Black Swan
2010 Directed by Darren Aronofsky
Synopsis
In the era of personal branding, the scariest possibility is that someone might be better at being you than you are.
A psychological thriller set in the world of New York City Ballet, BLACK SWAN stars Natalie Portman as Nina, a featured dancer who finds herself locked in a web of competitive intrigue with a new rival at the company (Mila Kunis). The film takes a thrilling and at times terrifying journey through the psyche of a young ballerina whose starring role as the duplicitous swan queen turns out to be a part for which she becomes frighteningly perfect.
Cast
Natalie Portman Christopher Gartin Mila Kunis Winona Ryder Vincent Cassel Ksenia Solo Toby Hemingway Barbara Hershey Janet Montgomery Kristina Anapau Marcia Jean Kurtz Deborah Offner Adriene Couvillion Shaun O'Hagan Sebastian Stan Benjamin Millepied Sergio Torrado Mark Margolis Tina Sloan Abraham Aronofsky
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Whenever asked to define what the horror genre is to me, I always refer to the works of Edgar Allen Poe, particularly his story the Sphinx. This is a story about a man who is stressed as everyone around him is dying of cholera. He retreats to a country home. There, while sitting at a window, he sees a huge monster running towards his cabin. He is stressed out of his mind, convinced this is a sign of his own imminent death. In the end it was merely a spider that was dangling a couple of inches in front of his eyes. His stressed mind created the monster, feeding his feeling of loss of control over the situation around him.…
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Every time that I see 'Black Swan' again, I succumb to its beautifully dark and sinister spell some more. I cannot pick any fault with it, and every aspect - be it technical or narrative-based, doesn't only make me fall in love with Darren Aronofsky's masterpiece a little bit more, but it makes me fall in love with cinema a lot more (I didn't think it was possible).
Because a masterpiece, a cinematic tour de force and a pure example of engaging storytelling is exactly what 'Black Swan' is. Much of the plaudits note Natalie Portman's excellent performance as the highlight of the piece, and rightly so - she hits all of the right beats and captures all of the…
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First time I watch it since I was blown away in the cinema nearly two years ago. Still grabs me by the throat and chokes me until it's over. The way Aronofsky manages to make it terrifying while also beautiful is amazing. Natalie Portman delivers a tour-de-force performance, bringing both sides of the Swan perfectly to life. The music by Clint Mansell is haunting and powerful as every by him.
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Outstanding was the only thing that can describe this film. Natalie Portman might have had one of the greatest acting performances i have seen in a very long time. She was insanely good and it seems like her amazing acting raised the level of her fellow actors in the film to a high level to match her. The film as a whole, the musical score, the look, everything was awesome. Aronofsky has truly created a masterpiece. The only film that exceeded it in 2010 IMO was Inception.
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Darren Aronofsky's most recent joint Black Swan never really interested me too much and at the time it came out I kinda just ignored it. I'm not sure why, because I'm a huge fan of Requiem for a Dream and The Wrestler, but this one just never really caught my attention. Now, it may not reach the greatness of either of those but I can certainly say that I was a complete idiot for letting this one slip by. Spiritually it's very similar to The Wrestler and has actually been called the sister film to that one by numerous people including Aronfosky himself. Perhaps an even bigger influence than his own film, however, was Satoshi Kon's masterful animated thriller Perfect…
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"Top 100 of all Time Selection"
"Top 15 Films of the 2010's Selection"
"Top 10 Film 2010 Selection""I just want to be perfect."
The Red Shoes + Perfect Blue = Black Swan.
Talk about obsession and perfection, a combination that is a recipe for auto destruction, and no better director to bring to life this tale of horror and beauty than Darren Aronofsky.
Black Swan is Aronofsky balance between Sci-Fi, drama and horror, is hunting, tense, sweet and borderline mental. With every film that passes Darren only keeps growing as a director and playing around with the human psyche and dark emotions. I seen other directors try this before but no one with the effectiveness of Aronofsky.
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A hauntingly beautiful and emotionally powerful film.
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Beautifully dark, and thrilling, this film sucked me in and didn't let go! Natalie portman was beyond brilliant! As was the entire cast.
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Chilling film with disturbing performance from Natalie Portman, and a great score and direction attached.
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A fantastic effort from Darren Aronofsky, Nathalie Portman and the whole team. I listened to the Q&A with Jeff Goldsmith before who talked to the team of screenwriters who explained the fascinating origin of the screenplay and the mid-term change from theater to ballet. The Black Swan theme certainly is genius. The final minutes are energetic, creepy, intense, powerful, visually stunning, great cinema and invisible and effective special effects. Also the abundance of mirrors in many scenes must have posed a nightmare to the visual effects guys to hide cameras. But again, seamless, invisible, immersive. I have not seen Darren Aronofsky's previous two efforts (The Wrestler, The Fountain) but will do that soon after watching Black Swan. I loved loved loved PI, though...
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Second viewing not quite as arresting as the first, probably due to not being in a theater with an audio system that could take advantage of the remarkable sound design. Also I sort of go back and forth on the quality of Hershey's performance. But man, Portman is awesome, I always like Cassel (his reaction to being kissed after the penultimate act of Swan Lake is amazing), and holy shit does Aronofsky know how to stick a landing or what.
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No está mal pero la hypearon hasta la náusea y la neta, no es para tanto.
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The line between undisputed genius and pretentious bullshit shouldn't necessarily be a fine one, but when director Darren Aronofsky walks it, it's as thin as a razor's edge. Up to this point, however, it's been the whole of his career threatening to tip a specific direction, with individual films lodged firmly on one side or the other. (The Wrestler -- a masterpiece. The Fountain -- overwrought nonsense.)
Black Swan is the first of his projects that could honestly support both sides of the argument. It is certainly pretentious. After all, this is a movie about mental illness and sexual awakening and the ungodly pressures we face from both internal and external forces, all set in the world of professional ballet.…
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A tense and promising first hour is disrupted by a barrage of increasingly bizarre and over-the-top moments that had me laughing through the remainder of the film. Whoops.
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6th movie of the June Challenge
Like with any Aronofsky movie, Black Swan is disturbing and real. And disturbing is what makes Black Swan good. Without it, it would be flat out boring.