movie, she has two personalities, well at least I felt like she did. She plays the "perfect" ballerina practicing long hours, eating healthy and never giving up for anything. Her other personality was played by mila kunis. She was more of the free spirited type but still one of the top dancers.Nina, played by Portman displays a number of psychotic symptoms, including strong delusions and elaborate visual hallucinations. She begins to feel paranoid that Lily, her understudy, is determined to take the lead away from her. Thomas, meanwhile, becomes increasingly critical of Nina's "frigid" dancing as the Black Swan, and tells her that she should stop being such a perfectionist and simply lose herself in the Black Swan role.
In the end of the movie, when natalie portman takes the piece of glass and stabs mila kunis, she was really stabbing herself. I felt that Portman was trying to get rid of her because she was jealous of how she was still a perfect dancer yet was able to have fun with her life, compared to her own life having to portray this "perfect" ballerina figure.
The story is very full, passionate told the audience the glory and dark absurdity. The director put the beautiful layout of the violent elements in the entire movie as a shell, with a beautiful ballet.
ReplyDeleteHere is some of my analysis of the movie. Freud's theory is really very easy to use, I saw half gave Nina some diagnostic, primarily from the psychoanalytic method to start the cause of Nina 'is nothing more than two points: sexual repression and early experience is the impact of the childhood situation. I guess that her mother must have been momentary carelessness, have child and had to end of a stage career. So she projected all her hopes onto her daughter, she not only hopes for her daughter to achieve her ideal for the stage, but also hopes that their daughter will not repeat their mistakes. So her daughter's private life is controlled by her. We see Nina’s life is almost dancing.
In fact, Nina's, early in her swan queen role, and sexual repression have always been, get this role is more like a source of stimulation. She must dance to fill the vacancy of her life that her corner of the swan queen, so care about, care about the lives. Sexual repression is not simply refer to the original sex, more internal driving force as well as the original desire is the repression of this I level. Nina is always in a free state. (Natalie this part of speech) Nina need to solve their own original demand, DIY is completely fantasy object is the same sex is completely OK, but Nina's super I always can not to face the requirements and even produced sin and shame, her self-defense mechanism will self pose a threat to the feelings and thoughts into the subconscious, I think the film recurring "mirror self" It is all the Nina subconscious projection, accompanied by self-mutilation and paranoia - she has been wrapped in the fear that everyone wanted to rob her role, in fact, unwilling to put aside her own. The outbreak of the subconscious conflicts eventually led to the collapse of the Nina.
Black Swan
ReplyDeleteNatalie Portman is a great actress which I loved for years. This is also a great movie which has so many meanings that you will have to watch it several times before you can see the reflections from the detailed scenes. I enjoyed watching this film the whole time. The way how two completely opposite characters trapped in one body was totally revealed by the action of Natalie Portman. The two characters were represented as white and black, just like how the two colors are contracted from each other. The white swan is pure, innocent, naive while the black swan represents sexy, wildness, and the dark side of a person. Nina is forced to play a role just like her mother, being traditional, serious and not fun; while on the other hand, she desires passion, wants to be attractive and sexy. Sex to her is forbidden, which made her contracted herself and lead to the death of herself. She keeps fighting with the dark side of her, while the performance required both side of her. She was pushed to the edge when she couldn't tell which is the reality and which is her imagination. Just like every successful artist, their love to art is more than anything. Her love towards dancing made her willing to sacrifice everything, even her life, just to experience it all.
I enjoyed this film very much. I am usually drawn in by movies with an overlaying dark vibe. The film symbolizes the fight between good and evil (the white swan being Nina's "good" side, and the black swan her "evil" side). Nina begins as an innocent girl, very sheltered by her mother, and is a natural fit for the white swan. When she must play the role of the black swan, Nina must reach inside of herself to find her inner dark persona. She explores this side of herself by lashing out at her mother, experimenting with drugs, and sex for the first time. All stigmas of evil to an innocent, naive character. In the end, Nina ends up caving in and is symbolically destroyed by her inner evil.
ReplyDeleteBlack swan
ReplyDeleteA black swan in addition to the dual personality wonderful description, but also in Nina's wen wan and wild ably between introduced sex question discussion, in many cases, repressed life also means be repressed sexual, a spiritual person must be closed in sexual activity is not sound. Conversely, a long-term external performance depressed people are also to be certain enthusiasm is bold and unrestrained, this is the ballet director Thomas temptation Nina with his true intention, in the film Thomas to Nina may exist ambiguous feelings, but he from the point of view of the performing arts to guide Nina sexual psychology is has the scientific nature. Only when Nina fully released his sexual fantasies and cognitive, she can from soul perfect interpretation of the black swan dissolute evil. Many artists in active period of at the same time is also the high yield and high quality of creation, this kind of phenomenon despite its ugly side, but it is real
. From this movie, I know that parents that put his child as a their dream of tools, the parents is fail, and the child will get very weak, so we should let our children to make themselves’ choices, and give them a good direction, they will be success.
Black Swan
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Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan utilizes Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake to tell a psychologically thrilling coming of age story. Portman’s character Nina is introduced as a young innocent ballet dancer symbolic of the white swan. When given the main role Nina must channel not only the white swan, but the black swan as well. The black swan symbolizes the dark sensual side of Nina that has been repressed by her controlling mother throughout her life. Nina sees these traits reflected in her understudy Lily portrayed by Kunis. Nina’s struggle to find her inner black swan causes her mind to fracture when the two sides cannot coexist. She creates a reality in which she believes her own dark and sensual actions to be those of Lily. In the end reality comes crashing down on Nina, realizing her own true self she is finally able to perform her role to perfection.
Black Swan will go down as one Aronofsky’s finer works. The film was extremely well cast, Portman and Kunis’s ying yang symmetry truly make the film. As with most of Aronofsky’s films the cinematography just seemed to be the perfect vehicle for the story being told. The minor details play such an important in the overall art of the film and are executed to perfection.
Let me begin by saying I did not particularly enjoy this film. I do believe Natalie Portman gave a great performance, as well as the rest of the cast. I am also a huge fan of Aronofsky, and I do think this is a well put together film. Where my problem lies is in this. There is a thin line between a metaphor that is effective in its purpose and a metaphor that comes off as forced and pointless. I feel like Black Swan falls in this latter category.
ReplyDeleteSymbolism when is done correctly, does so in a very indirect way. It provides you with a circumstance and this circumstance can be viewed differently to show some greater meaning,theme etc. It shouldn’t forced and more importantly, it should serve a greater purpose. What I mean by this is that what the circumstance is symbolizing should help others understand, and view it in a new and enlightening fashion not simply restate the theme. I think Black Swan does this a lot as a lot of points it delves across are not so much forced as they are unneeded, and it tries to do much and get to deep in certain areas, and when it does so it adds nothing new thematically to the film. I feel like it’s “meta” for the sake of being “meta” and it’s not naturally done.
This film really bring me back to the old day I spent in Britain. Not only the accent but that blue color emotional lifestyle.
ReplyDeleteThe entire movie is pretty depressing. Nina is living under the strict control of her mom and great pressure by being the new swan queen in the new performance. Hallucination is all over the film. Some are bloody, some are creepy, some are ridiculous. I just feel difficult to realize what is unreal and what is real.
Sexuality is another topic in the movie. Her coach is trying to seduce her on sex and encourage her to masterbate in order to create an evil slutty feeling when she is doing the role of the black swan. I am not a feminist but it somehow contains the irony offense to the performance industry nowadays.