Aronofsky takes flight with Black Swan

A ballet horror film. It’s not a term commonly thrown around, but that’s what always-evolving director Darren Aronofsky has made in his latest feature Black Swan. The opening sequence alludes to what awaits audiences – both terror and beauty – as Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) dances a captivating ballet solo before being confronted by a demon. Alas it is all a dream, as once Nina awakes we are jostled into her life as a professional dancer at an American ballet company.

She is something of a kidult, with a bedroom resembling that of a 12-year-old Taylor Swift fan and gets tucked-in by her domineering mother (Barbara Hershey) – who she lives with - every night. But she is also ambitious and when it’s announced the company’s principal dancer (Winona Ryder) is going into a reluctant retirement, she sees an opportunity. Nina campaigns for the role of the Swan Queen in their upcoming take on Swan Lake. But landing the part is just the beginning of her problems. Although her “sweet girl” personality perfectly encompasses the White Swan, she has trouble as the seductive and evil Black Swan, leading to increasing pressure from the director (Vincent Cassel). As Nina becomes obsessed with trying to be “perfect” and find a darker side of herself, the line between reality and psychosis starts to pirouette out of her control. Black Swan is tipped as one of the films to lead the Academy Award nominations this month (it’s already up for four Golden Globes) and it’s easy to see why. It’s a majestic spectacle that examines the nature of ambition and how one’s personal demons can become literal. Darren Aronofsky is a director to be admired; from Requiem For A Dream and The Wrestler to executive producing fellow Oscar favourite The Fighter and his next project – the Wolverine sequel - he never does two films alike. It was a brave choice to make a film that wavers between dance drama, psychological thriller and full-blown horror, but it pays off. While others would have stumbled trying to capture the complexity and detail of ballet routines, he takes it with aplomb and plunges the camera deep within the sea of dancers, weaving us in and around their movements.

As much as the spectacular ballet and stunning costumes are engrossing, it’s the character development and unexpected thrills that draw you in. Portman’s portrayal of Nina is particularly absorbing and as she plunges deeper into madness, you’re dragged down with her. Like Aronofsky’s use of imagery throughout, Nina too is black and white, yin and yang, with Portman managing to be both fragile and terrifying. Acclaimed French actor Cassel is also superb, along with the ensemble cast in Ryder, Hershey and Mila Kunis (below) as a wild child and rival within the company.Unfortunately Black Swan is weighed down slightly by some ballet movie clichés, such as the bulimia moments, cattiness and stage parent/demanding director stereotypes. Like Aronofsky’s Requiem, it’s also brutally humourless, with Kunis providing the closest thing to a reprieve from the dark subject matter.

There hasn’t been an accessible ballet horror film since Italian horror filmmaker Dario Argento’s cult classic Suspiria in 1977, and while it’s sub-genre that will never exist outside of the sub, Black Swan makes the most of a rarely danced stage. It has been thrown into the same sentence as Oscar favourite; Christopher Nolan’s Inception, which was a concept-driven film, supported by great performances while Black Swan is a character-driven film, supported by great dancing. It takes the audience places few would dare to go and is ultimately an exercise in bravery as not only Aronofsky, but his entire cast (especially Portman), took huge risks to make this confronting and at times controversial film. Black Swan is out January 20.

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Movie Mazzupial's best movie posters of 2010

I’m quite the movie poster fiend, as discussed previously on this blog with my best and worst all time lists of movie posters. And although I may regret some of the choices I made on those, the best movie posters of 2010 list is a little more carefully considered. Unfortunately some of these films haven’t yet been released in Australia, but since their posters are out I feel it’s fair to include them. Here’s the eye candy:

Hesher
This falls into the category of films us Aussies are hungrily waiting for, even more so when you consider this grabbing piece of poster art. And that's what it is - art. It's an image so arresting it couldn't fit more perfectly into David Michod's tale about an anarchist.Kick-Ass
Posters for action blockbusters so often fall into the lazy category (hello there Unstoppable), but Kick-Ass is the exception. With the block black background and yellow lettering, the creators leave all the awesomeness to the film's characters literally jumping off the wall at you. The neon paint splashes are also a clever way to substitute more graphic blood splatters AND throwback to its comic book origins.You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger
I'm a stickler for simplicity and Woody Allen's latest film led the way for several other movie posters that rely on simple, bold graphics. Less is, as they say, more.The Loved Ones
From the Pretty In Pink lighting to dishevelled torture victim, this poster for The Loved Ones sums up the movie perfectly - stylish and sinister.Machete
This is just one of a series of posters promoting the film, most of which relied on using images of the A-List cast. However, the direct 2D graphical style of this had me sharpening all sorts of artistic kudos.Blue Valentine
Dark and romantic is Blue Valentine, and this single image of the love enamoured leads gets all of that across and more. The hand-written style font is also a nice touch, along with love heart V.The Social Network
From the clever border to lone image of Jesse Eisenberg as the Zuker, The Social Network poster did much to intrigue people. But for me, the element that drove it home is arguably the best tagline of the year. It's so good in fact; the makers blew it up to cover the entire poster. Like.The Virginity Hit
Again, simplicity triumphs!Scott Pilgrim Vs The World
The studio thought a collage poster featuring the film’s stars was more marketable, which stands to reason. However, it was Bryan Lee O'Malley’s fully drawn character poster that ticked all my boxes. Its appeal is almost strictly for fans of the graphic novel, which is fine by me.Let Me In
In a similar lone image vein to Blue Valentine, this succeeds due to the conflicting colours and themes. Although I still think the artists version at Fantastic Fest is superior.Winnebago Man
Oh-so perfect in every feasible way. Simply super simple.The Runaways
The tag is catchy, but for a film starring two of the hottest up and comers as the female demi-God's of rock n roll, it’s a pretty ballsy move NOT to picture them in the poster (this one at least). It’s the right move I think, as this grimey graphic alludes to The Runaways biggest hit - Cherry Bomb.And the best . . . Black Swan
The poster being flashed up in the theatres is of course the lone headshot of Natalie Portman looking quite, well, evil. However, the superior ones are the series of posters released in the lead up to the film’s premiere. Don't be fooled by the simple, block shapes - the artwork is deceptively complex and has an almost M.C. Escher-like quality. Notably, they are also draw-droppingly beautiful.

In other poster related goodness, for Tyler Stout’s take on popular movie posters click here, for Killers shizzle here, The Dark Knight Rises wannabe posters here, Lego posters here, Jossing around goodness here.

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