Black Swan

After about a month's break, I'm finally back on my BS. And by this, I mean I've finally decided to watch a movie after quite a hiatus. I wanted to watch something I knew was highly regarded and thank goodness I did. There's so much about this movie that's amazing (maybe even perfect). I love movies that deal with obsession. (The Prestige is my all time favorite movie). Black Swan tackles obsession, but it extends beyond just this one idea. It delves into paranoia, doubt, and jealousy, which are ideas that all blend perfectly. First, I think I have to talk about the scenes of paranoia themselves. There were multiple times when I got genuine goosebumps and chills from how gripping some of the hallucinations were. The scene where Nina realizes that she stabbed herself but continues to put on her makeup is such a powerful ending. I think I had a genuine shiver down my spine. All of this is amplified by the frantic orchestral music in the second half of the film that contrasts the light, airy, elegant music we have in the beginning. I think the main thing I loved was Nina's slow descent into madness. This environment has it all. A loving but overbearing mother, a young budding ballerina solely focused on being perfect, a potential rival to drive Nina even further into insanity, an aggressive mentor who uses his power dynamic to gain sexual favors, extreme body dysmorphia, and to top it all off, slut shaming. You'd think that this would just torpedo Nina into madness, but Natalie Portman does a wonderful job of slowly breaking the character down little by little. First, it's just the rashes, then the nails, seeing herself in others, and by the end of the movie, it results in murder (or so we thought). Such a fantastic film. Zero complaints.