What isn’t there to say in favor of Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan that hasn’t already been said? Given the amount of praise it’s gotten (already Golden Globe nominations and Oscar buzz) and how I’m a little late to contribute to it, it feels like there’s not much to add. But I feel the need to document this anyway.
After looking back on my blurb post back in September about the psychological thriller’s festival premieres, I realized all of my expectations were met, and then exceeded – exceeded to the nth degree. In that premature post about the film (a horrendously dark story about a competitive production of Swan Lake), I stated:
This trailer alone makes Center Stage look like The Mickey Mouse Club.
Understatement.
I then said:
Personally, I am intrigued by and shuddering at the outrageously sinister tone of this movie.
The tone. The first thing I thought as I walked out of this movie was that the tone was perfect. Aside from the brilliant performances from the entire cast (Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel Barbara Hersey, Winona Ryder), Black Swan succeeded because it was presented in the most perfect way it could have been. With so much going on, Aronofsky tied it all together nicely, and then unleashed it back into the wild where it flourished. It had sinister moments, mind-twisting points, melodrama, fantasy blending with reality, comedy, gore, horror, disturbing violence, ballet (of course), sexual scenes, and it just felt right. The film embraced all of these elements in such a way that I never once thought it overly dramatic, cheesy, or that it was trying too hard. Black Swan did not hold back where most films would and do these days. The whole story downward-spiraled into place; and when it ended, it felt satisfying.
Though there are some comparisons to the director’s last film, The Wrestler (and rightly so in the sense that self-destruction and athleticism conjoin in both), this film will not really “remind” you of anything else. It will go beyond your expectations of how sinister it is. It will make you go “holy shit” several times (aloud or to yourself). You will feel satisfaction, but you will question why such a dark movie makes you feel so fulfilled. It just does, it just is.
What I’m trying to say is that you should go see Black Swan. And then after you watch it, think about all the ways someone else – or even the very filmmakers who made it – could have ruined it, or even worse, made it mediocre. That is truly what makes Black Swan a masterpiece: that it didn’t even worry about failing. It just fucking went there.
