Black Swan

This movie is absolutely insane. This ballet film turns into a psychological horror with themes of obsession and ambition. The acting from natalie portman is also outstanding, and she earned this oscar. I love the use of mirrors and shadows, which really shows us ninas mind. Distorted imagery or blurriness also add to that affect, and really balance reality and delusion. The score was outstanding, making the music louder during certain scenes was so good. I do see some lynch inspiration, as this film started out pretty cliche and then just went off the rails to crazy body horror and psychological insanity, much like mullholland drive. Aronofsky uses such a simple idea yet catapults it and creates such a dramatic tension. There is a cost to wanting perfection; how striving for greatness can destroy someone. The duality between innocence and sexual encounters are portrayed through there being a white and a black swan is perfect. Nina against her mother and also against the director shows how controlling being a dancer can be. Nina is suffocated from her mom and manipulated by her director and this all crushes her. These pressures create a loss of identity for nina, and the only way to get back is through all of the madness that occurs. The hallucinations of doubles and injuries are all showing her losing control of everything while trying to reconnect. This film is absolutely wonderful and will for sure be one of my favorite movies after a couple rewatches, and is definitely my favorite first time watch ever.