Film review - Black Swan

Darren Aronofsky’s follow up to The Wrestler is set in a very different world – we’ve moved from the amateur wrestling ring in Nowheresville to the New York City Ballet Company. Black Swan is another portrait of a troubled soul, though. A very, very troubled soul. A completely demented soul. This psychological thriller may be far too loopy, but it is gripping none the less.

Nina (Natalie Portman) is a sweet, quiet and dedicated member of the corps de ballet waiting for her chance to shine. The company’s director (Vincent Cassel) wants to cast someone new as the Swan Queen in his production of Swan Lake, but he tells Nina that she doesn’t have the darkness and nastiness needed to play this dual role of the white and black swan. After she shows him her feisty side, he gives her the part. However, things begin to unravel for Nina as the pressure and the need to express her dark side become too much.

The descent into madness is at first intriguing, then revolting, but ultimately laughable. Body horror is not my favourite thing, and there is much tearing of fingernails and ripping of skin here. One can’t help thinking that it would have been a better film had she been slightly less psychotic and things weren’t taken so far.  

Aronofsky has chosen to film the whole thing as he did The Wrestler – in shaky cam style following the lead character around. On the one hand this seems a very odd choice for a film about a majestic art form like ballet (you don’t really get a true sense of the dancing because the shots are always so claustrophobic), but on the other hand it does mean you get to see a lot of what is best about the film – Natalie Portman. Not only is she vulnerable, childlike, hysterical and sensual by turns, she also does most of her own dancing. Her performance is a tour de force and deserves an Oscar.

Barbara Hershey is also excellent as Nina’s terrifying mother, Erica. There are few characters as nutty as Nina in film history, but Erica comes close, and is creepy as hell to boot. Mila Kunis displays her natural charm as Lily, a rival dancer seen as a threat by Nina. Only Winona Ryder seems out of place somehow as a principal dancer past her prime.

If the cinematography isn’t really to my tastes, then the set design made up for this. The liberal use of black and white in most scenes does labour the metaphor a bit (one that is also repeated in costume choices), but it gives the film an unusual and stylish look. Even in Nina’s über-pink bedroom there is a black swan soft toy among the pink fluffy bunnies.

Black Swan is an extremely dramatic film, and will not be to everyone’s tastes. If you let the drama transport you, you may be carried along to the finale. But if you stop to think, you may realise how silly it all is and exit stage left.  

Review - The Tourist

What do you call a thriller that isn’t thrilling?

The Tourist.

This remake of the French film Anthony Zimmer is meant to be frothy, star-filled fun with a bit of action thrown in, but instead it manages to make time move very slowly for everyone unfortunate enough to be watching.

Lingering shots of Angelina Jolie swanning around various European cities dressed in cream take up most of the screen time. She plays Elise, a femme fatale without a hint of danger or competence but with a dodgy English accent. Elise’s lover is some sort of master thief on the run, and the police have her staked out in case they meet up again.

After what feels like an hour, she picks mild-mannered American Frank Tupelo (Johnny Depp) – a grieving non-entity with decidedly odd hair for a teacher from the Mid West – to be her decoy on the train to Venice. Frank is now in danger because everyone thinks he’s the master thief.

So far, so Hitchcock. But unlike North by Northwest, the film is all McGuffin and no meat. So what if Frank is in danger? The camera’s still focusing on Elise’s neat shift-dress-and-shawl ensemble. Where’s the tension? The laughs? The action? The only light point in the film is when the oh-so-demure Elise orders a scampi and champagne risotto in a posh restaurant, but it wasn’t meant to be a joke.

Director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s last film was the awards magnet The Lives of Others, so it is both surprising that he’d work on this kind of material, and that he’d make such a hash of it.

Jolie and Depp are two of the biggest stars on the planet, but have no chemistry. It feels like Depp, in particular, is phoning in his performance – fair enough, the script gives him nothing to work with, but he how can the man who played Ed Wood have so little character and charisma? A largely British supporting cast is also wasted, including Paul Bettany and Rufus Sewell.

A Hollywood thriller-by-numbers which doesn’t add up, The Tourist is pretty moving wallpaper and a great cure for insomnia.