After a brief hiatus, i am back!! Been catching up on Movies- in theaters and on DVD..One movie that i saw few days back was Darren Aronofsky’s The Black Swan
Black Swan is not a run of the mill movie, and not a lame Ballet based movie either.... it is an intense movie, filled with multiple layers of symbolism, psychosexual metaphors, and rich thematic undertones.
The story is a twist on Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. Portman plays Nina Sayers: a protected, single-minded ballerina in New York City who finally gets a shot at stardom when the director of Swan Lake Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) casts her as to play both the White Swan and the Black Swan, replacing Prima ballerina Beth MacIntyre (Winona Ryder) . Nina, who’s goal in life is to attain perfection, she breezes through as the White Swan, but has a tough time trying to let go, and bring out emotions required by the Black Swan. As Tomas taunts her of her emotional shortcomings, Nina in turns faces sharp rivalry from Lily (Mila Kunis), another ballerina who is all about the darkness that Tomas is looking for in the Black Swan.
Teetering on the edge of madness, lust, paranoia, frustration, and jealousy build as the pressure on Nina intensifies, culminating in a stunning finale which takes place on opening night, when the world is finally introduced to her black swan, and when all her worst fears are realised.
It's a flamboyant movie, Aronofsky has created a deep screenplay thats just as powerful if not more as his earlier Requiem for a Dream.
The beautiful cinematography by Matthew Libatique, breath taking background score by Clint Mansell, and the highlight of it all is Natalie Portman’s phenomenal performance lets you wander into the magical world.
The Black Swan is an al out Natalie Portman's film, and she delivers the performance of her career as Nina. It's no surprise that the camera loves her, but this may be her most subtle and nuanced work yet, perfectly capturing Nina's physical and mental meltdown.
