So I just did what grad students do on Sunday afternoons– I ordered pizza and PPVed Black Swan. I’d like to thank Comcast for putting the ability to see a movie right at my lazy fingertips. 🙂
I wanted to go see Black Swan when it was in “the theatre near you,” but I had that whole vasculitis thing jumping off. I think, because of my delay in seeing it, the awards it won, the commentary I heard, I just wanted it to be better than it was. If you haven’t seen it, stop reading. Spoilers, ahoy!
SPOILER
WARNING
SERIOUSLY
GONNA
TALK
PLOT
AND
EXECUTION
So I’ll agree that Natalie Portman did an amazing job, but I’m not sure I understand what, exactly, her character was. Maybe I psyched the movie out by thinking it was going to make some sort of brilliant twist (other than the obvious-from-the-start “she’ll kill herself like the Swan does at the end” move), but I watched the whole movie trying to trace potential twists. Was it The Black Swan Sense, and the Mila Kunis character wasn’t real? Well– sometimes. But not always. Was the mother imaginary? No. Turns out she was real. Was Nina (Natalie’s character) insane? Probably, but we never really get a sense of whether she was somehow mentally distressed when the movie started or if the process of trying to live up to expectations broke her down.
That said, it wasn’t a bad movie. It was well shot (for the most part. Some of the Blair Witch Tiny Dancer camera stuff was a touch hokey), and other than the “you know we have a mystery, but you figure it out” vibe of the writing, it was entertaining. The level of sexual imagery-to-realism was a little on the strange side (apparently all there is to seduction is looking at someone and grabbing their groin, so I’ve learned from Black Swan), but that can be forgiven in a culture where showing a lesbian sex scene (as the film did) was considered pushing the envelope.
So if I were the thumbs up, thumbs down kind of guy, I would have to put my thumb out to the side, if only because of the hype. The movie was entertaining enough because I like psychological drama (even if the end of the plot was the most obvious possible resolution), but I can’t really recommend it because, honestly, I saw Little Fockers yesterday, which is just a standard fare comedy, and it felt like a much better entertainment value. I’d recommend the film to anyone who has a skinny girl fetish (so much Bony Natalie Portman and slightly less Bony Mila Kunis), who is really into the world of ballet, or who likes a story with a frame that ends up being the ironic narrative line of the film itself (“oh, she IS the Swan Queen! I get it! But wait, the older dancer is the Swan Queen, too! We got two of ’em!”). I’d say watch it if you have the chance, but don’t waste your money.
With snarky grad student movie reviews, I’m Phill Alexander, and remember, kids, I bought Semi Pro on DVD.