Factual error: In the scene where Natalie Portman travels from her house to Lincoln Center she is riding the 1 subway train. The model train shown is a R142, which only serves the 2,4,5 trains. The one 1 train line is actually served by the R62A.
Black Swan (2010)
2 reviews
Directed by: Darren Aronofsky
Starring: Winona Ryder, Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Barbara Hershey
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1/10. One word describes this movie: Bizarre.
Natalie Portman gives a stunning performance as a tormented ballerina who loses her sanity while working far too hard at being the best embodiment of Swan Lake's Swan Queen. Hallucinations, infighting, overbearing mothers, seeming body transformations, inappropriate relationships, and doppelgängers all together seem to try to thwart an obsessed dancer's dream. Mila Kunis stars as a rival whose presence helps unravel the protagonist's tenuous grip on reality. Good music and choreography as well as a great supporting cast make Black Swan a memorable, and hellish descent into one woman's waking nightmare! It deserved the attention and accolades it received back in 2010. Don't miss this horror/thriller-drama.
More mistakes in Black Swan
Erica: What happened to my sweet girl?
Nina: She's gone!
Trivia: Despite her prominent billing, Winona Ryder has only four minutes of screen time.
Question: I didn't understand the movie. Was it all a metaphor for her descent into madness? And the ending. How much of the movie was imagined and how much was actually real?
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Answer: **Spoiler Alert** I would say you are correct about the movie being a metaphor for descent into madness, but also displays themes of repressed sexuality and transformation. As the main character is given the lead role, she must play dual roles, one good and one evil, with the hallucinations representing the latter. Towards the beginning, Nina only embodies the personality traits of the white swan, innocence and grace. As the film gradually progresses, Ninas hallucinations represent her metamorphosis into the seductive and mysterious black swan. The film expertly convinces the audience that Lily (Mila Kunis) is out for Nina's role. In a twist ending, it is revealed that Nina has imagined most of her encounters with lily (including their sexual one) and has instead been battling herself, such as breaking away from her domineering mother and coming to terms with her sexuality. At the end, Nina really does stab herself (but actually hallucinates it is Lily she is stabbing) and her fate is left ambiguous.