Black Swan Analysis

'Black Swan' information

When we began planning our thriller not only did we look at previous thrillers but we also wanted to see what was a successful psychological thriller in the current market. The obvious choice was the critically acclaimed 'Black Swan' an American psychological thriller film directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, and Mila Kunis.  The plot revolves around a production of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake ballet by a prestigious New York City company. The production requires a ballerina to play both the innocent White Swan and the sensual Black Swan. One dancer, Nina (Portman), is a perfect fit for the White Swan, while Lily (Kunis) has a personality that matches the Black Swan. When the two compete for the parts, Nina finds a dark side to herself.

The film itself has grossed over 100 million pounds, lots of positive reviews and has gained Natalie Portman her first Oscar for best actress. But what is it about this film that makes it so compelling? Is it the explicit themes of the film, the realistic acting or the storytelling from Darren Aronofsky? I believe it to be a combination of all three.

Themes of 'Black Swan' how they are conveyed through the acting and Aronofskys storytelling

Darren Aronofsky who's previous films include 'Requiem for a dream' and 'The Wrestler' usually focus on the destructive nature of obsession.  'Black Swan' is no different as we see the main character Nina
push herself to unbearable measures to achieve her dream of playing the lead in 'Swan Lake'. Her need for perfection drives her to insanity and eventually to suicide. Aronofsky captures Nina's borderline personality disorder through the metaphor of the Black and White swan. Usually people coping with this disorder see the world in Black and White. Though Aronofsky filmed 'Black Swan' in a muted palate with a light graininess effect, the contrasting colours of the black and white come through clearly. Aronofsky also captures the image and identity crisis Nina is facing through his use of reflection not just through mirrors but illusions that Nina sees of herself. Another symptom of BPD is destroying relationships with friends, family and colleagues. Aronofsky shows this through Nina's paranoia of fellow dancer Lily stealing her role, and eventual paranoia that her own mother wants to destroy her. This film is in no way meant to be realistic though it is of the psychological thriller genre, it is also a melodrama. However Aronofsky makes it all seem somehow natural, he does this through a crescendo of hysteria from Nina's character.  He starts the film with Nina seeming as though she is just a hard working ballet dancer, luring the audience into false security that this film is just a biography of a stressed dancer. By the end you realise that it is more then that, it is a journey of sexual discovery and a battle between the rational ego and the hedonistic id.

Themes of our film and how they will be conveyed through acting and our storytelling

Watching 'Black Swan' a film much like our own in the way it focuses on a female protagonist with a disturbed mental state, definitely did influence some of our decisions.  We had already decided before we watched 'Black Swan' that we wanted to use mirrors as a way of expressing Megan's (our lead character) split personality. However from watching 'Black Swan' we had a clearer idea of exactly how we wanted it come across on screen. Unlike 'Black Swan' we didn't want our quality of film to be glossy, were not showing a high culture art like ballet, we are showing real everyday mundane life. However we liked the muted colours used and look forward to experimenting with that in our editing of the film. The way the film shows BPD in an over sensationalised way is appropriate to the mise en scene of the competitive dance world but to the gritty mise en scene of our film, it would incongruent.  Our lead character isn't obsessive or a perfectionist, she is passive and a realist. Instead of showing frantic episodes like 'Black Swan' our main character would go in a downward spiral much slower and with more self control. From the beginning the audience will know our lead character isnt normal, it will be up to the audience to throughout the film pinpoint exactly is wrong with her.