BLACK SWAN (2010) - Movie Review

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

Your ability to offer both praise and nuanced criticism to a film you have serious problems with is unparalleled on KZbin. I am in awe yet again. Btw, a Cronenberg version of this film would have been awesome! The idea of over the top body horror plus a really weird score and direction sounds so much better than the heavy emotionalism of Aronofsky. Also as much as I appreciate Natalie Portman's effort on this role, I feel that she somehow is too precious or an overactor, or something. It would have been nice to see another lesser known actress try it out.

[@jesusperez7108]

Deepfocuslens: Time to review another Darren Arronofsky film. Me: Oh boy. Here we go again. Me at the end of the review: Those are all fair criticisms. Give it a like.

[@racewiththefalcons1]

This movie indeed owes a heavy debt to *The Red Shoes.* I highly recommend that film to everyone who hasn't seen it yet.

[@user-lr8pk7un1x]

"I think in the right hands, it could have been unique, like a cult masterpiece" yeah, in satoshi kon's hands. :)

[@crisppxls]

Amazing review, I am an Arronofsky fan but I really enjoyed your criticisms. I would have to sit and watch Black Swan again to really appreciate all of your finer points, I haven't seen it in years, but it was great to get your perspective on the film. Also I completely agree with what you said about his attitude towards his own work, I can't work out if it's an act or not, but contrast his attitude in interviews to somebody like Paul Thomas Anderson who really knows how to have fun and doesn't take himself or his own work too seriously... I certainly prefer the latter. Also just wanted to say I only recently discovered your channel but I love watching your reviews, really insightful and in depth, thank you for all you do!

[@vincenzoberetta1085]

Regarding "Suspiria", the movie I feel to be the most connected with is actually "The Neon Demon", by Nicholas Winding Refn. Regarding the artist's inner struggle between perfection and practicality - including the "scission" in two parts pulling the soul in different directions - then I feel that Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman did a much better work in "Adaptation". As a screenwriter for (mostly) popular comics, I strongly identified with the struggle symbolised by the two very different twins portrayed by Nicholas Cage. "Black Swan" was, IMHO, a cold way to speak about this very important part of the creative process, with shallow symbolism and nothing really insightful to offer. "Adaptation" spoke to me directly, by showing the "artist's struggle" as it permeates the lives and the minds of the characters - something I felt close to. When I watched "Black Swan", in turn, I was basically able to predict every "twist". "Ah, boy, Natalie is discovering her sexuality thanks to Mila Kunis... let me guess... now she will watch again and see mila turned into herself in a dissociative moment... aaaand... there we are! Yawn." To sum it up, a lot of interesting ideas and "meat", but, sadly, half cooked and done better in the past. Pity.

[@megamoviez]

This is my #1 favorite film of the decade with in my opinion arguably the best performance of the decade! Also, one of my favorite movies of all time! Darren Aronofskys definitive masterpiece! Loved the review!

[@dawsondjodvorj2408]

Daniel Day Lewis still exists

[@megamoviez]

Dawson Djodvorj I agree but his best performance was There Will Be Blood which was before this decade

[@dawsondjodvorj2408]

@@megamoviez He still did lincoln, besides there's even Joaquin Pheonix in tha master.

[@megamoviez]

Dawson Djodvorj Joaquin Phoenix might be the best performance of the decade. He should’ve won the Oscar for The Master. He’s my favorite actor. It’s a toss up between him and Natalie Portman. The reason Natalie Portman impressed me so much is while she was a good actress she’s never went to that place that she went with Black Swan. That’s what solidified her as one of the finest working actresses. We already knew that Joaquin Phoenix was one of the best actors from Gladiator and on. While his performance is arguably better in The Master I was just so impressed by what Natalie was capable of in Black Swan.

[@QuantumtestGaming]

Its just a shitty version of perfect blue which was a much better movie

[@deadsea2004]

right when you mentioned that the actress should "transcend", i immediately thought of Isabelle Adjani too :)

[@antoniosalinas5369]

I just discovered your channel and you have a new subscriber! Your channel is one of the few that I feel is actually educated under film theory and history and not just an expression of baseless opinion. Two films I randomly recommend and would love to hear your thoughts on- Princess Mononoke (due to the scale of the animated project and the intricacy of it), Victoria (the German film done in literally one take), and Citizen Kane (just because everyone is so mixed about it, I personally do think it deserves its title, at least with regards to the 20th century). Great work! :D

[@thespideyman100]

I never really thought about the Milan Kunis' character being in her head and I'm going to think about that on my next watch

[@AdamFishkin]

Mila Kunis saves this film. As much as I generally love "Black Swan", I too have issue with the dialogue and the overblown seriousness. Aronofsky spent almost 10 goddam years tinkering with Natalie Portman on the story before they even shot it .. and it shows. It really does. There's a precision to what Portman does on screen that feels as much a high-school cheerleader's "okay ladies, like we rehearsed it!" as it does grand ballet. Mila Kunis, on the other hand, knows it's a farce. She therefore gives herself more freedom to find moments (rule of thumb: happy accident = handy nuance) which serves as a needed counterweight to what Portman is doing. If it's off-the-rails you want, picture this thing in the hands of Julie Taymor. THAT is a director who can guide anything to the majestic snowy peaks of nutbaggery. Or bring Fritz Lang back from the dead, fetch his skeleton some fresh eyeballs from John Hopkins University, and give him a budget of $90 million and maybe a more expressive lead actress .... Emma Stone comes to mind. The moments in "Black Swan" that worked for me the most are the ones without any dialogue. As a visual medium, cinema's images are worth more than words, and maybe it's my attachments to films like "The Thief and the Cobbler" but I think you can find much more dynamic leads by stripping away modern speech. Have a character be silent, or only speak in rhyme, and see what happens.

[@Chrisratata]

Literally the whole point of Portman's character was that she was too precise. Kunis' character being more effortless was intentional foil to Portman not being able to *let go*

[@mudpiez464]

I don’t give a fuck what anyone says. Black Swan is a goddamn masterpiece with the best female performance in the past 20 years.

[@rics1883]

Blue Jasmine begs to differ

[@chevexx1111]

@@rics1883 Cate Blanchet was excellent. But as to the films themselves, Black Swan is a far superior film.

[@majorgear1021]

Winona Ryder in Girl Interrupted wins this battle

[@jtreitz1492]

I liked this move a lot more than you, but your review was still very well done, will look into more of your reviews in the future!

[@heisenberg6322]

"He lacks that sense of artistic awareness. He doesn't know that his films aren't quite smart as he thinks that they are". Oh come on! Really? I honestly have no problem with your criticism, no matter how harsh it might be. That said, with all due respect, I don't think you're aware of how pretentious that is.

[@anthonymartensen3164]

I think she's saying that she finds Aronofsky himself to be a little pretentious.

[@NaughtyVampireGod]

@@anthonymartensen3164 which he is

[@heisenberg6322]

@@anthonymartensen3164 Then why not just say pretentious? That would be a legitimate criticism on someone you think is pretending to be smarter than he is. But one can't be consciously pretending to be smarter and at the same time being "unaware" about it. That's pretentious criticism. And "lacks artistic awareness"? Oh please. You can hate his work all you want but let's at least respect someone's awareness about his own artistic expression.

[@anthonymartensen3164]

@@heisenberg6322 you're right, they are presumptuous assertions it would seem.

[@shadowseer07]

I love Black Swan but I think that's because I love fairytales and Swan Lake. I do understand your criticisms about.

[@pitbull635]

sameee

[@zacharya]

you should really check out the movie 'perfect blue'. there are many noticeable comparisons, visually and contextually. arronofsky is a known fan of the film as he has referenced a shot of the film in requiem for a dream.

[@gary0078]

Pi & The Fountain are Aronovskiy"s masterpieces

[@jamespader]

Please please please please review Jordan Peele’s Us! Another extremely satirical and surreal horror film that also uses ballet within the narrative. One of my favorite films of last year and an extremely relevant social satire in my opinion, would love to hear your thoughts on it.

[@deepfocuslens]

Man, I've seen that film multiple times. I have no idea why I didn't review it. Fail on my part.

[@bespectacledheroine7292]

I’m with you on it 100% (As well as with the other comment that it’s not as good as the meatier Perfect Blue), although, the most glowing compliment I can present to Black Swan is that it’s one of the bright spots of one of the driest years of the 2010s, if 2010 isn’t the earner of that title. Still not close to the top dogs of 2010 for my taste, which are Poetry and Winter’s Bone, but nevertheless one of the only films from that year I ever feel gravitated towards a decade on. This must count for something.

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

I'll take a dry year like 2010 over the blood red wet of 2020 any day.

[@bespectacledheroine7292]

I should hope so lol.

[@f4gsforpele]

2010 dry?? Where?? 💀

[@michaelbarrett9061]

Pi is my favorite film of his but I agree with your assessment of him.

[@uphillracer]

I think Mother! was so great.

[@gigabix]

I'd be really curious to hear your thoughts on Robert Altman's Images (1972).

[@byke-j7l]

wait a minute! all your books on your bookshelf are backwards!

[@WyattCayer]

I love your channel! Great reviews :D

[@benjaminvermeylen3784]

I can just imagine you in heaven someday, filled with the highest form of euphoria and filled with the blinding love of eternal bliss: "I find this experience troubling. While I do admire God's ability to bring about these feelings of immense satisfaction and total peace, I feel conflicted."

[@65g4]

Oh yes love The Red Shoes a masterpiece

[@luisutil9070]

I am one of the biggest "Suspiria" fans... and I get what your saying... although suspiria also suffers from extremely bad dialogue and questionable acting... it's more aware of itself and it works... definitely has more impact. But I'm just not that negative on Swan... perhaps time will give us a different perspective

[@Wulfpack1]

Great review like always. I sincerely think you are the best movie reviewer on KZbin. Your beautiful but your most attractive feature is your intelligence and insight. I know people that graduated from college with degrees that are very book-smart yet have no depth. They cant have a deep thought even if they tried. They cant look at film, art, or media in general and reflect. They still cant communicate clearly and cohesively with intelligent vocabulary. PS have you seen the movie Old Boy. Not the J Brolin remake but the original.

[@sanddab]

Please review 'Black Narcissus'.

[@wolfstar675]

Uffffff amazing film that people rarely ever talk about.

[@mxt77]

I dont think he is so much trying to make "smart movies". In my viewing experience, he takes an emotion, fear, experience, addiction or trauma and puts it beautifully in a scene in a way I havent seen before.

[@Suite_annamite]

@7:10: I didn't quite think of this before you brought that up, but if you think Mila Kunis' "Lily" might not even be a real character but some kind of aspect, then she might indeed be some kind of Jungian archetype that Natalie Portman's "Nina" has no genuine access to.

[@Whippets]

I'm glad Adjani didn't get this role since she's 26 years older than Portman. Kind of tough to do a coming-of-age film when you're 55 years old. lol

[@jerryw.903]

Your reviews of "Apocalypse Now" (your best); "Mad Max: Fury Road"; "Fear And Loathing. ."; and this one show fantastic insights. You are very comfortable with chaos and madness. I believe that is a compliment. You decide.

[@classicvideogoodies]

Portman's use of a body double causes some problem for me because we can only see her dance performance from the waist up most of the time. This film, like The Red Shoes, is about how an artist and her art intertwine, and we really need to see a genuine, unvarnished version of her dance, which can only be done by a true professional. The Red Shoes does have a world-class dancer as the lead, and so does Mao's Last Dancer, a 2009 Australian film also about a ballet dancer and his personal problems.

[@deepfocuslens]

Yes, I agree that it really helps suspension of disbelief when you use a professional dancer, such as in The Red Shoes. I am a former dancer, so it's always tough for me to not to be critical of dance in film. Portman does have some natural talent that is evident. Though being shot from the waist up as you say, is less effective. We focus on her port de bras, which for me is really stiff. I know that the point of her character was to be a perfectionist and a cold performer, but the stiffness in her arm carriage and shoulders here felt more amateur, and not like a ballerina from a professional company. So those sorts of things constantly take me out of it. But at the same time, a film like this couldn't be made unless you had a really big star at the center to draw in audiences.

[@classicvideogoodies]

@@deepfocuslens The body double for Portman felt the same thing we did and criticized Portman's lack of dancing skills. Her reward was tons of hate from fans and no mention of her in Portman's Oscar acceptance speech. But in some weird way, maybe Portman's lack of skills was intentional. Her character hallucinates and is so unsure of herself that in my first viewing I thought she hallucinated half of her performances! Another notable dance movie was The Turning Point, which was fortunate enough to have Baryshnikov who was a world-class dancer and a pretty good screen actor as well.

[@Chrisratata]

​@@deepfocuslens it's strange to me that you recognize that her perfectionism as being intentional but couldn't embrace her imperfection as being equally intentional. Her perfectionism is what kept her character's performance as a ballerina from being more engaging and organic, but her amateurism speaks to what the company director was willing to overlook in pursuit of a sexual interest in her. Not to mention the fairly common trope of someone seeing someone's potential before anyone else can. If I remember correctly, some of the girls give her looks for getting the part..which could either be in her perfectionism's head amongst her paranoia of not being worthy but could also be those girls seeing the same thing you saw in her talent shortcomings.

[@gregorytyson995]

Please review The Woman in the Dunes. Great stuff, btw, as always.

[@gandgpolaroid6406]

I think Natalie Portman in Black Swan is one of the best performance ever and the finale is majestic , one of the best movie I see

[@zvyn]

This is my favorite Aronofsky movie. Have you seen Pi? If not I would strongly recommend it.

[@pinkpanda5696]

I also don't think that is her death at the ending. I think that is her finally triumphing over all of it and emerging a stronger woman.

[@R0CKDRIG0]

There's nothing to indicate a positive tone though. If it's about becoming a woman it still is being presented as something filled with anxiety and uncertainty, not a conquest of the self.

[@65g4]

I thought you already reviewed this years ago oh well i liked Black Swan a lot and i also liked The Wrestler. I also like Natalie Portman a lot but i know your not a fan, each to their own

[@TheMisfitPond]

I didn’t find mother! funny at all. Quite surprised anybody does tbh. But technically it’s a horror and horror tends to provoke different reactions out of people i guess. Either way, very solid and nuanced review

[@tastemaker_87]

Watched a couple of your videos so far. I like you seem not persuaded by hype, trusting your own judgement

[@tuckerplum8085]

I love your reviews. I am a big fan. However.... Allow me to disagree with you. (Again. I admire you. I'm not criticizing. I'm discussing.) I do not see this as a "coming-of-age" film. Not at all. "Nina" (Natalie Portman) is not "letting go of childhood." She is losing herself in nervous breakdown, having a severe mental break and committing suicide. It is not ONLY "Lily" (the Mina Kunis character) that is "an aspect of Nina's personality." Every single character and action that appears on the screen is Nina's twisted interpretation of the "reality" that exists in the world of this film. There is a mother character. There is a ballet director character. Can we trust ANY aspect of what these characters say or do? NO. EVERYTHING is Nina's version of what is happening.... as she is being destroyed by her art. Her mother is pushing her. But we cannot know to what extent. As Nina gets crazier, the mother seems crazier. It's all in Nina's mind. Is the ballet director ACTUALLY a sexual predator? We cannot know the answer. Nina sees him that way. Is Nina REALLY in a vicious competition with the Mila Kunis character? (Not in the way it is portrayed on screen.) Reality totally fractures. Nina stabs Lily. She dances the final dance with a shard of glass in her abdomen... and dies. In killing Lily, she has actually stabbed herself. Did she actually dance with such extraordinary perfection that she "became" the Black Swan? (Probably not.) We don't know how she actually danced. She had actually stabbed herself. In her mind, she performed perfectly. And then she died. What was the reality? Who knows? The art is more-important-than-the-woman to everyone around Nina. At least that is how she understands the situation. What is the reality of this world she inhabits? We can only understand the broad strokes. What appears on the screen gets darker and more twisted as the movie advances.... until Nina kills herself to achieve Black Swan perfection. ALL OF THE CHARACTERS, and everything that happens, are Nina's twisted version of reality. Did Lily actually put drugs in Nina's drink? Or... was that something Nina created in her mind so that she could give herself permission to go to bed with Lily? Did Nina actually go to bed with Lily? Or... was that a sexual fantasy in Nina's head? Was it part of Nina's effort to "know" the Black Swan? All of it is in Nina's head. The whole thing. Every aspect of what appears on screen is Nina's version of reality. Is Nina being pushed to a breaking point by others? Yes? No? We cannot know to what degree that might be true. She is pushing HERSELF to destruction.

[@electrofunk5442]

Please do The Swimmer 1968 and Wanda with Barbara Loden 🙌

[@riffraffrichard]

Weirdly I like aaronfsky better the cheesier he gets. I enjoyed the fountain, I think cause he’s always got an element of fable in his films, the fountain leans harder into that and it makes it more successful. The ones that try to be heavier don’t have the punches as you spoke about.

[@fuckTrump-v7j]

Darren Aronofsky films are like the "Better life" scene from Home movies.

[@EthanButler]

You should seriously write movies. You'd do a great job.

[@blinkzone1]

You should check out Paul Schrader's "Auto Focus"

[@russellb5573]

I didn't click with 'The Fountain' the first time I saw it but after re-watching it a few times, I've found it's the only Aronofsky film I can return to. I know it's failings but I just can't help being sucked up by its obvious sentiment and trippy light cosmic themes! I suppose, it's a bit of a guilty pleasure for me I'm guessing, you would tear it a new A(ronofsky) hole if you reviewed it, so leave it alone! I don't wanna know! Have a go at 'Noah', instead. That's an easy Hollywood Aronofsky to pull apart ;) P. S: 'The Red Shoes' rules

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

Have you ever seen American Werewolf in London? I saw it recently and while there were some aspects that were pretty sophisticated and interesting, on the whole I found the experience to be disappointing. The plot/narrative was paper-thin and the ending so abrupt that it was almost painful. No catharsis at all.

[@NaughtyVampireGod]

it's rubbish

[@maattthhhh]

Aaronofsky's films crosses the thin line between being inspired by and ripping off other classic films.

[@evoste]

Agree about Aronofsky, l quite liked Pi which was a low budget film, so I forgave it's flaws, what followed was frustrating as there kernels of good ideas and concepts, they just don't go far enough, Cronenburg would have done a better job of Black Swan.

[@lampad4549]

What does that even mean they dont go far enough it's such a vague statement and can be applied to any film.

[@anthonywheeler2082]

A Dario Argento version of this film would be interesting!

[@Asian_Movie_Enthusiast]

I definitely agree with you on this director. :)

[@kevineightnine6117]

Love your channel so much! Thinking of making a KZbin channel myself to meet more people online interested in film

[@letmonge]

100% with you on this one! (and as always)

[@natedogs212]

Great Review. Agree with nearly everything

[@louisaparker]

Do you really think she's single? Get real, man.

[@natedogs212]

@@louisaparker what are you talking about?

[@natedogs212]

@@louisaparker do you really have a 'hard on' for her that you think others want to actually 'Date' someone they see on KZbin?

[@luisutil9070]

Omg... Argento would not know what to do with this material now a day... lol... maybe in the 70's , perhaps 80's ... no way he makes a better black swan now... No film is perfect... could it have been better? Possibly... but I still liked it... and I'm glad Aronofsky is making films... even if I'm not a fan...

[@jamesclyne7240]

DA is a lightweight

[@Suite_annamite]

Since you've finally reviewed "Black Swan" (2010), *I DARE YOU to check out "Neon Demon" (2016)!*

[@jg5558]

I didn’t even realise black swan and mother were directed by the same person. Mother turned me off coz it was just so pretentious and superfluous. Pretty sure the director thought he had just made another 2001 or something. Yeah... nah. Black swan I always only took as a character study haha. Now that you’ve mentioned I agree it had so much potential. But nope they weren’t brought out for me in the film at all. Nothing like the red shoes. I recommend you watch the Nightingale. Do it

[@Danny-ql2it]

People often get great ideas, i think what's hard is translating them into reality and really going as deep as possible to flesh them out well, darren aronofsky just fails at that, in every film that he made he he faces those same problems, never learning from them, i honestly think revisiting his films is a waste of time and not rewarding at all, listening to you talk about him is way more interesting than acthally watching his films 😂

[@brainsareus]

The Wrestler is one of my fav films of the last 20 years. PS I do not at all like Pro-wrestling, it's buffoonish plebeian theater.

[@theconsciousobserver6829]

The movie is a solid 9/10. What s the struggle for

[@Sqdlow]

Cracking review

[@SteRDLK]

Aronofsky, the director people think Nolan is

[@rawman998]

Perfect Blue remake

[@mondoenterprises6710]

Good. You know your stuff!

[@arthurmarcil6787]

Whiplash ? I think they are very similar movie as shown by Lessons from the Screenplay kzbin.info/www/bejne/mJKQdHVsrLuorLM Whiplash has 93% rotten tomato. (edit: 88% Metascore with 8.9 User Score) Black Swan has 85% rotten tomato. (edit: 79% Metascore with 8.1 User Score) Why is this? Is whiplash better? Just wanted some expert opinions.

[@NaughtyVampireGod]

I question the methodology of Rotten Tomatoes. . Sometimes you cannot put a review into either a "fresh" or "rotten" category, yet this is how they get the grades. Probably metacritic is more accurate.

[@arthurmarcil6787]

@@NaughtyVampireGod Whiplash (2014) has 88% Metascore with 8.9 User Score. While Black Swan has 79% Metascore with 8.1 User Score. Why is this? I am curious!

[@pitbull635]

Black Swan is obviously the better film

[@arthurmarcil6787]

@@pitbull635 Would you care to elaborate? I would appreciate it very much. Thanks and have a nice day.

[@ronc166]

I actually enjoyed BlackSwan.

[@rhinocore]

Watch Perfect Blue.

[@WyattCayer]

I can't believe you just said darren aronofsky is "too hollywood" lol

[@vgovger4373]

Not sure what you mean this was funny?

[@bang1432]

It’s funny to me, she wants complete different movie Out of Black Swan. If you Want cronenberg, Argento etc…. Watch Them. For me, it’s not fair criticsm of a film.

[@paulrhyne4]

This is a great movie!

[@maddalena5708]

You are a genious

[@AmoralPhat40oz]

Damn...

[@zerodreaming]

Overrated snorefest of a movie. Showgirls was way better.

[@pyro380]

Aronofsky is a horrible hack.

[@ajaywankhede1905]

You look like my ex girlfriend..