| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| BaftaBaby |
Posted - 12/16/2010 : 17:13:27
First, and just in case I get sidetracked ... you will NOT recognize Winona Ryder, whose brief time onscreen conveys everything you need to know about the once-lauded prima ballerina about to retire not so gracefully. You just know that a decade or so ago she'd have acquitted herself in the title role as stunningly as does Natalie Portman here.
Aronofsky's film probably takes a bit too long to get galloping, but it does eventually explode into a tale, part melodrama, part psychological exploration, and all theatrical alakazam. And, though I see the need for some, even most of it - there's just a tad too much gratuitious prurience. When it's woven, however, into Portman's labyrinthine emotional journey it's an homage to the best of David Lynch. And I mean that in a good way!
What Aronofsky has achieved - and very few directors ever have - is the depiction of irrational obsession and single-minded joy and pain that makes the life of a dedicated artist more rigorous, more onerous than going down the mines.
That Portman as Nina the Ballerina -- (I think the nursery-like rhyming, thought but not uttered, is a deliberate attempt to prove how she defines herself, echoed in the toys that still decorate her room though she's well into her 20s) -- that she so brilliantly masters the journey is quite simply amazing. For the depth and grace and pain of her performance she deserves every scrap of applause that greets her staggering last portrayal of The Swan Queen from Tchaikovsky's classic ballet.
What artists need to do with every breathing moment is relegate everything to a synthesis of what will help in the conquest of their particular challenge. This is as true of ballet dancers as of fine actors, painters, poets, et al.
Standing in Nina's way yet essential to her throughout the rehearsal journey are her overly supportive ex-dancer mother, the choreographer/impressario, and a new girl in the company whom she both identifies with and suspects.
The way her paranoia grows feathers and then wings is really at the heart of the film. When Aronofsky chooses moments to visualize the process, we're in for a real cinema treat.
Barbara Hershey as the mother, Vincent Cassel as the choreographer, and Mila Kunis as the new girl are all way out in front of the chorus for Portman. But it's so much her film, that when ballet shoes are mentioned hereafter we'll still think Shearer Red, but with swans, it's gonna be Portman Black.
|
| 1 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Sean |
Posted - 06/10/2011 : 12:18:46
I'm a bit surprised there hasn't been more commentary about this. Anyway, given my complete disinterest in the subject matter - dancing - I found it a little slow to grab me by the balls, but when it did it never let go. Increasingly gripping and intense as it took on elements of a psycho-thriller, I was left a dedicated Natalie worshipper. This was the Portman show (as anyone who saw it knows). She even managed to make herself look ugly at times, how the fuck she managed to do that is beyond me. 
And BB, I did in fact recognise Winona in there immediately (actually, as soon as she spoke) even though I haven't seen her in a movie for many years and had no idea she was cast. It's her voice that couldn't possibly belong to anyone else. 
I'd probably have given this a 9 if I had even half a minor interest in dancing. Although I'm tempted to add that point back on for the Natalie/Mila lezzo-action scene. 
8/10
|
|
|
