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"Why do you want to dance?"
Dec. 30th, 2010 07:45 pmSo I saw Black Swan a few weeks ago. WOW. Highly, highly recommended for anyone who loves dance and over unafraid drama. Black Swan takes its tone from the genre it depicts--ballet is like opera, rich stories that wallow in pure emotion. It's about a young soloist at some NYC company (either ABT or City Ballet) who is cast in the double role of Odile/Odette in the upcoming production of Swan Lake--the director isn't quite convinced, as Natalie Portman's character is pretty uptight (perfect for Odette, the goody-goody White Swan--not so much for Odile, the evil Black Swan. In the course of trying to embrace her inner black Swan, Natalie undergoes a transformation and basically goes mad. It's gloriously imaginative and high-strung and very, very disturbing in places. At one point NP's character has a hangnail and she pulls at it, just pulls it right off--I had to look away, it looked so painful. There are some other thoroughly creepy scenes as well, some fantastic in nature, and others all too believable. There are a couple of times where the movie takes some real out-there risks but they pay off--one shot in particular* (scroll down for spoiler) during her performance just blew me away.
It draws on several influences including Showgirls (yes, really...) and The Red Shoes (brilliantly)--I love seeing all these movies that actually examine what it is to be an artists (Shakespeare in Love is another one), what we do for art, what defines the artist. One of my favorite exchanges in TRS: Lermontov asks Vicky "why do you want to dance?" She asks him in return "Why do you want to live?" He replies "I suppose because I must." She says--"that's my answer too." Similarly Nina says to her director "I want to be perfect." Unafraid, overt, passionate--I love the complete lack of irony, the sincerity, the passion.
*That panning shot showing her transforming into the Black Swan during Act 3--you see her walking around with this dreamy look on her face and the gooseflesh on her arms becoming pronounced. GOD, what a shot!
It draws on several influences including Showgirls (yes, really...) and The Red Shoes (brilliantly)--I love seeing all these movies that actually examine what it is to be an artists (Shakespeare in Love is another one), what we do for art, what defines the artist. One of my favorite exchanges in TRS: Lermontov asks Vicky "why do you want to dance?" She asks him in return "Why do you want to live?" He replies "I suppose because I must." She says--"that's my answer too." Similarly Nina says to her director "I want to be perfect." Unafraid, overt, passionate--I love the complete lack of irony, the sincerity, the passion.
*That panning shot showing her transforming into the Black Swan during Act 3--you see her walking around with this dreamy look on her face and the gooseflesh on her arms becoming pronounced. GOD, what a shot!
