Black Swan....

Many readers have asked how I liked Black Swan. I liked it. Sure it was really really dark, and kinda creepy, but I felt like it was worth seeing.

What I particularly liked was that Natalie Portman, and Mila Kunis for that matter, looked like real dancers. Nothing ruins a dance themed movie quicker than when the actor hasn't studied dance. It's amateur hour and it destroys the movie for me. I read somewhere that both actresses trained 8 hours a day for their roles, for something like 8 months? It certainly paid off, and both women carried themselves like real ballerinas. Granted, I know much of the dancing was a stand-in. If you see the movie, you'll be able to tell when the stand-in is dancing, or when the shot is just of the feet, it's a professional dancer, not Natalie Portman. However, she does do a lot of dancing, and even when she is posing, standing around, or stretching, she looked authentic.

I also liked the theme and story. Yes, it was dark and creepy, but it was a great idea for a movie. The costumes and set were gorgeous! What I didn't like was that I felt like the plot had holes, almost like something was missing. Maybe the movie was heavily edited, and with that editing, parts of the plot were missing. I just felt like there was more to it, and we, the audience were missing out. I also felt like some of the prevalent themes were forced down our throats. The main theme was that dancing the role of the Swan Queen is difficult because the same dancer is playing both the "virginal" white swan, as well as the "evil" black swan. This was a challenge for the lead character in the movie, and it was driven home to the audience. The other thing I noticed was that the lead character, Nina, was written to be really naive, annoyingly so, unrealistically so. I think this is because a man wrote the character....see it for yourself and let me know your thoughts!

I would recommend this movie with caution, because its really risqué, and that isn't for everyone. Also, it's not appropriate for anyone under the age of 18.....seriously, it's racy. My friend said there was a dad with his 9 year-old daughter (probably a little ballerina) in the show she saw. He probably had a lot of explaining to do on the car ride home, and is a pretty unprepared parent, considering all the advertising for this film pump it as a psychological/sexual thriller. So go with your adult friends, not with any minors, and not with your parent....that would be awkward!