Black Swan
Thursday, January 6th, 2011Yes, Rodarte is amazing.
Natalie Portman as a meek girl was also refreshing. Her dainty voice. Her fragile frigidity. Excellence. Mila Kunis– I’d like to see in more complicated roles, rather than always playing cool (Meg of Family Guy is great, though. I love to hate Meg because of how cool Mila Kunis is). I’m sure there’s more of her to come…
The movie wasn’t more complicated than a short thrill– a flurry, an emotional ballet, drama, etc. the stage within a stage becoming a cliche sort of thing rather than modern– ha, I suppose we could now call it the old-modern, if you catch my silly drift of meaning. I didn’t expect so many special effects/or feelings of graphic intensity (I always forget the enormous potential of audio details to transport and convince one of madness, or any ir-reality), but once I let go of analyzing it for quality, I let it become what it was: the visceral Black Swan production that was to be illustrated on the stage of the story, said the prick of a French man who directs within the plot. There is nothing so nice and soft about being a ballerina after all.
Funny to juxtapose such beautiful young actresses in these dissimilar roles. While Natalie Portman has built a serious reputation in terms of her acting career (I watched Leon/The Professional, and she was quite amazing for a child star), Mila Kunis exudes the carefree, cool, effortless float in and out of her roles as the fun-loving, nice (ok, maybe not in That 70′s Show– but being who she was on the show, and the show itself– it dragged out forever– it’s truly impressive that she wriggled out of being just dumb and beautiful), hypnotically exotic girl (can you totally tell I might have a crush?) that everyone else + you loves. Not to say it’s an eerie comparison on screen in plot vs. IRL, but I feel as if the casting was deliberate and thoughtful… not to mention, the draw of their popularity combined practically begged for that special erotic spark to entrance and lure people in.
Overall, I agree with most critics that the movie was exaggerated– but it was a performance that needed exaggeration: like a ballet, feint movements on stage will never capture an audience. Maybe it was the hype, but to enjoy this movie all the more you had to enjoy the dramatic performance rather than fight it all the way. And applaud the exhausting performance by Natalie Portman, as this seemed to be an extremely challenging role to embody and revive as she skillfully did.
Er, not to mention the actual dancing. Great dancing.
Go Rodarte.
Also, can I just mention how much I love Winona Ryder? Her cameo as fallen prima Beth recalls the To Hell With the World anger and frustration of herself in Heathers, and … her in Heathers has a special place in my heart.
Even if she’s sort of lost that confidence.
