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Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Black Swan

 Black Swan (2010)
directed by Darren Aronofsky 
[filmography: The Wrestler (2008), The Fountain (2006), Requiem for a Dream (2000), and Pi (1998)]
 written by Andres Heinz, Mark Heyman, and John McLaughlin 
[filmography: Heyman and McLaughlin cowrote Man of the House (2005) with Tommy Lee Jones, which nobody saw]
story by Andres Heinz
[filmography: Black Swan is Heinz' film writing debut, though the NYU and UCLA film school grad will likely have much more to come soon enough]
 starring Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Winona Ryder, and Barbara Hershey

ENJOYMENT: ***** (out of 5)
"Loved it"
    Black Swan was a longtime coming, in my mind.  After Pi and Requiem for a Dream, Aronofsky established himself as an ambitious new surreal filmmaker, kind of in the vain of David Lynch and David Cronenberg.  But, though The Fountain was pretty surreal (it wasn't that good, and definitely not minimalistic), it wasn't until now, with Black Swan, that Aronofsky revisited his roots that made him stand apart in the first place.  Though he didn't write any part of this film--and he usually does--, he treated this as if it was his baby, and it will probably be forgotten that he didn't write it even among avid Aronofsky fans.  Nonetheless, the director, the visionary writers, and the loopy Natalie Portman and supporting actors made for a great psychological horror movie that explores deep and ugly human emotions in a visionary way that will never be forgotten.

PROS:
-Natalie Portman's performance: she is finally utilized to her full ability and will most likely win the Academy Award for Best Actress for her efforts
-The style and vision of this film and how it expressed deep emotions in its imagery and music
-Its supporting actresses, Mila Kunis, Winona Ryder, and Barbara Hershey.  Though the film focuses mainly on Portman's character, I still couldn't pick out the craziest one of them all--they're all insane and insanely entertaining!
-The originality of the character study--a kind of beauty-pageant crazy, full of highly competitive people with often low self-esteem, with a deeper and more artistic approach, being that it's ballet dancers instead of beauty queens
-The justice of its dance scenes and music sequences expressing the beauty at the root of ballet, while balancing it was equal amounts of horror 
-The psychological and incomprehensible quality that is rare in films, really making us crazy and all wondering what really happened 
-The fact that after weeks since I saw it, I have nothing but incredible things to say

CONS:
-When I walked out of the theater I didn't know what to think, and thought I didn't like it that much. It wasn't until a little while later that it all sank in, and now that I'm reflecting so much on it I realize how magnificent it truly was.
-Nothing else except that it may not be for the faint of heart and people with an opposition to graphic lesbian sex scenes

AWARD PREDICTIONS: Definitely Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Actress Natalie Portman, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Makeup, Best Costume Design, and Best Cinematography.  Probably nomination for Best Supporting Actress Mila Kunis and possibly also for Barbara Hershey.  I believe Natalie Portman will win, along with the writers taking home the in-my-mind coveted Best Original Screenplay Oscar.

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