Monday, January 10, 2011

Black Swan

Finally! Dave and I saw Black Swan yesterday. And it was just as great as we thought it was going to be. I definitely agree that Natalie Portman will be winning some big awards for this movie... she was amazing. Her character goes crazy and she plays it so well.

I always wonder, who thinks of movies like this? Especially since it was so dark and the character got so wrapped up in the evil rather than the good... how does a screenplay writer not get wrapped up too?

So if you have not see this movie, here is what it is about.... Natalie Portman plays a ballet dancer who is at a dance school in a big city (new york maybe?) and lives with her mother who is very clinging and used to dance but never made it to the big time because she got pregnant and had to give up her dance career to raise her daughter. So she is basically makes ballet their life and live out her squashed dancing dreams through her daughter, Nina (Natalie). Their relationship is very creepy and her mother is way too controlling and protective. In fact, she almost sees her daughter as a little girl... tucking her in at night, changing her clothes for her, and keeping her bedroom as a little girl's room should look. It gives you the heeby jeebies. So that is Nina's home life with her nutty mother.

Nina goes to school for dance and gets to audition for the ballet, Swan Lake, to be the Swan Queen. The ballet is about a swan queen who is in love with another white swan but his evil twin brother (the black swan) puts the queen under his spell and her "dark side" as a black swan comes out (which is supposed to be not sweet but instead seductive and evil). Mila Kunis (yes from "That's 70's Show") comes into the audition as a girl names Lily and is the complete opposite of Nina.... fun, reckless, sexy. Nina's problem is that she can dance the white swan quite well as she is controlled and sweet looking however she cannot get into character as the evil black swan. She at first does not get the audition but after getting upset at the ballet's director, he sees that she could have an evil side after all and casts her as the Swan Queen - her dream come true.

So the rest of the story is dealing with the cool new girl, Lily and the threat of her taking over Nina's role as Swan Queen. Nina dealing with her terrible scratching habit when she is upset. Nina taking on the stress of trying to be the black swan and taking the criticism from the director. She lets go and loses her mind. You have got to see this movie.

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