Black Swan movie review

The Plot
A dancer at a theater company, Nina Sayers is very obsessed about perfection in her dance and all her practice sessions are directed towards getting that coveted lead role in the play Swan Lake that is to kick-start their company's new season.

She gets the role and following this, she goes through hell in the form of violent hallucinations, disturbing dreams and all this takes a toll on her relationship with her mother and her health too. In the climax, she gives a spell binding performance in the play and what happens to her next is the picture perfect moment in the film.

Another Darren Aronofsky obsession movie. The movie has lot of disturbing and graphic images of violence and sex. Not for the faint hearted. The blood and the pain give a lot of impact to the viewer.

Hits

• Natalie Portman's perfect performance. Her dance moves, her expressions in the final performance and her pain during her preparation for the role are top class
• The music by Clint Mansell and the adapted music from the play Swan Lake are mesmerizing and induce goose bumps. 
• Good supporting roles for the actors who play the ultra sexy San Francisco dancer Lily, Nina's mother and the director Thomas Leroy. 

VERDICT

A glorious show by Natalie Portman carries the movie to the winning post singlehandedly, supported ably by the soundtrack. 

Smokin' Aces (2007)

What's it about

Buddy 'Aces' Israel, a part of the mob, wannabe gangster and a showman, decides to turn police informant and give vital information about Primo Sparazza and the rest of the La Costra Nasa gang. Word spreads around about this and a whole lot of hit men are out to kill Buddy and get his heart for Primo. The FBI is also hot on heels to keep Buddy safe in protective custody at a hotel in Lake Tahoe.

Slowly things start turning out really violent at the hotel and there is a whole lot of bloodshed. One of the FBI agents Carruthers is also killed. Things go according to the FBI Deputy Director Locke’s plan and all the hit men who are out to get Buddy are left humbled.

Finally it becomes clear to Carruther’s dejected partner Agent Messner that it is all a part of the FBI’s plan to get Agent Heller one of their old time agents, who actually is Primo Sparazza. He had gone undercover many many years back and Buddy is actually his son. They need Buddy’s heart due to the blood compatibility, for a transplant to save Sparazza aka Heller. The FBI would get all the information about the mob that they need from Sparazza himself, after this operation

The FBI had used many ppl including their 2 agents as mere pawns in this operation. Messner is totally blown out hearing this huge setup by the FBI, from Locke and he pulls out the life support of both Buddy and Sparazza in one go, in the end. He feels that this FBI created monster Sparazza is a man who has killed so many FBI agents and that he doesn't deserve to live, along with the other wannabe Buddy Israel. 

                 

Hits

• The screenplay is chaotic and very fast. Lots of characters and complexities. Full attention needed. 
• Very stylish making by Joe Carnahan. 
• Good BG score by Clint Mansell
• The characterization of Buddy Israel is very impressive. Always hyperactive and lively with a pack of cards in hand. Jeremy Piven rocks. 
• Ryan Reynolds as the rugged FBI agent is apt too. All the other characters in this huge cast also play their parts well. 
• The final twist in the tale about the identity and mystery surrounding Sparazza is quite shocking and makes us sit up. 

Misses

• The final scene at the hospital room where Messner pulls the plug, is quite cinematic. 
• Ben Affleck's role proceeds so stylishly until he is killed off suddenly. A big dampener that was. 

VERDICT

A chaotic ride that is engaging and the final twist in the tale is sharp too. Worth watching.                                                                        

Pi (1998)

What's it about:

Again it is about obsession. Aronofsky’s favorite subject. Here the protagonist, Max Cohen is madly driven to find patterns in the stock market. He lives with numbers all through his day. He is always busy with his computer 'Euclid' to find some number patterns or the other. He is also majorly into drugs due to his insomnia and panic attacks.

        His only interactions are with his mentor, Sol who is a former mathematician laid low by strokes. Both of them try to find some patterns in pi.

       Max also gets involved with some religious Jews and the Wall Street people. The former are after a 216 digit number which they believe Max knows. This 216 digit number is the name of God, they believe. The latter want Max to predict the stock market exactly. They are ready to offer him anything.

       Max doesn’t interact with his neighbors, be it the beautiful and forthcoming Devi or the young kid. Finally, he realizes that the damage done to him due to his obsession is too much and he decides to lead a normal life in the end.  

                                                                         

Hits

• Sean Gullette is perfect for this psychotic mathematician’s role. His bald getup further accentuates his obsession. His style and looks are very much like Edward Norton's 
• Some scenes showing obsession are really scary like the scene where Max cuts his hair and makes some mark on his head.
• Clint Massell’s BGM and the sound effects add to the chaotic mood

Misses

• It’s not very clear if the religious Jews and the Wall Street people are actually Max’s hallucinations or real. We see Max hallucinating at some points. So this doubt seems valid.
• The dialogues between the religious Jews and Max towards the climax are so strange to us. They sound like Greek and Latin
• On a little lighter note, the mathematics shown in this film are way too complex for a normal human mind. 

VERDICT

The first of Aronofsky’s movies in the obsession genre. Baffled to read that this movie was at a budget of just 60000$. But the content is definitely unique and as some poster said "truly original"

Requiem for a Dream (2000)

Whats it about:
It centers around 4 individuals and their obsessive dreams and how they put themselves through hell to fulfill their respective dreams.
      Sara Goldfarb is obsessed with appearing on TV. She imagines that she has got a call to appear on her favorite show and then starts getting obsessed in looking good for the show. She starts taking steroid pills to lose weight, to fit into her favorite dress that she plans to wear for the show.
      Harry Goldfarb and his friend Tyrone want to make a quick buck by selling drugs. They themselves are drug addicts. Harry's girl friend Marione is another drug addict. She wants to set up her own clothes showroom and she too is after money.
      In the end, all the 4 go through unimaginable hell just to survive.

                                                                              

Hits

• Clint Mansell's BGM is haunting, rocking etc etc. So suited to the mood of the film
• Editing, sound design and camera work are top class. The close ups are high impact stuff. The fast forwards & slow motions at appropriate places, the intricate sound effects. This is just pure cinema.
• Ellen Burstyn as Sara has acted like a dream. Her conversation at the dinner table with Harry where she feels about being lonely, her scary expressions after becoming addicted to drugs are all goose bumps inducing stuff. 
• All the other 3 lead artistes too have done brilliantly. Each of them has their poignant moments as well as shocking moments in the film. Apt expressions. 

Misses

• Unimaginably hard hitting visuals. Definitely not for the weak hearted. 

VERDICT

One of the very best films. Darren Aronofsky ... Take a bow for such a daringly different concept. 

The Fountain (2006)

Whats it about
3 stories are shown involving the same lead pair.
       One is the actual live story where Dr. Tommy Creo is working overtime to find a medicine which can prevent ageing and brain tumors. He tests his medicines on a sick monkey in the hope that he can cure his terminally ill writer wife.
       The second story is actually the story of the book that Izzi Creo is writing. Dr. Tommy Creo is shown as Conquistador, the warrior who has to save Spain from the Inquisitor. Izzi is shown as Isabel the queen of Spain who gives commands to the Conquistador.
       The third story follows from the book's story where the queen tells the Conquistador about a tree in space which can give everlasting life to all species. The Conquistador dies in combat and his soul is shown to be travelling in space with the ring that the queen had given him, as a bald monk in pursuit of the life tree.

                                                                          
Hits

• Soulful, haunting BGM by Clint Mansell 
• Terrific art work, CG work. Really surreal effects. 
• A terrific audio visual symphony
• Brilliant acting by Hugh Jackman as the frustrated doctor in particular
• Great analogies and commonalities shown between all the 3 stories

VERDICT

Definitely for an educated audience. Multi layered stuff. This one is for the intelligent and the classy, brainy folks. 

Typical Aronofsky brilliance.