Talk about an overrated movie. I watched this movie because I've been hearing good things about it online, and from friends. My cousin Joe, went out of his way to tell me that it is a must see movie. Directed by Darren Aronofsky, known for directing the films The Wrestler and Requiem for a Dream. I loved The Wrestler, but this movie just didn't do it for me. Aronofsky is known for dark and gritty film-making. I had issues going into the movie knowing it is a dark psychological thriller about a ballet. But hey, we live in modern times, and people like this contemporary bullshit. For those of you out there who want to see it just for the lesbian sex scene between Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis, yes you know who you are, don't waste your time or money. Besides neither of them are hot anyway. While the film might have some highlights, it does not live up to all the hype. Hit the jump to hear more.
I am going to try to write this without giving away too much of the story. I don't want to ruin the movie for those of you who are planning on see the movie. For those of you who had gotten your money stolen, you are probably as confused as me. Black Swan follows the story of Nina(Portman) who is auditioning to be in a modern adaptation of the ballet known as the Black Swan. Nina struggles to impress the director, some Italian/French douchebag who keeps trying to rape her throughout the film. She eventually gets the lead role. While Nina is perfect at her white swan performance, she is having trouble performing her other role as the black swan. The rapist guy keeps trying to convince her that she is too uptight, and that she needs to "loosen" up" to embrace the role fully.
The story moves along as Nina faces an internal struggle, of what I don't know. All the critics are saying that she is facing an internal struggle. Lily(Kunis) I guess is supposed to represent her dark side, or the black swan, but we eventually find out the main conflict of the film is internal not external. Lily represents Nina's external struggle. The only thing that makes sense to me is that the internal struggle arises from Nina's intentions of being perfect and doing things the right way and her having to do sexual favors for the director to get the part. Like all good thrillers, the audience is unaware of what truly is going on during the majority of the film. But unlike most good thrillers, I was left slightly confused at the end of the movie.
I don't want to spoil anything so I am going to stop discussing the plot-line. In general the movie had some pretty decent scenes for a thriller. There is a decent amount of violence, and some weird and creepy stuff. Natalie Portman rips her fingernails off at one point, that was pretty cool. I also especially enjoyed when the part when they had a guy dressed as an evil swan, the costume was pretty realistic and scary. The transformation scene near the end of the film was also pretty awesome, I don't know if it was CGI or whatever but it was pretty cool.
Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis both had pretty good performances. This role is being touted as Portman's best, and it may be. I mean she isn't really that good to begin with. And why does she always have white face paint on? (Star Wars Anyone?) Again for those of you anxious to see the sex scene, don't get your hopes up. First of all its only 30 seconds long, and second neither Portman or Kunis are hot. That's near the end of the movie anyway, and you have to sit through about an hour and a half of bullshit. The twist at the end of the movie is something that most of you could figure out on your own, yet still rewarding. A major disappointment for me involves a mattress. Now I don't want to ruin anything for anyone, but lets just say its there the first time, and it would have been awesome if it wasn't there the second time.
In the end, the movie had some thrills, but it isn't as good as people are making it out to be. The film-making and directing was top notch, but when it comes down to things you are watching a movie about a crazy girl trying to be in a ballet. I mean how scary and exciting could a movie about ballerinas be. You would have a better chance at making something scary with a killer ballerina, ballerina zombie, or something along those lines. Essentially what you have is a drama inside of a thriller inside of a drama. There are multiple levels of meaning and symbolism in this film. But just because such complexity exists doesn't mean I have to say this movie is spectacular. For the last time, its a thriller about a ballet. I mean come on.
So should you see it? If you want to say you once saw Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis make out, then yes. If you want to see a decent, and somewhat creepy psychological thriller, then yes. If you want to get your socks blown off by a smart and scary thriller and be able to say that was awesome, then keep looking. Lets just hope this Aronofsky guy doesn't ruin the next Wolverine movie, it means a lot to me.
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