black swan

between kanye west's runaway phoenix and my impromptu trip to the movies a few nights ago to see black swan, i think it's safe to say that i will be creating some sort of feathered get-up for myself very soon. but all in all, it was definitely nice to randomly see a movie as thought provoking as black swan (the additions to my mental log of "movie quotes i must find a way to use in every day life" was a plus too).

quick plot summary: it's a story about a painfully innocent ballerina and the crazy psychological trips that come along with her landing the lead role in a famous ballet "swan lake" which is about the ying and yang sides of a lovesick and seductive swan. but i'm not here to summarize so let's get to the good stuff.

first of all, i would like to applaud director darren aronofsky's use of only five colors throughout the film: black, white, pink, red and green (yupp - did ya catch that?). being a classy young lady who is obsessed with the polished look of beige pearls on black, white and creamy pink cloth, i was completely taken by the opening scenes of the movie that panned through nina's delicate and girly apartment and followed her through her daily ballerina rituals. once nina landed the lead role in "swan lake" (especially at beth's retirement ball) i realized that from then on, in every massive crowd scene, nina was the only one wearing white while everyone else wore black. red colors were present in violent and dangerous scenes obviously enough and green was present throughout nina's apartment (the celebratory cake, the rug in front of the door, her creepy mother's favorite bedside butterfly seat) clearly symbolizing her mother's envy of her career. although the color-as-commentary thing has been done before i thought it was a decent touch and worked well for this movie in particular - it was good to have simple sets to look at while my mind was looping around all of the wild plot twists and shit that was happening on the screen.

let's talk about said shit, shall we? what the hell went down in the middle of this movie?! can someone, ANYONE, explain it to me?! all i know is that she got high off some little white pill, had sex with a chick who turned out to be herself - at this point i'm still with it, still following along, still understanding - but then she woke up and BAM the broad's eyes start turning red and her knees start capping back, some sort of exorcism took place, she sprouted wings, shattered her mothers hand, beth repeatedly stabbed herself in the face with a nail file (seriously though, waayy too far), there was a weird shot where she sees beth/herself with a holey face in her apartment's dark hallway (this is when i got flashbacks to the sixth sense and that horrifying lady in the pink robe that just stands in the hallway puking on herself -shudder- ) and all i was thinking was "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!" in a matter of about twenty minutes i somehow went from watching a classic ballerina tale to watching a high budget, low taste horror movie without even leaving the theatre for so much as some overpriced popcorn and a quick whiz. needless to say, i HATE horror movies and find no pleasure in willfully causing myself anxiety or fear so this twenty minute segment was the first thing that ruined all chances of this film getting a five star rating on my scale.

even though this was more of an afterthought, the second thing that ruined the film were the few glitches in the writing. #1 was the "beth got hit by a car" scene. a ballet dancer with ruined legs? ya don't say? oh you mean like in benjamin button? you mean like in every other ballerina movie i've ever seen? (-eyeroll-) #2 was the "you are the only one standing in your way - lose yourself" scene. come on son, give the audience a little more credit in the intelligence department. they should've been picking up on the hints at that major theme of "losing yourself" throughout the movie, no need to blatantly state it in a cheesy mentor-mentee, monster-and-his-creator, let's-stare-in-the-mirror-so-you-can-see-who-you-are moment.

but on the positive side (and there's mostly positives despite the aforementioned ruins) what i found fascinating and brilliant about the movie was that it was a look into the psychological battle that comes along with taking on another character and perfecting an artform. most of the movie i kept thinking back to heath ledger, and many other actors before, who became so encompassed in perfecting certain roles, such as ledger's joker character, that it eventually (and allegedly i guess, but it makes sense to me) played a part in their self destructions. i felt like i was literally taking a step inside the actor's studio or something. following nina through her artistic insanity brought a very intimate and personal level to the movie that really wow'd me. not to mention there were some pretty damn good quotes for my inspirational quote book thrown in there. "you could be brilliant, but you're a coward" - i sat back and contemplated my life for a little bit after mr.le'roy barked this line at nina. one of my biggest fears in life is that my cowardice will covet my creativity and hinder me from being the artist/writer/extremely cool person that i know i am. but i guess now i know that the key lies in "losing myself."

overall rating: 3.5 / 5 stars
give-back: the nail file self-mutilation scene - too far man, too far.
take-away: "perfection isn't just about control, it's also about letting go. you have to surprise yourself as much as you surprise your audience."
fun fact: i used to violently scratch myself in my sleep and one time when i was like eleven i got an allergic reaction to only god knows what kind of dander in the air at some place i don't remember and one side of my face broke out into what looked like snake scales and for a good five minutes during the movie i thought "i am the black swan."