Just saw Black Swan by Darren Aronofsky.
I am completely blown away. I haven't ever in my life been so transported by a film like this. I left the theater in a daze, like I was on drugs. Natalie Portman was sensational. She should win a lifesize Oscar made of diamonds and chocolate. The costumes were so beautiful. Those tutus omg. The grey one she carries around with her. I love that.
Ben asked me if I hated the mother. I thought Barbara Hershey - well ALL of the actors - were great. Terrific. And, no, I don't hate the mother. I feel that the movie was so from the point of view of Nina that everything I feel about the mother is what the ballerina herself feels. Love, anger, hate, fear. I think that the director played his cards all right. This was a Kubrick-esque feat of complete creative freedom and a complete vision and total high art. I couldn't stop crying when the credits rolled. Granted, I cry at any movie because I dunno it's such an intimate experience of being alone, in the dark with a hundred other people.
Black Swan was a brilliant example of the play within the play reflecting each other ala Hamlet, while avoiding the pitfalls and cliches of the trope. And avoiding the usual cliches and pitfalls of the dual personae within a character both fighting to survive. I am so pleased that Black Swan wasn't predictable.
It was simply amazing, and I am not saying this because I don't have the vocabulary to use another word. I am truly amazed at the performances, the transformation, the art direction, the camera work. other random thoughts can't put into completion at the moment: the unromanticization of the ballet; comparisons to the red shoes and to showgirls (sorry), the horror and the beauty- the horror casting such a deep dark shadow over the beauty that it truly puts into question the sacrifices she made for her art, for the dancing. It seemed that before this role she never truly 'lost' herself in her dancing, and that by losing herself to the dark side of her art she basically lost her life, and eventually her art. Is it all worth it? Absolutely yes. I don't know what kind of dark passages Darren and Natalie had to go down to make this movie, but for me it was a rapturous experience and I felt completely shaken by it. I couldn't see straight leaving the theater. It might have been because I haven't changed my contact lenses in a few weeks, but I like to think that my head was spinning from the ecstatic horror.
ok gotta go ben just started watching tv without me.
gnight
zzz
