The movie opens as nina sayers natalie portman, a young ballerina in her mid twenties, is dancing the prologue to swan lake. Character analysis of black swan 1003 words 5 pages. But the nuances missed me entirely because i had no clue about the swan lake ballet which they are rehearsing for in the film. The director of the company, thomas leroy vincent cassel, is determined to. Its a twisted psychological thriller where nothing is what it seems, all the way until the. Black swan explained the central theme is around two character types a gentle, innocent person. The film stars natalie portman, vincent cassel, mila kunis, barbara hershey, and winona ryder. The movie, overall, is a beautiful yet frightening depiction of disorders like ocd, self harm, bulimia, anorexia and schrizophenia. This paper is a visual analysis of the first 6 minutes of the movie. The movie was not only a success among the masses but also went on to be nominated for five. Watch official video, print or download text in pdf. I found the whole film pretty confusing and i dont think i really got what it was trying to do or say or any of the deeper meaning in the film, which spoiled my enjoyment of it. Swan lake is a ballet in which a princess is turned into the white swan and can only be turned back if a man swears eternal fidelity to her.
This is the thing that takes away everything, even her own self. Be it schizophrenia, or multiple personality disorder, or whatever else you want to call it, this is the only problem in her life. The black swan theory says that there are black swan events that have a major impact on the course of history. Black swan, which is the first single off of bts upcoming album map of the soul.
Black swan ending, explained meaning, plot, theory. Throughout the movie, nina develops into the black swan, leaving her childness behind and maturing. Ninas disordered relationship with her roommate mother erica, played by barbara hershey, sets the stage for ninas psychological breakdown. In the ballet, she is betrayed by the black swan, the evil magicians daughter. Darren aronofskys black swan is a fullbore melodrama, told with passionate intensity, gloriously and darkly absurd.
This process is slow and painful, giving her severe psychic problems. Black swan is ionospherically over the top, and some of its effects are overdone, but it is richly, sensually enjoyable and there is such fascination in seeing portman surrender to the madness and. An artistic masterpiece, black swan is a 2010 movie of the psychological thriller genre. The black swan dance double controversy concerns an american film and the credit its production gave to performers. Analyzing the motherdaughter relationship black swan poignantly illustrates ninas struggle to tap into her own passion and to forge an identity separate from her mothers, both of which are necessary to succeed as a ballerina as well as in life. With natalie portman, mila kunis, vincent cassel, winona ryder. A committed dancer struggles to maintain her sanity after winning the lead role in a production of tchaikovskys swan lake. Yes, black swan is the latest example of what the film critic jeanine basinger has called the my god, theres two of her. The screenplay was written by mark heyman, john mclaughlin, and andres heinz, based on an original story by heinz. Black swan takes a huge risk by shooting a surreal, psychological thriller with a cinema veritestyle, but the gamble pays off in a big way. Assuming the final scene of black swan is not a hallucination, nina injured herself some significant time earlier in her dressing room and danced two entire sections as the black, and then the white, swan, which included a costume change. There is a play called black swan, where there is an innocent white swan who falls in love with the prince and a seductive black swan who seduces the prince first. In the 2010 movie black swan, nina and lily are the two main characters, but a couple of times in the movie, a third girl pops up out of nowhere.
I cannot find any information about who this third girl is or even anyone asking who she is or even who played her she pops first when nina is exploring herself in the bathtub figure 1, and again during the sex scene figure 2. Sharetweetemail black swan is an intense psychological thriller describing a ballet dancers metamorphosis into the black swan. They are monogamous breeders, with both partners sharing. After the 83rd academy awards, in which portman won the oscar for best actress for. How it holds up after the exhilaration of that first viewing has faded will be most interesting to observe. The first step to becoming the black swan is giving up control. A truly exciting, beautiful and mesmerising movie, it was directed by darren aronofsky and starring natalie portman, vincent cassel, mila kunis and winona ryder. With this understanding of the external context, we can now dive into explaining what happened in the movie. I watched a couple days after whiplash because i guess i was into super tense films about obsessed artists this week, and i thoroughly enjoyed both though black swan was definitely much more uncomfortable to watch that hangnail scene ugh.
The five films of director darren aronofsky have covered more conceptual and visually idiomatic ground than the entire careers of filmmakers with five times the output. In the film, black swan, the plot centers on nina sayers, a ballerina whose only goal is to play the role of the black and white swan in her companys production of tchaikovskys swan lake ballet. After this scene, she is able to perform the black swan because she has become the sexualized, noholdsbarred person that she and thomas wanted her to be. It centers on a performance by natalie portman that is nothing short of heroic, and mirrors the conflict of good and evil in tchaikovskys ballet swan lake. The black swan explains why we are so bad at predicting the future, and how unlikely events dramatically change our lives if they do happen, as well as what you can do to become better at expecting the unexpected. The film begins with a prestigious ballet company in new york city preparing for a production of swan lake. Original lyrics of black swan romanized song by bts. Black swan, once the dust has settled, will prove to be a most divisive film.
I understood that portmans character was becoming mentally ill and i was aware of the unhealthy relationship. Behind the movie s freaky facade lies a profound commentary on the cost of fame, the sacrifice of artists and the hidden forces behind the shady world of highstakes entertainment. A black swan is an event or occurrence that deviates beyond what is normally expected of a situation and is extremely difficult to predict. The black swan summary september 28, 2016 march 22, 2019 niklas goeke self improvement 1sentencesummary. The plot revolves around a production of tchaikovskys swan lake ballet by the prestigious new york. Swan is an instant guilty pleasure, a gorgeously shot, visually complex film whose badness is whats so good about it. The occult interpretation of the movie black swan and. The black swan cygnus atratus is a large waterbird, a species of swan which breeds mainly in the southeast and southwest regions of australia. The daringly original new film black swan, from director darren aronofsky requiem for a dream, the fountain, and the wrestler, is the cinematic embodiment of answering that figurative expression and that twist of choosing what you see in the mirror. Even if the timeline itself is also a hallucination, she at least danced the final vigorous scene, so the injury cant have been that serious.
So ive just been to see the new film the black swan starring natalie portman. This was my first filmvisual analysis, written for my visual communication class under the late ms. First of all id like to say that i absolutely loved this film. Winona plays a 50 year old ballerina who is being forced to retire by the company because she is old, and a man is looking to replace her. Bracingly intense, passionate, and wildly melodramatic, black swan glides on darren aronofskys bold direction and a bravura performance from. Its not so much a theory, its more of a metaphor for the idea that a theory or a statement can never be proven. In order to provide a black swan movie explanation, its important to first provide a summary of the plot. Within australia they are nomadic, with erratic migration patterns dependent upon climatic conditions.
More so when under the scrutiny of a repeat viewing. The dark drama the black swan is built around the psychological illness of its protagonist, nina sayers, beautifully and disturbingly portrayed by natalie portman. If you have a question please ask below and i will get back to you as soon as possible. The statement all swans are white isnt proven by spotting white swans, as much as it. Currently, we are building the largest digital library of film and television inquiry and related content by producing original articles, curating content from other esteemed sources and facilitating user generated comment and discussion. This is the same theory behind a black swan event an event that is nearly impossible to predict. Black swan is a 2010 american psychological thriller film about a ballet dancer directed by darren aronofsky and starring natalie portman, vincent cassel, and mila kunis. But the nuances missed me entirely because i had no clue about the swan lake. The true black swan of this film is ninas mental illness. It is assumed that all swans are white, so a black swan which does in fact exist is seen as being impossible and unexpected.
Behind the movies freaky facade lies a profound commentary on the cost of fame, the sacrifice of artists and the hidden forces behind the shady world of highstakes entertainment. The idea of a doppelganger also extends to the end of the film, providing plot twists and psychological tension. For black swan, westcott started her research about 3 months before they started putting things together. Sharetweetemailblack swan is an intense psychological thriller describing a ballet dancers metamorphosis into the black swan. Even if the timeline itself is also a hallucination, she at least danced the final vigorous scene, so the injury cant have been that. So the reason why ninas story plays out how it does is because black swan is an extreme depiction of the welldocumented psychological issues ballerinas face.
Black swan is an interesting film for many reasons, not the least of which is that this story is told through the eyes of an unreliable narrator. Black swan is a 2010 american psychological horror film directed by darren aronofsky. Movie plot ending explained when i first saw darren aronofskys film black swan, natalie portmans acting shined, and the movie was terrific. Black swans are large birds with mostly black plumage and red bills. Black swan is a dense and layered film, with so much to focus on. In an interview with emilia and linda from, she explained, you peek your head into the business, in that world, for a long time before you structure things. Black swan deconstructed, films many faces the new.