Ok, this one doesn’t really count; I saw it while getting drunk alongside funny and sharp minded people, not getting very drunk, just chic drunk. So, maybe my perception was altered, but as far as I can remember, and I remember the whole evening pretty clearly, watching Black Swan wasn’t the peak of the night.
They say that in vino veritas, so maybe there is some truth in this writing, therefore, I think it counts.
Darren Aronofsky serves us clichés upon clichés, not too crowded though, the viewer can have plenty of time getting bored with good actors wasting their talents posing like ballet dancers, not while ballet dancing but while performing their parts, exchanging flat lines that can hardly put a tension in a scene. That seemed pretty ridiculous and always called for a new sip.
We have the story of a very technical ballerina, Nina (Natalie Portman), suffocated by an overprotective mother, wanting desperately (don’t all ballerinas do?) to play the leading part in the Swan Lake. The problem for Nina is, that Thomas (Vincent Cassel), the director and choreographer of the Swan Lake, wants one dancer for two roles: the white swan and the black swan.
Searching for the passion in dancing which she seems to lack; Nina discovers the possibilities to play the black swan. Well, actually, she is not really in the search of the passion for the black swan’s part. The black swan within her, her dark side is searching for her and that is the thrilling part of the script. On the other hand it reminded me of my pigeon growing his mature feathers. Painful process, folks! Oh, and Thomas’s motivational tricks he pulls on Nina are hilarious. Poor Vincent, delivering those lines, a must see!
This is about a trip into the horrifying drama of psychological problems that involve paranoia, delusions and hallucinations. Not a good mixture for a boozing audience but not a bad idea. It is actually a good idea but the outcome is as shallow as the clichés on ballerinas, shallow as clichés in general.
Natalie Portman does not save the film but she saves herself. Not a bad performance on a poor character. Good for her. The rest of the casting, great as it is, has no efficient tools at disposal to save, at least, themselves.
In conclusion, Black Swan is the perfect film to sharpen your claws on. Don’t watch it alone, you will definitely need to share your cynicism.
Takács Enikő
Medicinema 