19th December 2010, 8:05 PM
I meant that post more in general about trailers, and how comedy trailers are the worst. That said, I've seen some reviewers who looked at it as a comedy. It has a few dark comedic moments.
I didn't view it that way, but to hopefully do the movie better justice than its commercials, I'll explain a little more about it. It is, in part, psychological thriller, but it's more of a character study. There's tension and paranoia from Natalie Portman's character towards Mila Kunis's, but it's not really the main theme. Kunis isn't out to murder Portman, but Portman sees Kunis as trying to sabotage her chances at the role and outshine her, replacing her.
It pretty much goes like this: Portman is given the chance to play the Swan Queen in a ballet. She's been working her ass off at the production company for years and this is her dream. The director tells her she must play two roles: the White Swan and the Black Swan.
She easily captures the White role, which the director tells her, but he pressures her to better capture its inverse. Kunis is a new ballerina, one who's entirely unlike Portman. Where Portman is hard-working, virtuous, and innocent, Kunis is lazy, laidback, and more naturally seductive. This is basically the Black Swan role.
The obvious theme is that the movie is about a woman's life in a male-dominated world, where one must play two conflicting personas: innocent sweet virgin, and wildly sexual seductress. I viewed it from that lense, which made it more enjoyable.
But the point in all this is that Kunis is really only one pressure towards Portman. You have the director, pressuring her to lose herself in the Black Swan role. He's kind of a sleaze-ball and has his own motivations about getting into her pants, yet at the same time, he does have passion for the show and want her to succeed in it. Then you have Portman's mother, who's pulling her back in the other direction. She did a number on Portman, who's basically a repressed, grown child.
Typing all this out, it might sound a little cheesy, but Aronofsky is a master at making really his films riveting, making you feel exactly how their characters do with his choices of cinematography and soundtrack. I think he's one of the most talented directors in Hollywood.
I didn't view it that way, but to hopefully do the movie better justice than its commercials, I'll explain a little more about it. It is, in part, psychological thriller, but it's more of a character study. There's tension and paranoia from Natalie Portman's character towards Mila Kunis's, but it's not really the main theme. Kunis isn't out to murder Portman, but Portman sees Kunis as trying to sabotage her chances at the role and outshine her, replacing her.
It pretty much goes like this: Portman is given the chance to play the Swan Queen in a ballet. She's been working her ass off at the production company for years and this is her dream. The director tells her she must play two roles: the White Swan and the Black Swan.
She easily captures the White role, which the director tells her, but he pressures her to better capture its inverse. Kunis is a new ballerina, one who's entirely unlike Portman. Where Portman is hard-working, virtuous, and innocent, Kunis is lazy, laidback, and more naturally seductive. This is basically the Black Swan role.
The obvious theme is that the movie is about a woman's life in a male-dominated world, where one must play two conflicting personas: innocent sweet virgin, and wildly sexual seductress. I viewed it from that lense, which made it more enjoyable.
But the point in all this is that Kunis is really only one pressure towards Portman. You have the director, pressuring her to lose herself in the Black Swan role. He's kind of a sleaze-ball and has his own motivations about getting into her pants, yet at the same time, he does have passion for the show and want her to succeed in it. Then you have Portman's mother, who's pulling her back in the other direction. She did a number on Portman, who's basically a repressed, grown child.
Typing all this out, it might sound a little cheesy, but Aronofsky is a master at making really his films riveting, making you feel exactly how their characters do with his choices of cinematography and soundtrack. I think he's one of the most talented directors in Hollywood.