The Madness of Natalie Portman

As I mentioned in my review of Tron: Legacy, I saw it as a double feature with Black Swan. And while I gave Tron the full review, I figured for things I really do love, there is no need to go into detail about plot as much as just gush about what I love and why. So away we go. And yes, if you continue reading and haven’t seen the film ,you will be spoiled

I haven’t been a huge fan of Darren Aronofsky. I have never seen PI. Requiem for a Dream is incredibly executed but far too dire for my tastes. I did enjoy the Fountain. And the Wrestler once again ended too dire for me. So why is it that his next film, which is arguably more dire than any film he has made, is one of my favorites of the year? It’s all in the realization of what the film truly is.

You know that moment early in a film when you are presented with an abstract image? It’s the moment where the filmmakers are telling you something isn’t right with the world. It happens often, but at least for me, most times it represents a setting of mood more than actual context. Much like my other favorite film of the year, Inception, Black Swan is constantly feeding you imagery that in retrospect makes sense, but during the movie is jarring and frightening. And not in a twist ending sort of way. Black Swan builds that way, but ultimately proves to be a brilliant portrayal of what madness must feel like.  From the time the movie starts, we are with Natalie Portman’s Nina. And from frame one, Nina is on the edge. Natalie Portman’s performance is as breathtaking as you’ve heard. And just like Daniel Day Lewis, she utterly transforms herself.(And if you are reading this Mark, then yes, I put this performance up there with Daniel Plainview This is even more exciting as the film itself is about an artist seeking to transform herself, and the consequences of seeking perfection. Watching Portman become completley unhindged herself is a chilling thing to behold, and it draws fun parallels with her character. If Portman hadn’t been able to transform along with Nina, then the movie wouldn’t have worked. Portman plays Nina as achingly fragile, quite capable of playing the innocent white swan, but completely unable to become the black swan in her company’s production of the ballet. It’s totally convincing. And this all builds until we reach the final nights performance, when Nina completely loses her mind and herself, and dances without abandon. In an incredible sequence we watch as Nina physically transforms into the black swan on stage, symbolizing the perfection to which Nina has embraced the role, but also showing how unhinged she has become. Because in that moment I do believe Nina thinks she is the black swan. This is followed by an incredible moment as Nina walks off stage, breathing in orgasmic waves, completely lost in her creation. In that moment I understood. She may have lost her mind, but it felt really good. That’s a terrifying conceit, that perhaps sometimes madness just feels good. Besides, Nina has just performed the dance of her career, and that mixed with the empowerment she has finally embraced is a wonderful metaphor for girls becoming women, and the horror and joy that comes with claiming one’s sexuality.

The performances throughout are nuanced and loaded with subtext. Arnofsky really has a talent for subversively telling you who characters are through the minor details. We get all the information we need never feeling devoid of enough detail but also never being inundated with on the nose explanations or exposition. This may seem like a given process for any film, but it’s very discouraging how rarely it is done. And done well.

The film made me reflect on what madness might feel like. Not what it looks like but how it feels. How it is both terrifying and liberating. And how one can lose their grip on reality. And in Nina’s case do so for the sake of her art. And I guess ultimately the films greatest triumph for me was in how it took dance and almost transformed it into a massive metaphor for anyone with a goal and an obsession. And how if we aren’t surrounded by the right people, or if we push ourselves to hard,  we can easily slip away.  Not that I think Nina’s story is evocative of all cases of lost minds. But more just an illustration on how that might feel.

So while at films end Nina fades away, it’s not so much dire in my mind as transcendent. Because it’s so rare for someone to use the metaphors that film so easily portrays to express something as complex as the losing of one’s mind in such a visceral fashion. And maybe because at frame one I knew looking into Ms. Portmans eyes that she was already lost, I was relived by her final release. Movies have tackled the subrject before, but much like in most Christopher Nolan films, Black Swan is completely obsessed with it’s subject matter and finds limitless parallels between The ballet of the white Swan and Nina’s story. From her repressed sexuality to her fragile mind. And also, it draws parallels to Portmans transformation as an actress. And at the end of the day, that’s just kind of cool.

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