"Black Swan" - Review

[madmac]

I spun this movie on dvd last night and boy, what I got I was not expecting!. I thought this would be some dull ballet movie for fuddy duddies!!. This film is utterly psychotic!!. :E

I must say I was quite entertained watching this and you've gotta' give Portman some credit for pulling off a reasonable rendition and attempt at ballet.

I was actually under the impression that I could watch this film with my 12 year old daughter!!!??. Thank god she went to a friends house last night!!. This film is 18+ for adults only !! 8O

8/10 stars

[mjb]

I haven't seen it, but I heard Portman got some flak for the oscar because she didn't do any of the ballet bits, and the naked bits are a body double. I didn't realise its a psycho thriller though!

[George Bellefontaine]

I plan to rent this eventually. The business about Portman not doing her own dancing should be taken with a grain of salt. Her dance double says she did most of the dancing while Natalie's co-star says the actress worked her ass off during the dance sequences.

[madmac]

I'm not a expert on Ballet but I did find Portman's dance sequences rather weak based off what I've seen professionally. I'm surprised that Portman did not do the dancing in this. I'm somewhat unsure if that claim is totally accurate.

[stuofsci02]

Could not stand the filming of this movie... I call it Shaky Cam, where someone with a camera walks behind the person for half the film.. All you see is a shaky back of the head... The Wrestler also had this problem and had the same director...

[bigburner]

I was not impressed by this film. The 'on the edge of madness' genre gives a director the opportunity to inflict all sorts of silliness on the viewer.

Nigel.

[Chris D]

Eh... I liked it. There were parts that I just couldn't resolve as anything other than weird, but I did think it was good. I gave it 4 stars if I remember right.

[madmac]

Could not stand the filming of this movie... I call it Shaky Cam, where someone with a camera walks behind the person for half the film.. All you see is a shaky back of the head... The Wrestler also had this problem and had the same director...

I too am NOT a fan of hand held cams in motion pictures. Also, I was not overly impressed with the overall video quality of the Dvd version of this film. Not sure how the BD version fared out.

[Sharp 1080]

I just watched this on BD two days ago. The overall "look" of the film is sharper on BD. Lots of soft shots throughout the movie for effect. It's definitely a different flavor of movie. Did not mind the hand held camera at all.But then again his debut movie Pi was his breakthrough effort.

[George Bellefontaine]

I rented this and will watch it tonight. I, too, am not a big fan of the handheld camera school of film making, but I'll give it a go anyway.

[audioqueso]

Just watched this last night. This is a crazy movie! Slow beginning... well, not really slow since it was meant that way. Crazy movie though. I like it! Sometimes it seemed like a French movie. One thing for sure, Natalie Portman sure can act! I think that is one of the best performances that I've seen from her.

[George Bellefontaine]

Just watched this last night. This is a crazy movie! Slow beginning... well, not really slow since it was meant that way. Crazy movie though. I like it! Sometimes it seemed like a French movie. One thing for sure, Natalie Portman sure can act! I think that is one of the best performances that I've seen from her.

I just watched it last night and couldn't agree more. Definitely an art house type of film. But even though I liked it, I couldn't see myself sitting through it again. As far as to whether or not Natalie did her own dancing, the way the camera work was done it is difficult to tell. There were a few full shot scenes where, on my big screen, I could see that it was indeed her dancing, and I had no problem with what I saw, as she appeared to be doing a very good job of it, considering she is not a professional ballet dancer.