My Black Swan Analysis

The magnificent "obsession" can be one of two things. It can be a thing of beauty, a gifted ballet dancer gracefully contorting their body to a harmonious pace. But it can also be a thing of darkness, a face of white like Bergman's vision of Death with red, piercing eyes included. Director Darren Aronofsky is no stranger to telling tales of obsession. In fact, most of his films deal with the dueling sides of that fiery driven coin. With Black Swan, his latest film, he once again delves into the mental state of one who is obsessed, and, once again, he creates a thing of visionary brilliance. Black Swan, slow burn though it may be in the former half, quickly transcends both its lead character and her story …show more content…

Mostly hand-held and with little frills in terms of production quality, the world of Black Swan is presented with a rough edge, a jagged box that houses these graceful creatures within its serrated confines. However, those walls surrounding Nina aren't 100% opaque. The way Aronofsky incorporates reflection gives the film and the world within it a feeling that there is another world outside looking in. The black swan of Nina's mind, the doppelganger who wants to take over her innocence, is lurking about just waiting for the crack in the glass to bleed through and into her. It gives Black Swan an even more omnipresent sense of foreboding, something that would have been existent in some capacity regardless. This foreshadowing builds, and, much like his previous films, Aronofsky turns the final pages of this story with the force of a tornado. The story, setting, and characters are established extremely well. The slow burn feel gives a Red Shoes feel. However, once the stride is hit, once the waterslide of emotion and ferocious movement begins, there is no turning back. The final 20 to 30 minutes of Black Swan immerses you, pulls you into itself until you genuinely have a tough time differentiating what is real and what is film. With glaring red eyes and white makeup (as well as some extremely well-placed CG effects), a look that would make Bergman's Death cower in fright, Portman and Aronofsky execute Nina's culminating dance with an intense