I saw Black Swan last night, not necessarily with expectations too high to meet, but pretty much knowing I was going to see a good movie. With all the award nominations and amazing reviews, and being a fan of the director, it was a sure shot that I would be entertained.
That said, am I the only asshole who can see through this movie? Within the first few minutes you can tell that this movie is for Fancy people. And when I use the word fancy, I mean it in the most derogatory way possible. To quote David Letterman in Cabin Boy - "Man oh man, do I hate me a fancy lad". It just had that certain air of arrogance to it that goes hand in hand with the performers and spectators of ballet, opera and any other art form that dictates you to wear a scarf when you talk about it.
Don't get me wrong, I appreciate and admire what these dancers do which is why as much of a turn-off the arrogance of it all can be, I was still optimistic to see what was going to happen in the movie.
Without ruining much, it's a story about a girl in a highly competitive dance company who gets a leading role and tortures herself to give the best performance she can which requires her to step outside of herself to "explore her darkside" or some such nonsense.
The movie rides on multiple themes, or story lines, but it fails to really focus on one, which was my major problem with the story. You have her relationship with her obsessed mother, the relationship with her pushy director, the competition with a fellow dancer, and the personal struggle which is dipping into insanity. All of these are fine conflicts to line together in a story, but it never seems to focus on one, so when the story comes to a climax you find yourself asking what the story is trying to tell you. Is this whole thing just a stew of metaphors that is intended to make us understand the struggle of a ballet dancer? Is there anything tangible going on? As nice as a metaphor can be, you still need an actual story for the viewer to follow. I hate to break it down so simplistically, but time and time again, we've learned the basics to tell a good story and when you stray too far, you lose your audience.
To compliment the movie, it was shot well and has some disturbing visuals that are more impressive than anything you'll see in a horror movie these days. I think that's about all the positive stuff I can say. I'm sitting here trying to conjure something positive to say about the acting, but it's pretty much 2 hours of Natalie Portman furrowing her brows. It wasn't her fault, there really was no dialogue to work with. Aside from her, none of the other actors have any significant moments in the story. So here I am trying to dig for compliments and I'm back to complaining about the thing.
Now to my main point which is the reception of this film. As I mentioned before, I was sure I was going to see a good movie. Basically, people are saying this is, if not the best movie of the year, most definitely a movie that will be nominated for best picture. I don't have much faith in the academy awards anymore, but it remains to be THE major ceremony honoring the best movies of the year, so it will always have my attention.
Why does everybody love this movie so damn much? Am I missing something here? I'm gonna go ahead and say it's not me this time. As you recall, I dubbed this is a fancy film. Oftentimes critics are afraid to stand out from the herd. And when one or two major critics steps up and raves or boos something, you'll notice that the rest will follow suit. If people are calling this the movie of the year and you're the guy who says "I beg to differ" then next thing you know it wins best picture, then you're the guy who didn't like best picture of the year. Maybe your colleagues don't look up to you as much, maybe your readers don't trust your reviews anymore. I can sense a lot of insecurity in that industry.
Do you recall the story of the Emperor's New Clothes? It's about somebody who claims to create an outfit for an emperor that is made of the finest fabric in the land. When he shows the king, he sees nothing, but is told that it is because the fabric is so fine that the mere human eye cannot see it. So he puts on nothing. Then walks around with his balls stuck to the side of his leg and everybody's afraid to tell him because he's the Emperor and he rules the land and he knows better than you and who are you to bring up his fallacies?
I'm pretty sure the Black Swan is walking around with it's balls stuck to the side of its leg, but everybody's afraid to say something because it's a fancy movie. Much like the liberals who are afraid to say anything negative about Obama. Well he's not as bad a Bush and he seems to have good intentions and I'm sure he just wants to help us even though he passed a bill that is going to make tons of money for private insurance companies while weighing down the country with another forced payment to worry about instead of a public option, and he's yet to pass any substantial legislation regulating the financial industry because maaayyybee, just maaayyybee corporate interests have more power than him. Oops.
Yeah I know Black Swan is fancy, and yes I know our black president isn't as mean to us as our last husband, but folks ... a spades a spade.
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