Anyone *not* like Black Swan (2010)?

Archivist · February 07, 2011, 02:35:15 AM

Is anyone with me on this? I watched Black Swan recently and was annoyed and disappointed. I found it confusing for most of it, as I can usually tell where a movie was going, but this one gave little indication of what where it was leading. The explanation of everything was really prosaic; with the last revelation, everything in the movie made sense, but in a disappointingly 'normal' way.

(spoilers)

The thematic threads of the pushy stage mother and seducing director seemed like they were going somewhere, but they never did. The denouement of her 'fall' just showed that she was going nuts. Big deal. At the end I thought to myself, 'what, so all of that was just because she was going nuts? Is that all?'

Maybe it's my expectations, but the explanation of 'she became a nutcase' was far from satisfying. All of her hallucinations were therefore so easily explained. Oh, she saw the Xxxx because she was going bonkers. An explanation a little more esoteric or veiled would have been far better, IMO. I kept expecting Mila Kunis' character to be a jealous witch who was driving her rival mad, or for Natalie Portman's character to actually kill someone. No dice.

Perhaps it is my strong dislike of 'it was all a dream' type movies, but to find out that all of the movie's weirdness was hallucinated or driven by growing insanity was disappointing.

Anyone agree with this?

Doggett · February 07, 2011, 07:41:02 AM

I thought it was over-rated so you're not alone.

Rev. Powell · February 07, 2011, 01:24:32 PM

Not sure I necessarily agree with your spoiler, though its certainly a conclusion you could draw. In a movie like this the literal plot level is not very important. What's more important is the symbolic level and the mood. It's not just about a woman going crazy; the fact that she's a ballerina (i.e. an "artist") and not just a secretary or factory worker is important. That said, you are still free to feel the movie is overrated, or to prefer movies that are plot-oriented and literal to movies that are metaphorical.

Hammock Rider · February 07, 2011, 01:33:23 PM

Hmm, I liked it but I do think it was over-rated. I think the "mad as a hatter " explanation would have been fine except something was missing. I don't know what, but it didn't really come as a shock that she was coo-coo.

I actually thought for a while that it was going to be a bizarre story of personal growth. the Black Swan was her inner emotional self finally emerging and allowing her to escape from her controlling mother. Her inner Black Swan was killing her inner White Swan and allowing her to grow up. But then...I guess the Black Swan went a little too far.

Flick James · February 07, 2011, 01:39:08 PM

Quote from: Rev. Powell on February 07, 2011, 01:24:32 PM
Not sure I necessarily agree with your spoiler, though its certainly a conclusion you could draw. In a movie like this the literal plot level is not very important. What's more important is the symbolic level and the mood. It's not just about a woman going crazy; the fact that she's a ballerina (i.e. an "artist") and not just a secretary or factory worker is important. That said, you are still free to feel the movie is overrated, or to prefer movies that are plot-oriented and literal to movies that are metaphorical.

I have yet to see it, but that's a valid point. Were I the former I doubt I could be a David Lynch fan.

I really wish I had paid attention to the spoiler alert.

Rev. Powell · February 07, 2011, 02:28:49 PM

Quote from: Flick James on February 07, 2011, 01:39:08 PM

I really wish I had paid attention to the spoiler alert.

Eh, I don't think it will ruin anything. You probably already knew this was a mindf**k movie. Archivist could be wrong, anyway.

akiratubo · February 07, 2011, 04:54:43 PM

Thank you for the spoiler. I will now stay far, far away from Black Swan. I simply cannot tolerate "it was all a dream/it was all in [the lead character's] mind" type movies. I HATE them.

Ed, Ego and Superego · February 07, 2011, 05:15:18 PM

I have not seen it but I can't stand Darren Arinfosky. So I'll go for a "Me".
-Ed

Jaer · February 09, 2011, 04:51:11 PM

Quote from: akiratubo on February 07, 2011, 04:54:43 PM
Thank you for the spoiler. I will now stay far, far away from Black Swan. I simply cannot tolerate "it was all a dream/it was all in [the lead character's] mind" type movies. I HATE them.

I think it would be unfair to say it all happened in her mind. She had some hallucinations and mental moments that were generally based upon real stimuli--some were overly paranoid reactions, but she did have valid cause for that. Most of the movie is not in her mind or a dream.

My sister-in-law was a professional ballerina, so this movie had a lot of interesting intrigue for my wife and I, and ia lot of the characters did hit home as being realistic: the technically perfect dancer, the free-spirit, the crazy mother, the insane work, the company leaders, etc.

I thought the film did a great job of developing why someone in her position might have the reaction she was having; she was still emotionally a naive child and she was being forced into a mature, adult mentality too quickly and without preparation. The Black Swan fought the White Swan--though I disagree a little with Hammock Rider: I think the White Swan killed itself because it did not/could not let itself become the Black Swan.

Having met some of these ballerinas, let me tell you, you could meet both the Natalie Portman character and the Mila Kunis character in a ballet company. My wife and I looked at each other during the movie and whispered the same names.

Archivist · February 10, 2011, 01:12:33 AM

Quote from: akiratubo on February 07, 2011, 04:54:43 PM
Thank you for the spoiler. I will now stay far, far away from Black Swan. I simply cannot tolerate "it was all a dream/it was all in [the lead character's] mind" type movies. I HATE them.

This is why I am having serious doubts about the upcoming movie Sucker Punch. The trailer looked very cool in a Sin City kind of way, but it appears that all of this fantastic action takes place in the deluded mind of the protagonist. Maybe this is wrong, and the marketing is being deliberately misleading, but I am wary enough to stay away.

I mentioned my dislike of these kinds of movies to a friend who said, 'oh, so I guess you didn't like Inception?' I LOVED Inception, and it is a completely different kind of movie. You know that much of it is created in the minds of the characters, whereas with the movies like Vanilla Sky and Repo Men this is only revealed at the end.

dean · February 11, 2011, 03:12:48 AM

I quite liked it, but not as much as people who have been raving about it. I'd rate it a 4.5 out of 5. [everyone else I talk to talk about it like it's perfect, which it isn't, though still very well done.]

I guess a good movie to compare this to was Satoshi Kon's 'Perfect Blue' and whilst the very end of that movie annoys me the rest is brilliant and a similar sort of set up.

To the OP; I think that its a good thing you couldn't predict the film. It may be annoying for some, but I found it genuinely surprising when I found out the ending. Sure, I think it could have been better, but the fact that I didn't know who the 'antagonist' [if we can call them that] was until the end. That was well done.

In any case this is not one of those 'it was all a dream movies' by any stretch. A good psychological horror that could have gone even a bit crazier IMO.

claws · February 11, 2011, 03:27:53 AM

Yikes, why did I click? Spoiler warning would have been appreciated

Jaer · February 11, 2011, 01:37:25 PM

Quote from: Archivist on February 10, 2011, 01:12:33 AM
This is why I am having serious doubts about the upcoming movie Sucker Punch. The trailer looked very cool in a Sin City kind of way, but it appears that all of this fantastic action takes place in the deluded mind of the protagonist. Maybe this is wrong, and the marketing is being deliberately misleading, but I am wary enough to stay away.

My interpretation of Sucker Punch is that the action sequences are imaginary, but they are a fabrication of reality in order to empower the girls.

Such as, to escape, the girls need a key. They have to get it from the desk in the dean's room (or whatever--this is not a spoiler cause I have no clue). Instead of the movie showing the girls sneak into the room, it instead shows the girls imagining they are super-powered ninjas breaking into cyber-city to take the power-core from the robot vault. That is what the girls imagine they are doing because in that scenario, they have power and are super elite on a special mission of high importance.

In reality, all they did was slip into a room and steal a key. But it does actually happen. It's not like everything in the movie is a dream--it's just their actions are gussied up and played out in their own minds.

It's pretty much like any childhood cartoon in which the child is imagining something fantastic but in reality is doing some
mundane. Calvin and Hobs comes to mind.

akiratubo · February 11, 2011, 04:47:26 PM

*crosses Sucker Punch off to see list*

Flick James · February 11, 2011, 05:03:43 PM

Quote from: claws on February 11, 2011, 03:27:53 AM
Yikes, why did I click? Spoiler warning would have been appreciated

I agree it could have been more prominent, but the word "spoilers" does appear in the initial post.