<p>I saw “The Black Swan” last night with my son (he’s 20; this is not a movie for kids, or anyone who might be triggered by a couple of horror movie-like scenes involving blood and violence, real or imagined), and loved it. Loved it. I don’t think it’s misogynist (as some have apparently suggested); I think it’s a basically feminist portrayal of misogyny, of women functioning within a male-imposed power-structure (represented here by the Balanchine-like ballet director), of good girl vs. bad girl within the same person, of body issues, and much else.</p>
<p>I’ve always liked Natalie Portman, but she was amazing here. It’s hard to imagine anyone more deserving of award nominations or awards. Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey, and Winona Ryder in a small role were all wonderful too.</p>
<p>Of course, I may be somewhat prejudiced in favor of Portman, Kunis, and Ryder – three short, dark-haired Jewish women! (Not that any of the characters are supposed to be Jewish, of course; that almost never happens.) My people being represented, sort of.</p>
<p>Glad you posted; I still haven’t decided whether or not I want to see this…I’m really not into creepy movies (and the trailer looks creepy) but I have heard amazing things about Natalie Portman’s performance…</p>
<p>Creepy is a good word for it. Then again, if you saw “Requiem for a Dream” and “The Wrestler,” you probably already know that Darren Aronofsky is good at portraying psychological deterioration.</p>
<p>Donna, how young do you think is too young for this film? My 16 year old son is bugging me a lot to let him see this film because he loves the old film, “The Red Shoes” and is convinced he would love this one too.</p>
<p>I don’t particularly like suspense movies, but I do love Natalie Portman, and have since she was in Where the Heart Is, so I am torn about seeing this.</p>
<p>mimk6, the blood and violence are probably less explicit, and certainly less frequent, than in most contemporary horror movies (especially if your son has ever seen any movies of the Nightmare on Elm Street or Friday the 13th variety). Not that I’d really call this a horror movie; it’s more of a psychological thriller. I had to sort of cover my eyes a few times, but I’m strange that way – I can watch almost anything, except pets and children having violence perpetrated upon them (neither of which happens in this movie), but seeing sharp objects penetrate skin in movies, even something like a hypodermic needle, can sometimes be too much for me!</p>
<p>There is a rather explicit lesbian sex scene (albeit without any nudity), so I don’t know how you feel about his seeing that.</p>
<p>I would have let my son see it at 16, but I had a policy of not censoring his viewing or reading by the time he was that age (with very few exceptions).</p>
<p>Normally I would rush out to see a ballet movie, and I love Natalie Portman, but the trailer was so disturbing that I thought I would skip this one. After your review, Donna, I will probably reconsider.</p>
<p>One thing that I know will bother me is the disconnect between the level of Portman’s dancing and that of a top ballet dancer.</p>
<p>They use a body double (an actual ballet dancer) for Natalie Portman in long shots, and, in close up, cut back and forth between her upper body and her feet, the latter presumably being those of the actual dancer. It’s quite well-disguised, and I’ve read comments by people qualified to say so that there wasn’t really a disconnect.</p>
<p>She certainly lost enough weight for the role (20 pounds, I believe, and she wasn’t exactly zoftig in the first place), and has the classic beauty, to give the physical appearance of a dancer in her upper body movements, and in poses of her entire body without movement. She apparently trained in ballet for a year before filming began.</p>
<p>I heard an interview with her saying just that. She also said they wanted her to lose weight and complimented her on looking like a dancer. My 19 year old daughter loved this movie, I thought I would see it. I dont think I will see the Rabbit Hole.</p>
<p>Like someone else already said, I was pretty creeped out by the preview I saw on TV. Now, after reading this, I might actually get the courage up to go and see it. Might.</p>
<p>I would like to see this one but it sounds like it’s in the gray area for me with creepiness. I usually do okay with psychological thriller kind of movies but am deeply upset by horror and gratuitous gore and usually avoid those sorts of movies, so it sounds like it MIGHT be okay for me but some parts of it maybe not. Am thinking I will wait for it to come out on DVD and watch it at home… during the day.</p>
<p>Oh, I didn’t realize that they used a dancer. I thought that Portman did the dancing herself. She certainly looks thin in the movie, almost gaunt. She looks much better at her normal weight, I think.</p>
<p>It’s pretty much standard practice in dance movies to cast a dance double. So it would be unusual if it didn’t happen. (The exception, of course, being when they cast real dancers, such as in the abysmal Center Stage – the problem is that its pretty rare to find a professional ballet dancer who can also act).</p>
<p>I listened to a Terry Gross NPR interview of Portman the other day. Portman said that she did quite a bit of the dancing in the movie; she trained for almost a year–plus lost weight to do this movie. There were some dance scenes she said she didn’t have the expertise needed–for those scenes the director cast a professional.</p>