Shocktober 2020 # 4

Watched on Blu-Ray

Swan Lake is not just a ballet piece, it combines sadness, happiness and madness at the same time. The music of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in particular ignites an atmosphere that is psychodramatic and at the same time slides into the deepest abysses of man. I only saw the ballet a few years ago in the version of the Chinese state ballet with about 100 artists in Berlin, and although I'm more of a musical fan, I was fascinated by the gracefulness on stage.

It is pure prejudice to think that ballet has nothing artistic, nothing emotional and nothing extraordinary to show for it in a psychological drama thriller. So keep a large distance from this prejudice and just convince yourself, because you can expect a movie like you haven't seen it before! I am glad I saw it in the cinema back then and would do it again and again.

Darren Aronofosky proves once again how he uses his unique portrayal and illustration in such a way that some scenes simply get stuck in your throat and only after a long time go back to a clear mind. The atmosphere, strongly driven by the tendency towards dark and not very colorful images up to light and supra-threshold colors, contribute significantly to the effect of the film. If in a moment the wealth of colors is bright, almost garish, then fascination, love and at the same time madness awaken our minds. Aronofsky knows how to interpret light, bright, dark and sinister colors on several different levels. Light and dark colors are to be interpreted differently. Bright is not always madness, not always dark and ominous. The film scares the viewer as much as it allows them to be clearly understood. But that's the art of the psychological thriller.

Aronofsky uses the music in the ballet style, which especially in the last third of the film makes up the whole melancholy and '' The Metamorphosis '' of the main protagonist. It carries '' The Transformation ''. The music of Tchaikovsky has the ability to convey beauty and madness at the same time and to carry '' The Metamorphosis ''. No other music would have been suitable. Ballet is characterized by art and true beauty, through music, costume, performance and choreography, and all of this demands everything from the main protagonists of the piece.

Natalie Portman's powerhouse portrayal is outstanding and deservedly received her 1st Oscar and 2nd Golden Globe. From the beginning you can already see the suffering that you have to experience and deal with over the next 108 minutes. She never stays pale, except for the fact that she has had to withdraw very physically. How she has emaciated herself in a horrific way and has created this ominous and already terrifying physique of her figure runs down my spine as ice cold every time. The way she reveals the outcast without an exaggerated expression and depicts ''The Metamorphosis" from the white swan to the black swan is completely unprecedented. At this point it should be said that I know many of her films. However, not one with the level of acting intensity that shines in "Black Swan". Here Portman comes to a physique that I previously didn't know from her at all. It is accordingly convincing and fascinating to see and experience her in the role of her life.

Illustrations, perception, music, representation and psyche are so distinctive and unavoidable that they all pull the viewer under their spell, their own world and so take them with them and leave them thoughtful. The film is also an important statement to the human psyche. This becomes very clear in the Nina-Thomas relationship. At first one is drawn to see Thomas as the worst tormentor, but towards the end he is given some sympathy. Still, it's hard to like his character. This ambivalence of his character always remains ominous and creepy. Cassell's performance is terrific too. Such roles simply suit him best (especially when looking at his appearance). He has the right face for a control addicted madman.

Whether it is appropriate or not, a small comparison to '' Whiplash '' should be noted here, since the same conflict comes into play here. Here, too, in the end it was not known whether Terence Fletcher was a hero in his own right or simply an overdrawn, unpredictable and unscrupulous sadist. I don't have an answer to this question at Thomas. It's just a bit of both. He is responsible for the transformation of Nina at all times, as is Lilly. Without the numerous means that Darren Aronofsky takes on, it would have been a lot more difficult for the film to convey its story, which can be more or less divided into 3 acts, comprehensibly and authentically. Like a real and true drama:

1. Intro
2. First effects and delusions
up to
3. climax, turn and conclusion

The film never loses its tone and makes no compromises. Editing and camera technology are brilliant. At all times you are excited about Nina and in some scenes it is difficult to look at the screen. So much suffering, despair and humiliation. Portman packs all of this in a unique portrayal of true love for ballet and pure madness in the consistency of her role in ballet. And the end in its unbelievable consistency is hard but beautiful and beyond that only logical. This is the end of an incredibly stylish story about love, longing, despair and madness. Uniquely staged, unbelievably played and consistently captured and ended. The intimate scenes are also skillfully used and stylishly underline the design of longing.

What the plot supports at all times are the ambivalences in all characters. Her mother, who is just worried at first, becomes increasingly engaging, weird and creepy, just like Lilly. You will never sympathize with her, but at first she didn't seem sick in the sense of the film, but actually just cheap and arrogant. So all characters experience a break as the plot progresses, which becomes noticeable through the behavior and affects the character of Nina. Difficult to describe, but one man's suffering is another man's madness and vice versa.

Another aspect is the camera. What is always conspicuous in Aronofski's films is and remains the incredibly good camera work. It always clings to the characters and ''pursues" them. Mostly it sits directly on the protagonist's neck and follows her like a companion who cannot escape her, which in itself makes the whole representation even more impressive. It's also just beautiful to look at. Just like the camera in all the ballet scenes, and especially in the opening, completely captivated me when it turns and walks around the characters while they are performing their dance. It's almost romantic, but the camera also knows how to look hectic and fabulously seductive in quick circles. The camera work is crucial for the film and expresses the seduction, the longing and the desire that we experience in the film. It's hectic, it's slow, and the tracking shots in the ballet scenes are simply captivating. I couldn't take my eyes off it. And when a film can do that, it deserves a lot of credit. And I hope that with this review I have even come close to doing this masterpiece justice.