Black Swan
Black Swan is a cautionary tale for the creative types. If you seek perfection in what you do, the rigid regimen may leave you vulnerable. You can’t really play wild because it requires you to let go and be rather than act. Of course this could be dangerous as this throws all logic out the window and you’ll go crazy. Just ask Natalie Portman.
Her character can’t be perfect to play the black swan. It tears her up inside trying to find perfection in the flawed. Then it tears her up literally in order to find that spark of inspiration to be the black swan.
This movie pretty much writes itself once you know the players. In fact, I knew even before what was going to happen once you hear about Swan Lake. Portman is the quiet, mousy type who’s talented but vulnerable. Her mother, Barbara Hershey, lords over her as only a tyrannical stage mother can. The French ballet dude lords over her too making her a new star to take the place of the aging Winona Ryder. Mila Kunis comes in as the doppleganger who could be her rival and/or her lover.
I liked that Winona represented the old guard. You have the millenium generation’s ingenue replace gen-x’s gamine. Very symbolic. And lots of this movie made use of symbolic things. Swan Lake with the white swan-black swan. Old versus new. Darkness versus light. Perfection versus intuition.
One last thing, that scene, you know that scene, was pretty hot. Filmed like a nice porno. And don’t masturbate if your moms sleeping in the same room!
3 of 5 stars
