Black Swan – 2010, Darren Aronofsky
The most impressive thing about Black Swan is the simplicity. It’s a story about a dancer who is given the lead in Swan Lake, her big break, and the pressure she is put under causes her to come apart at the seams. The conceptual aspect of the film drawn from Swan Lake is as important as the plot itself.
Is Black Swan a masterpiece? I don’t think so, but watching it made me wonder about what it takes to make a masterpiece, and how long a film has to be around before people start declaring it one. Maybe it’s like canonisation; you have to wait for five years after the director’s death before proceedings may begin.
I suppose that every masterpiece is greater than the sum of its parts, and that’s what prevents Black Swan from being one. Everything about it is close to spectacular; the performances are stellar, the production design is top notch (although I thought the black-and-white motif was overused), and the cinematography and camera work are also very good (although some of it was a bit too shaky in parts). But even with all this, it never seems to rise above mere technical excellence.
Black Swan will doubtless be compared to The Red Shoes, but there are 60 years between the two films so I don’t think that’s fair, and besides, The Red Shoes probably has more in common with that other recognised classic Singin’ In The Rain (hmm...now there’s a double feature).
Barbara Hershey is particularly good as Portman’s overbearing mother. Her presence reminded me of another film she stars in; The Stunt Man, also about paranoia (and sleeping with the director). Vincent Cassel’s performance gets smothered by everyone else, but I think the reason I wasn’t so impressed with him in this film is because he’s so good in everything else I’ve seen him in, and he often plays much bigger, stronger characters than the one he plays here. Perhaps he deliberately toned it down (or was directed to do so) in order not to distract the audience from Portman’s delicate and repressed little flower.
It’s an excellent film and well worth a watch. It builds well to a satisfying and dramatic ending, which is something that pleases me more and more as I work my way though so many ‘classic’ films of yore.
Here is a more detailed review than mine (and some nice posters).
I've heard mixed views about this - the consensus amongst film buff colleagues is it is a bit Emperor's new clothes. I'll definitely check it out to form my own view. I saw King's Speech on Tuesday - well worth the hype, far better than expected. Rush and Firth were a terrific on screen combination. I still prefer 127 Hours in terms of the Oscars, Danny Boyle is on the way to greatness. I'm trying to work out how to convince the Mrs to spend Tuesday night watching The Fighter; could be a challenge!
ReplyDeleteSaw this not so long ago. I thought it was immense. The weird thing is I found myself being desperate for her to nail that last performance and not giving a fuck about what happened to her afterward which is, I suppose, what I was supposed to think.
ReplyDeleteI know a lot of people think that Aronofsky tends to get carried away with his own bullshit and that a lot of fans like his films because they think he should but I genuinely think he's one of the best directors around at the moment. His films are totally original but really entertaining.