 |
| One of the best ballet movies ever. |
Remember that time your coach told you to go home and touch yourself? You were unsure, but you did it. With vigor. And then you realized your own mother was in the room, sleeping in a chair! That was so crazy! Wait. That wasn't you. That was Natalie Portman in last year's Black Swan. My bad.
Seriously, I don't know what to make of this one. I know it's critically acclaimed. I know that Natalie Portman won Best Actress. I know that director Darren Aronofsky is a frickin' genius. Got all that. I also know that I was slightly, just slightly, bored.
Don't get me wrong, there is some creepy stuff here that certainly bothered my wife (though she's a total lightweight). Nina's descent into reaching the dark side of her self was an alluring mix of grotesque and sexual (couple of pretty hot moments in both regards). Groovy. But where it all lost me was the presentation. 70% of screen time is Natalie Portman's head. Either an extreme close-up of her always uncomfortable face, or the back of it as she walked hurriedly from room-to-room (almost video game-esque). I guess it's intimate and almost documentary-style, but for me, it grew tiresome. Oh, and never once did I buy Nina as an elite ballerina. She seemed to lack the confidence that someone at that level would likely exude. Whatever.
Damn it. I think I'm wrong about this film. I enjoyed the crazy shit a lot (the weirder stuff, not the mirror hijinks). The performances were outstanding as well. But for whatever reason, it just didn't resonate with me. Maybe I need to watch it again. At least all the scenes in her bedroom, as I'm not sure I understood those. Coach would want me to.