“Black Swan” (2010) — Read Along
“I just want to be perfect”
I have an obsessive fetish for the obsessions, compulsions, passions, desires and a need for perfection that pervade almost every film from New York born director Darren Aronofsky. I’ve written lengthy spoiler free appreciations on every one of the eight films helmed by the American filmmaker (linked below) but as we’re dealing specifically with the obsessional drive and need for perfection in “Black Swan” I’ll briefly whet your appetite by recommending his black and white low budget directorial debut “Pi” (1998) by reinforcing that all of the human conditions noted above are here in abundance in a gem of a film that will never let you settle before a final 20 minutes that’s as visceral and horribly disturbing as you could wish to see before he followed this 2 years later with “Requiem for a Dream” (2000) and 4 character portrayals that may rip your heart out in a triumph of a film that verges on a full-on panic attack. I’ve never warmed to “The Fountain” (2006) despite its esoteric yet universal themes of love and forgiveness (and so much more) before he coerced a career defining performance from Mickey Rourke in this film’s companion piece “The Wrestler” (2008). I like “Noah” (2014) but remain to be fully won over but 3 years later I treated (treated?) a prospective love interest with a trip to the cinema and “Mother!” (2017) to which the lucky lady exclaimed
“well that was bloody weird!”
as we left the reassuring darkness of our local cinema. That memory will forever make me smile! As does the film as it is indeed “bloody weird” and bloody gloriously so! Then of course we have the multi Oscar nominated “The Whale” (2022) and a real visceral return to the overriding themes of obsessions, compulsions and the multitude of human foibles and frailties that are so redolent in every one of his quarter of a century of majestic big screen films.
Rather than reiterating the obsessional love I have for “Black Swan” (some of which is covered in the extract of my original review coming up shortly) I’ll relay to you a short story I rarely tell as it makes me smile and breaks my heart in equal measure. You see my dear old Mum loved the art and spectacle of ballet and for her 70th birthday she was treated by my sister to “Madame Butterfly” at the Royal Albert Hall in London and, as the familial legend would have you rightly believe, repeatedly exclaimed “This is the best day ever”. Fast forward over a decade and deciding one afternoon what to do with ourselves my Mum suggested I pick a DVD from the small collection gathering dust in the corner of her living room and so I plumped for the film under discussion today thinking she’d enjoy Darren Aronofsky’s take on “Swan Lake” and after we’d squirmed our way through the elongated sex scene with both mother and son trying desperately to hide their embarrassment from the graphic portrayal of lust before us on the television screen we made it to the end and as I detailed to my dear old Mum the themes of obsessions and compulsions, perfections and stark human desires that drip through every film from Aronofsky I asked her if she enjoyed the film, and she simply said
“Nah”
Another memory that makes me smile as that was so my Mum!
And “Black Swan” was the last film we ever watched together.
So this is dedicated to my Mum and my sister Vivienne. I desperately miss those two beautiful white swans.
What follows is a brief extract from a spoiler free appreciation of the film I originally penned and published over a decade ago followed by a link to the entire review in full, links to the other 7 films within the cinematic canon of director Darren Aronofsky as well as further links to volume 1 of my “Essential Film Reviews Collection” (where you’ll find “Black Swan”) as well as both my Youtube and Rumble channel (@TheBlackfordBookClub) videos of me reading my own review direct to camera, hence the “Read Along” moniker for these series of articles on favourite films of yesteryear. If you so please and if you wish to dive into the spirit and ethos of these articles, you can read along to my reading of the review by reading my review as we go, all of which is explained in more detail in the final paragraph at the end of this article.
But first, here’s a brief extract from my original review:
Coming full circle from Pi, this film owes a tremendous debt to Aronofsky’s black and white debut film and whilst more stylish and accomplished than it’s earlier predecessor, this takes the psychological horror to a new, oblique level. Here the film excels, away from the obsessive desire for perfection and away from characters that are so enveloped in achieving this halcyon position of nirvana they reject anything and everything else to achieve it. The film is wrapped in a metamorphosis from virginal white to dark and sinister black. Nina is dedicated to the extreme but always overlooked by an overbearing Mother always dressed in black. Their apartment is white on black throughout and seemingly everywhere Nina turns she sees this reflection on her, black against white, white on black. Nina is forever in white or light pastel coloured clothing juxtaposed against Lily, her Ballet Mistress, Thomas and even Beth, all dressed in dark or mainly black clothing. The film also excels as Nina’s transformation becomes complete as both her body and her mind transform to encompass both the white and black swan. Early on she passes herself in a railway station (the film’s signature first overt clue) and the railway station is continually used (as with Pi) as a narration point for her physical decline. Reflections in windows immediately provide more black/white motifs, as does awkward encounters on the train or a brief early glimpse of Lily in another train carriage, white on black, black on white constantly recurring. Constantly recurring. There are subtle psychological touches as the film progresses through to overt and outlandish touches of greatness in a pulsating last Act that spoilers will not allow me to divulge!
Brilliant performances from Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel and Barbara Hershey in particular propel this 108 minute gem of a film that although not a personal favourite of mine relies heavily on the Director’s first, best and most challenging film. From Pi to Black Swan in five brilliant films. Full circle?
That’ll be 3.14 recurring, round and round, black on white, white on black.
"Darren Aronofsky and 6 films for your consideration"
"The Essential Film Reviews Collection" Vol.1
My Youtube Channel reading of "Black Swan"
My Rumble Channel reading of "Black Swan"
So now with an appetite duly whetted dear reader, you have a choice.
You can either:
(a) Read my entire review of “Black Swan” via the first link above and whilst you’re there
(b) Treat yourself to any and/or all of the 8 films in the career of director Darren Aronofsky.
(c) Watch either of my Youtube or Rumble channel videos (@TheBlackfordBookClub) of my reading of my own spoiler free review of the film, hence the “Read Along” moniker.
or (d) Treat yourself to any combination of the above or even (e) disappear to pastures new within our collective electrical Matrix of doom.
Oh, and (f) There’s a link above to Volume 1 of my “Essential Film Reviews Collection” packaged in my e-book and Kindle series on Amazon.
All 7 volumes are FREE to read if you have an Amazon Kindle “Unlimited” package.
Bless you for reading.
Thanks for reading. If you like the premise of this absurd idea of “Read Along”, then you might also enjoy:
"The Road" (2009) - Read Along
"Fight Club" (1999) - Read Along
"Sideways" (2004) - Read Along
Great article as per usual. Another movie to add to my ever expanding backlog. Someday I’ll watch all these films… Loved the review!