Black Swan

 

Black Swan 2010

• Director: Darren Aronofsky
• Seen by this director: The Wrestler, The Fountain, Requiem for a Dream
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Winona Ryder, Barbara Hershey
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Natalie Portman – many
• Mila Kunis – Jupiter Ascending, The Book of Eli
• Vincent Cassel – Derailed, Birthday Girl, Jeanne d’Arc, Elizabeth
• Winona Ryder – many including Looking for Richard
• Barbara Hershey – Daniel Derondoa, Swing Kids, The Last Temptation of Christ, Run for Your Life
• Why? I can’t remember if I liked it
• Seen: Once before. Now 21 September 2023        

             Nina (Portman) gets her dream ballet role as both the White Swan and the Black Swan in Swan Lake. She is technically excellent but her neuroses stop her dancing from being passionately expressive. Long story short – she can’t take the pressure and starts having paranoid hallucinations. Her neurotic mother (Hershey) and predatory director (Cassel) don’t help.

       Portman is often good and she won an Oscar for this role but I found her very one-note, always anxious and weepy. Why did the director choose Nina in the first place?

       Now that I see it again I seem to remember not being terribly impressed the first time. I’m not impressed this time either. It’s not bad, but it’s not as good as its reputation.

 2 ½ * of 5