In an interview, Natalie Portman was explaining to a journalist the challenge of getting guys along to see ‘a ballet film’. “How do you do it? You put in a lesbian scene!” How right she was. I used that exact bait to lure my husband along to see Black Swan last weekend. Amazing how the words “Natalie Portman Lesbian Scene” can cause a grown man to overlook a lot of tulle.
At one point, during a graphic non-lesbian scene when Natalie Portman’s character goes to the hospital room of a former prima ballerina (Winona Ryder) to, um, return her metal nail file (!!!!!!), I leaned over and whispered “It’s a BALLET MOVIE”.
In the film, Natalie Portman portrays a timid ballerina fighting to play the lead in a New York Ballet Company’s production of Swan Lake, Mila Kunis’s character embodies everything that Portman’s is afraid of. She’s wild and free. What plays out is a twisted tale of competition, illusion, anxiety and mental illness. Barbara Hershey, remember her from Beaches? Is also stunning as Portman’s overbearing mother.
Like many who have seen it, Black Swan stayed with me. Many have said they came out of this film not knowing what they thought. I didn’t think it was a scary film. I thought Natalie Portman was amazing. Barbara Hershey too. I love Mila Kunis. It’s the kind of movie that stays with you long after you leave the cinema. Scratch my back anyone?
What did you think of the film?
Here, Natalie Portman kind of explains which parts of her characters illusions were real and fake (2:35min mark):
[youtube gmRf0VoIxmw 640 390]
Here, behind the scenes with the costume and make-up teams:
[youtube RGppd6CM7lg 640 390]
Here’s a gallery of Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis:
Top Comments
I agree with the comment about the film staying with you. My immediate feeling after seeing this movie, although I was thoroughly entranced and captivated by seeing something completely refreshing (rather than the typical hollywood garbage) was that I dont ever want to watch it again.
However 2 days later, I could not stop thinking about the movie and replaying images in my mind, and trying to work out certain connections in the movie, thinking that maybe I missed something..so now I really want to see it again.
Having said that I was not quite prepared for how disturbing the movie was and even though I knew it was more about mental illness than ballet, some scenes were highly shocking and bizarre and... yeah disturbing.
I thought Natalie was brilliant and Mila was fantastic as well. If only there were more challenging films like this to enjoy!!
I agree, I can't stop thinking about the movie either! All different scenes keep replaying in my mind.
It was a good movie with great acting performances, costumes and music although overall it was about as subtle as a brick. There's nothing wrong with melodrama, but I think that if it had been slightly more subtle it would have been more powerful. For example, Nina is a loony from the beginning. She is hallucinating and behaving strangely from the start. They should have lessened that in order to exacerbate her behavioral changes.