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{{Distinguish2|the 1942 swashbuckler film [[The Black Swan (film)]]}}
{{Distinguish2|the 1942 swashbuckler film [[The Black Swan (film)]]}}
{{Infobox film
{{Infobox film
| name = Black Swan
| name = Black Swan
| image = Black Swan poster.jpg
| image = Black Swan poster.jpg
| alt = Natalie Portman with white facial makeup, black-winged eye liner around bloodshot red eyes, and a jagged crystal tiara.
| alt = Natalie Portman with white facial makeup, black-winged eye liner around bloodshot red eyes, and a jagged crystal tiara.
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = [[Darren Aronofsky]]
| director = [[Darren Aronofsky]]
| producer = [[Mike Medavoy]]<br />Scott Franklin<br />Arnold Messer<br />Brian Oliver
| producer = [[Mike Medavoy]]<br>Scott Franklin<br>Arnold Messer<br>Brian Oliver
| screenplay = Mark Heyman<br />Andres Heinz<br />John McLaughlin
| screenplay = Mark Heyman<br>Andres Heinz<br>John McLaughlin
| story = Andres Heinz
| story = Andres Heinz
| starring = [[Natalie Portman]]<br />[[Vincent Cassel]]<br />[[Mila Kunis]]
| starring = [[Natalie Portman]]<br>[[Vincent Cassel]]<br>[[Mila Kunis]]
| music = [[Clint Mansell]]
| music = [[Clint Mansell]]
| cinematography = [[Matthew Libatique]]
| cinematography = [[Matthew Libatique]]
| editing = [[Andrew Weisblum]]
| editing = [[Andrew Weisblum]]
| distributor = [[Fox Searchlight Pictures]]
| distributor = [[Fox Searchlight Pictures]]
| released = {{Film date|2010|12|3}}
| released = {{Film date|2010|12|3}}
| runtime = 103 minutes
| runtime = 103 minutes
| country = {{Film US}}
| country = {{Film US}}
| language = English
| language = English
| budget = $13 million<ref name="KH">{{cite news | last=Zeitchik | first=Steven | url=http://www.koreaherald.com/entertainment/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20100917000771 | title=Darren Aronofsky’s ‘Black Swan’ a feature film of a different feather | work=[[Los Angeles Times]] | date=September&nbsp;17, 2010 | accessdate=October&nbsp;30, 2010}}</ref>
| budget = $13 million<ref name="KH">{{cite news | last=Zeitchik | first=Steven | url=http://www.koreaherald.com/entertainment/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20100917000771 | title=Darren Aronofsky’s ‘Black Swan’ a feature film of a different feather | work=[[Los Angeles Times]] | date=September&nbsp;17, 2010 | accessdate=October&nbsp;30, 2010}}</ref>
| gross = $3,266,000<ref name="mojo">{{cite web| url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=blackswan.htm | title=Black Swan (2010) | work=[[Box Office Mojo]] | accessdate=December 11, 2010}}</ref>
| gross = $3,266,000<ref name="mojo">{{cite web| url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=blackswan.htm | title=Black Swan (2010) | work=[[Box Office Mojo]] | accessdate=December 11, 2010}}</ref>
}}
}}
⚫
'''''Black Swan''''' is a 2010 American [[psychological thriller]] film directed by [[Darren Aronofsky]]. The film stars [[Natalie Portman]] and [[Mila Kunis]] as ballet dancers in a New York City production of ''[[Swan Lake]]''. This production requires a dancer who can play both the White Swan with innocence and grace, and the Black Swan, who represents guile and sensuality. Nina (Portman) fits the White Swan role perfectly, while Lily (Kunis) is the ideal personification of the Black Swan. As the two young dancers expand their rivalry into a twisted friendship, Nina grows more in touch with her dark side, with a recklessness that threatens to destroy her.


⚫
Aronofsky conceived the premise by connecting his viewings of an actual production of ''Swan Lake'' with an unrealized screenplay about [[understudy|understudies]] and the notion of being haunted by a double, similar to the folklore surrounding [[doppelgänger]]s. The director also considered ''Black Swan'' a companion piece to his 2008 film ''[[The Wrestler (2008 film)|The Wrestler]]'', with both films involving demanding performances for different kinds of art. He and Portman first discussed the project in 2000, and after a brief attachment to Universal Pictures, ''Black Swan'' was produced in New York City in 2009 by [[Fox Searchlight Pictures]]. Portman and Kunis trained in ballet for several months prior to filming and notable figures from the ballet world helped with film production to shape the ballet presentation. The film premiered as the opening film for the [[67th Venice International Film Festival]] on September&nbsp;1, 2010. It had a [[limited release]] starting December&nbsp;3, 2010 and will have a wide release on December 22.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=72184 | title=Black Swan Gets a Wide Release for Christmas | work=comingsoon.net | accessdate=December&nbsp;7, 2010}}</ref>
⚫
'''''Black Swan''''' is a 2010 American [[psychological thriller]] film directed by [[Darren Aronofsky]]. The film stars [[Natalie Portman]] and [[Mila Kunis]] as ballet dancers in a New York City production of ''[[Swan Lake]]''. The production requires a dancer who can play both the White Swan with innocence and grace, and the Black Swan, who represents guile and sensuality. Nina (Portman) fits the White Swan role perfectly, while Lily (Kunis) is the ideal personification of the Black Swan. As the two young dancers expand their rivalry into a twisted friendship, Nina grows more in touch with her dark side, with a recklessness that threatens to destroy her.

⚫
Aronofsky conceived the premise by connecting his viewings of ''Swan Lake'' with an unrealized screenplay about [[understudy|understudies]] and the notion of being haunted by a double, similar to the folklore surrounding [[doppelgängers]]. The director also considered ''Black Swan'' a companion piece to his previous film ''[[The Wrestler (2008 film)|The Wrestler]]'', with both films' worlds involving demanding performances for different kinds of art. He and Portman first discussed the project in 2000, and after a brief attachment to Universal Pictures, ''Black Swan'' was produced in New York City in 2009 under Fox Searchlight Pictures. Portman and Kunis trained in ballet for months. Notable figures from the ballet world helped with film production to shape the ballet presentation. The film premiered as the opening film for the [[67th Venice International Film Festival]] on September&nbsp;1, 2010. The film had a [[limited release]] on December&nbsp;3, 2010 and will have a wide release on December 22.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=72184 | title=Black Swan Gets a Wide Release for Christmas | work=comingsoon.net | accessdate=December&nbsp;7, 2010 }}</ref>


== Synopsis ==
== Synopsis ==
A New York City ballet company is producing ''[[Swan Lake]]'', and director Thomas Leroy (Cassel) decides to replace prima ballerina Beth MacIntyre (Ryder) with ballerina Nina (Natalie Portman). Nina lives with Erica (Hershey), her overbearing mother and a former ballerina. Nina finds competition in new dancer Lily (Kunis). ''Swan Lake'' requires a ballerina who can play the innocent White Swan, which fits Nina, and the sensual Black Swan, which fits Lily. The dancers' rivalry changes into a bizarre friendship, and Nina begins exploring a dark side of herself.<ref name="iw">{{cite web | url=http://www.indiewire.com/film/black_swan/ | title=Black Swan | work=indiewire.com | publisher=[[Moviefone]] | accessdate=July&nbsp;27, 2010 }}</ref>
A New York City ballet company is producing ''[[Swan Lake]]'', and director Thomas Leroy ([[Vincent Cassel]]) decides to replace prima ballerina Beth MacIntyre ([[Winona Ryder]]) with her younger colleague Nina (Natalie Portman). Nina lives with her overbearing mother and former ballerina Erica ([[Barbara Hershey]]) who puts pressure on her daughter to succeed where her career failed. Nina finds competition in new dancer Lily (Kunis) and struggles with the stress by apparently [[Self-mutilation|mutilating herself]]. ''Swan Lake'' requires a ballerina who can play the innocent White Swan, which fits Nina, and the sensual Black Swan, which fits Lily, but Nina gets the part after she violently rebuffs the sexual advances of Leroy. The dancers' rivalry changes into a bizarre friendship, and Nina begins being overtaken by dark revenge fantasies against Lily and starts to lose her grip on reality.<ref name="iw">{{cite web | url=http://www.indiewire.com/film/black_swan/ | title=Black Swan | work=indiewire.com | publisher=[[Moviefone]] | accessdate=July&nbsp;27, 2010}}</ref>


==Cast==
== Cast ==
[[File:Mila Kunis 2008.jpg|alt=|thumb|Mila Kunis was first approached to perform in ''Black Swan'' in 2008. She and co-star Natalie Portman spent six months training and toning their bodies before filming began.]]
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== Production ==
== Production ==
=== Conception ===
=== Conception ===
[[File:800px-Swanlake2.jpg|alt=|thumb|The third act of the film and the ballet climax in the transition of the innocent white Swan Queen into the emotionally crippled black swan]]
Darren Aronofsky first became interested in ballet when his sister studied dance at the [[High School of Performing Arts]] in New York City. The basic idea for the film started when he hired screenwriters to rework a screenplay called ''The Understudy'', which was about off-Broadway actors and explored the notion of being haunted by a double. Aronofsky said the screenplay had elements of the film ''[[All About Eve]]'', [[Roman Polanski]]'s film ''[[The Tenant]]'', and [[Fyodor Dostoyevsky]]'s novella ''[[The Double: A Petersburg Poem|The Double]]''. The director had also seen numerous productions of ''[[Swan Lake]]'', and he connected the duality of the White Swan and the Black Swan to his script.<ref name="roles">{{cite news | last=Wloszczyna | first=Susan | url=http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2010-07-22-blackswaninside22_ST_N.htm | title='Black Swan' stars step deftly into roles | work=[[USA Today]] | date=July&nbsp;22, 2010 | archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5s9abMWwQ | archivedate=August&nbsp;21, 2010 }}</ref> When researching for production of ''Black Swan'', he found ballet to be "a very insular world" whose dancers were "not impressed by movies". Regardless, the director found active and inactive dancers to share their experiences with him. He also stood backstage to see the [[Moscow State Academy of Choreography|Bolshoi Ballet]] perform at the [[Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts]].<ref name="kisses" />
Darren Aronofsky first became interested in ballet when his sister studied dance at the [[High School of Performing Arts]] in New York City. The basic idea for the film started when he hired screenwriters to rework a screenplay called ''The Understudy'', which was about off-Broadway actors and explored the notion of being haunted by a double. Aronofsky said the screenplay had elements of the film ''[[All About Eve]]'', [[Roman Polanski]]'s film ''[[The Tenant]]'', and [[Fyodor Dostoyevsky]]'s novella ''[[The Double: A Petersburg Poem|The Double]]''. The director had also seen numerous productions of ''[[Swan Lake]]'', and he connected the duality of the White Swan and the Black Swan to his script.<ref name="roles">{{cite news | last=Wloszczyna | first=Susan | url=http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2010-07-22-blackswaninside22_ST_N.htm | title='Black Swan' stars step deftly into roles | work=[[USA Today]] | date=July&nbsp;22, 2010 | archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5s9abMWwQ | archivedate=August&nbsp;21, 2010 }}</ref> When researching for production of ''Black Swan'', he found ballet to be "a very insular world" whose dancers were "not impressed by movies". Regardless, the director found active and inactive dancers to share their experiences with him. He also stood backstage to see the [[Moscow State Academy of Choreography|Bolshoi Ballet]] perform at the [[Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts]].<ref name="kisses" />


Line 61: Line 62:


=== Development and filming ===
=== Development and filming ===
[[File:Artscenter.JPG|alt=|thumb|Filming took place at the [[State University of New York at Purchase]] Performing Arts Center]]
Aronofsky and Portman first discussed the ballet film in 2000, though the script was yet to be written.<ref name="kisses" /> He told her about the love scene between competing ballet dancers, and Portman recalled, "I thought that was very interesting because this movie is in so many ways an exploration of an artist's ego and that narcissistic sort of attraction to yourself and also repulsion with yourself."<ref>{{cite news | last=Collett-White | first=Mike | url=http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE67U5OA20100901 | title=Natalie Portman takes a dark turn in Venice film | work=reuters.com | publisher=[[Reuters]] | date=September&nbsp;1, 2010 | archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5sQAFww5o | archivedate=September&nbsp;1, 2010 }}</ref> On the decade's wait before production, she said, "The fact that I had spent so much time with the idea&nbsp;... allowed it to marinate a little before we shot."<ref name="firstlook">{{cite news | last=Wloszczyna | first=Susan | url=http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2010-07-22-blackswan22_ST_N.htm | title=First look: Ballet thriller 'Black Swan' from Darren Aronofsky | work=[[USA Today]] | date=July&nbsp;22, 2010 | archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5rjZH6VGk | archivedate=August&nbsp;4, 2010 }}</ref> When Aronofsky proposed a detailed outline of ''Black Swan'' to [[Universal Studios|Universal Pictures]], the studio decided to fast-track development of the project in January 2007.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Fleming | first=Michael | url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117957718.html?categoryid=13&cs=1 | title=U springs for 'Swan' | journal=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] | date=January&nbsp;19, 2007 | accessdate=December&nbsp;11, 2009 }}</ref> The project did not come together at the studio, and Aronofsky would go on to shoot ''The Wrestler'' instead. After finishing ''The Wrestler'' in 2008, he asked Mark Heyman, who had worked for him on the film, to write ''Black Swan''.<ref name="kisses" /> By June 2009, Universal had placed the project in [[turnaround (filmmaking)|turnaround]], generating attention from other studios and specialty divisions, particularly with actress Portman attached to star.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Zeitchik | first=Steven | title=Natalie Portman to sing 'Swan' song | journal=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] | date=June&nbsp;15, 2009 }}</ref> ''Black Swan'' began development under Protozoa Pictures and Overnight Productions, the latter financing the film. In July 2009, actor [[Mila Kunis]] was cast in a lead role as a rival dancer to Portman's character.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Zeitchik | first=Steven | title=Mila Kunis hunts 'Black Swan' | journal=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] | date=July&nbsp;26, 2009 }}</ref>
Aronofsky and Portman first discussed the ballet film in 2000, though the script was yet to be written.<ref name="kisses" /> He told her about the love scene between competing ballet dancers, and Portman recalled, "I thought that was very interesting because this movie is in so many ways an exploration of an artist's ego and that narcissistic sort of attraction to yourself and also repulsion with yourself."<ref>{{cite news | last=Collett-White | first=Mike | url=http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE67U5OA20100901 | title=Natalie Portman takes a dark turn in Venice film | work=reuters.com | publisher=[[Reuters]] | date=September&nbsp;1, 2010 | archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5sQAFww5o | archivedate=September&nbsp;1, 2010 }}</ref> On the decade's wait before production, she said, "The fact that I had spent so much time with the idea&nbsp;... allowed it to marinate a little before we shot."<ref name="firstlook">{{cite news | last=Wloszczyna | first=Susan | url=http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2010-07-22-blackswan22_ST_N.htm | title=First look: Ballet thriller 'Black Swan' from Darren Aronofsky | work=[[USA Today]] | date=July&nbsp;22, 2010 | archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5rjZH6VGk | archivedate=August&nbsp;4, 2010 }}</ref> When Aronofsky proposed a detailed outline of ''Black Swan'' to [[Universal Studios|Universal Pictures]], the studio decided to fast-track development of the project in January 2007.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Fleming | first=Michael | url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117957718.html?categoryid=13&cs=1 | title=U springs for 'Swan' | journal=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] | date=January&nbsp;19, 2007 | accessdate=December&nbsp;11, 2009 }}</ref> The project did not come together at the studio, and Aronofsky would go on to shoot ''The Wrestler'' instead. After finishing ''The Wrestler'' in 2008, he asked Mark Heyman, who had worked for him on the film, to write ''Black Swan''.<ref name="kisses" /> By June 2009, Universal had placed the project in [[turnaround (filmmaking)|turnaround]], generating attention from other studios and specialty divisions, particularly with actress Portman attached to star.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Zeitchik | first=Steven | title=Natalie Portman to sing 'Swan' song | journal=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] | date=June&nbsp;15, 2009 }}</ref> ''Black Swan'' began development under Protozoa Pictures and Overnight Productions, the latter financing the film. In July 2009, actor [[Mila Kunis]] was cast in a lead role as a rival dancer to Portman's character.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Zeitchik | first=Steven | title=Mila Kunis hunts 'Black Swan' | journal=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] | date=July&nbsp;26, 2009 }}</ref>


[[Fox Searchlight Pictures]] became the distributor for ''Black Swan''. The film was given a production budget of $10–12&nbsp;million, and principal photography began in [[New York City]] toward the end of 2009.<ref name="song">{{cite journal | last=Zeitchik | first=Steven | title=Searchlight could sing 'Swan's' song | journal=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] | date=November&nbsp;9, 2009 }}</ref> Aronofsky filmed ''Black Swan'' with a muted palette and a grainy style intended to be similar to ''The Wrestler''.<ref>{{cite news | last=Barry | first=Colleen | url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20100901/eu-italy-venice-film-festival/ | title='Black Swan' opens Venice Film Festival | work=[[The Huffington Post]] | date=September&nbsp;1, 2010 | archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5sQGLcLbm | archivedate=September&nbsp;1, 2010 }}</ref> Part of filming took place at the Performing Arts Center at [[State University of New York at Purchase]].<ref name="roles" /> Like The Wrestler, the majority of the film was shot on [[Super 16mm]] film.<ref name="Black Swan">{{cite web | title=Black Swan | journal=imdb.com | date=December 5, 2010 | url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0947798/technical }}</ref> The film's score was composed by [[Clint Mansell]], a long-time collaborator of Aronofsky's, and Mansell built the score using elements from ''Swan Lake''.<ref>{{cite news | last=Wright | first=James | url=http://www.littlewhitelies.co.uk/interviews/clint-mansell/ | title=Clint Mansell | work=[[Little White Lies (magazine)|Little White Lies]] | accessdate=December&nbsp;28, 2009 | archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5rjYGMULw | archivedate=August&nbsp;4, 2010 }}</ref> For the film Kunis "trained seven days a week, five hours, for five, six months total, and I was put on a very strict diet of 1,200 calories a day." She lost 20 pounds from her normal weight of about 117 pounds, and reported that Portman "became smaller than I did."<ref name="kimmel">Stated by Kunis on ''[[Jimmy Kimmel Live]]'', 6 December 2010.</ref>
[[Fox Searchlight Pictures]] became the distributor for ''Black Swan''. The film was given a production budget of $10–12&nbsp;million, and principal photography began in [[New York City]] toward the end of 2009.<ref name="song">{{cite journal | last=Zeitchik | first=Steven | title=Searchlight could sing 'Swan's' song | journal=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] | date=November&nbsp;9, 2009 }}</ref> Aronofsky filmed ''Black Swan'' with a muted palette and a grainy style intended to be similar to ''The Wrestler''.<ref>{{cite news | last=Barry | first=Colleen | url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20100901/eu-italy-venice-film-festival/ | title='Black Swan' opens Venice Film Festival | work=[[The Huffington Post]] | date=September&nbsp;1, 2010 | archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5sQGLcLbm | archivedate=September&nbsp;1, 2010 }}</ref> Part of filming took place at the Performing Arts Center at [[State University of New York at Purchase]].<ref name="roles" /> Like The Wrestler, the majority of the film was shot on [[Super 16mm]] film.<ref name="Black Swan">{{cite web | title=Black Swan | journal=imdb.com | date=December 5, 2010 | url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0947798/technical }}</ref> The film's score was composed by [[Clint Mansell]], a long-time collaborator of Aronofsky's, and Mansell built the score using elements from ''Swan Lake''.<ref>{{cite news | last=Wright | first=James | url=http://www.littlewhitelies.co.uk/interviews/clint-mansell/ | title=Clint Mansell | work=[[Little White Lies (magazine)|Little White Lies]] | accessdate=December&nbsp;28, 2009 | archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5rjYGMULw | archivedate=August&nbsp;4, 2010 }}</ref> For the film Kunis "trained seven days a week, five hours, for five, six months total, and I was put on a very strict diet of 1,200 calories a day." She lost 20 pounds from her normal weight of about 117 pounds, and reported that Portman "became smaller than I did."<ref name="kimmel">Stated by Kunis on ''[[Jimmy Kimmel Live]]'', 6 December 2010.</ref>

=== Soundtrack ===
{{Infobox Album
| Name = Black Swan
| Type = film
| Longtype =
| Artist = [[Clint Mansell]]
| Cover =
| Cover size =
| Caption =
| Alt =
| Released = {{Start date|2010|11|30}}
| Recorded =
| Genre = [[Contemporary classical]]
| Length = {{Duration||m=52|s=38}}
| Language = [[Instrumental]]
| Label = [[Sony Masterworks]]
| Producer =
| Last album = ''[[Faster (film)|Faster]]''<br>(2010)
| This album = '''''Black Swan'''''<br>(2010)
| Next album =
}}
''Black Swan'' marks the return of English composer [[Clint Mansell]] to Aronofsky's films. Mansell attempted to score the film based on [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky|Tchaikovsky]]'s ballet, but with radical changes to the music.<ref name="score">{{Cite web |url=http://www.littlewhitelies.co.uk/interviews/clint-mansell-8937 |title=Clint Mansell interview |publisher=[[Independent Film Channel]] |last=Wright |first=James |date=2009-12-17 |accessdate=2010-12-12}}</ref>

==== Track listing ====
#"Nina's Dream"&nbsp;– 2:48
#"Mother Me"&nbsp;– 1:06
#"The New Season"&nbsp;– 2:39
#"A Room of Her Own"&nbsp;– 1:56
#"A New Swan Queen"&nbsp;– 3:28
#"Lose Yourself"&nbsp;– 2:08
#"Cruel Mistress"&nbsp;– 3:29
#"Power, Seduction, Cries"&nbsp;– 1:42
#"The Double"&nbsp;– 2:20
#"Opposites Attract"&nbsp;– 3:45
#"Night of Terror"&nbsp;– 8:01
#"Stumbled Beginnings..."&nbsp;– 3:51
#"It's My Time"&nbsp;– 1:30
#"A Swan Is Born"&nbsp;– 1:38
#"Perfection"&nbsp;– 5:45
#"A Swan Song (For Nina)"&nbsp;– 6:23


== Release ==
== Release ==
[[File:Venice Film Festival.JPG|alt=|thumb|''Black Swan'' opened at the [[67th Venice International Film Festival]], making it the third consecutive Aronofsky film to be screened at the ceremony]]
''Black Swan'' had its world premiere as the opening film at the [[67th Venice International Film Festival|67th Venice Film Festival]] on September&nbsp;1, 2010. It received a standing ovation whose length ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' said made it "one of the strongest Venice openers in recent memory".<ref>{{cite journal | last=Vivarelli | first=Nick | url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118023600.html?categoryId=13&cs=1 | title=Aronofsky flies 'Swan' at Venice | journal=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] | date=September&nbsp;1, 2010 | archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5sQrgUXEl | archivedate=September&nbsp;1, 2010 }}</ref> The festival's artistic director Marco Mueller had chosen ''Black Swan'' over ''[[The American (2010 film)|The American]]'' (starring [[George Clooney]]) for opening film, saying, "[It] was just a better fit... Clooney is a wonderful actor, and he will always be welcome in Venice. But it was as simple as that."<ref>{{cite journal | last=Lyman | first=Eric J. | url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/world/news/e3i7666b0f98579502179be93baa1cf8ca7 | title=Venice Fest looks to re-energize | journal=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] | date=August&nbsp;25, 2010 }}</ref> ''Black Swan'' screened in competition and is the third consecutive film directed by Aronofsky to premiere at the festival, following ''[[The Fountain]]'' and ''[[The Wrestler (2008 film)|The Wrestler]]''.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Lyman | first=Eric J. | url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i4c15c030a696fa142f87203f980fdbe3 | title=Aronofsky's 'Black Swan' to open Venice fest | journal=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] | date=July&nbsp;22, 2010 }}</ref> In addition, ''Black Swan'' was one of seven films nominated for the [[Queer Lion]] prize, to be awarded to the best film with "homosexual themes or queer interests",<ref>{{cite journal | last=Lyman | first=Eric J. | url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/world/news/e3i3b619fdcfedcfc79428589ecb5a78ee7 | title='Black Swan' vying for Venice Fest's Queer Lion | journal=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] | date=August&nbsp;23, 2010 }}</ref> though ''En el futuro'' (''In The Future'') by Argentinian director Mauro Andrizzi won the prize.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Lyman | first=Eric J. | url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/future-wins-venices-queer-lion-27667 | title='In the Future' wins Venice's Queer Lion | journal=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] | date=September&nbsp;10, 2010 }}</ref>
''Black Swan'' had its world premiere as the opening film at the [[67th Venice International Film Festival|67th Venice Film Festival]] on September&nbsp;1, 2010. It received a standing ovation whose length ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' said made it "one of the strongest Venice openers in recent memory".<ref>{{cite journal | last=Vivarelli | first=Nick | url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118023600.html?categoryId=13&cs=1 | title=Aronofsky flies 'Swan' at Venice | journal=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] | date=September&nbsp;1, 2010 | archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5sQrgUXEl | archivedate=September&nbsp;1, 2010 }}</ref> The festival's artistic director Marco Mueller had chosen ''Black Swan'' over ''[[The American (2010 film)|The American]]'' (starring [[George Clooney]]) for opening film, saying, "[It] was just a better fit... Clooney is a wonderful actor, and he will always be welcome in Venice. But it was as simple as that."<ref>{{cite journal | last=Lyman | first=Eric J. | url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/world/news/e3i7666b0f98579502179be93baa1cf8ca7 | title=Venice Fest looks to re-energize | journal=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] | date=August&nbsp;25, 2010 }}</ref> ''Black Swan'' screened in competition and is the third consecutive film directed by Aronofsky to premiere at the festival, following ''[[The Fountain]]'' and ''[[The Wrestler (2008 film)|The Wrestler]]''.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Lyman | first=Eric J. | url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i4c15c030a696fa142f87203f980fdbe3 | title=Aronofsky's 'Black Swan' to open Venice fest | journal=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] | date=July&nbsp;22, 2010 }}</ref> In addition, ''Black Swan'' was one of seven films nominated for the [[Queer Lion]] prize, to be awarded to the best film with "homosexual themes or queer interests",<ref>{{cite journal | last=Lyman | first=Eric J. | url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/world/news/e3i3b619fdcfedcfc79428589ecb5a78ee7 | title='Black Swan' vying for Venice Fest's Queer Lion | journal=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] | date=August&nbsp;23, 2010 }}</ref> though ''En el futuro'' (''In The Future'') by Argentinian director Mauro Andrizzi won the prize.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Lyman | first=Eric J. | url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/future-wins-venices-queer-lion-27667 | title='In the Future' wins Venice's Queer Lion | journal=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] | date=September&nbsp;10, 2010 }}</ref>


[[File:NataliePortmanTIFFSept10.jpg|left|thumb|Portman at a premiere for the film at the 2010 [[Toronto International Film Festival]]]]
[[File:NataliePortmanTIFFSept10.jpg|left|thumb|Portman at a premiere for the film at the 2010 [[Toronto International Film Festival]]]]
''Black Swan'' was presented in a sneak screening at the [[Telluride Film Festival]] on September&nbsp;5, 2010.<ref>{{cite news | last=Scott | first=A. O. | url=http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/movies/07telluride.html | title=Movies, Mountains and High Hopes | work=[[The New York Times]] | date=September&nbsp;6, 2010 | accessdate=September&nbsp;6, 2010 }}</ref> It also had a Gala screening at the 35th [[Toronto International Film Festival]] later in the month.<ref>{{cite news | last=Knegt | first=Peter | url=http://www.indiewire.com/article/toronto_announces_2010_titles/ | title=Toronto Sets Over 50 Titles For 2010 Fest | work=indiewire.com | publisher=[[Moviefone]] | date=July&nbsp;27, 2010 | archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5sNQy5fZb | archivedate=August&nbsp;30, 2010 }}</ref><ref name=Evans2010>{{Citation
''Black Swan'' was presented in a sneak screening at the [[Telluride Film Festival]] on September&nbsp;5, 2010.<ref>{{cite news | last=Scott | first=A. O. | url=http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/movies/07telluride.html | title=Movies, Mountains and High Hopes | work=[[The New York Times]] | date=September&nbsp;6, 2010 | accessdate=September&nbsp;6, 2010 }}</ref> It also had a Gala screening at the 35th [[Toronto International Film Festival]] later in the month.<ref>{{cite news | last=Knegt | first=Peter | url=http://www.indiewire.com/article/toronto_announces_2010_titles/ | title=Toronto Sets Over 50 Titles For 2010 Fest | work=indiewire.com | publisher=[[Moviefone]] | date=July&nbsp;27, 2010 | archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5sNQy5fZb | archivedate=August&nbsp;30, 2010 }}</ref><ref name=Evans2010>{{Citation
| title = Black Swan - Toronto International Film Festival premiere coverage
| title = Black Swan&nbsp;— Toronto International Film Festival premiere coverage
| url = http://www.digitalhit.com/galleries/38/564/
| url = http://www.digitalhit.com/galleries/38/564/
| year = 2010
| year = 2010
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''Black Swan'' will be released in the United Kingdom on February&nbsp;11, 2011. According to ''[[The Independent]]'', the film is one of "the most highly anticipated" of late 2010. The newspaper compared it to the 1948 ballet film ''[[The Red Shoes (1948 film)|The Red Shoes]]'' in having "a nightmarish quality ... of a dancer consumed by her desire to dance".<ref>{{cite news | last=Hughes | first=Sarah | url=http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/darkness-and-despair-thats-dance-on-screen-2062957.html | title=Darkness and despair: that's dance on screen | work=[[The Independent]] | date=August&nbsp;27, 2010 | archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5sK8qJAKq | archivedate=August&nbsp;26, 2010 }}</ref>
''Black Swan'' will be released in the United Kingdom on February&nbsp;11, 2011. According to ''[[The Independent]]'', the film is one of "the most highly anticipated" of late 2010. The newspaper compared it to the 1948 ballet film ''[[The Red Shoes (1948 film)|The Red Shoes]]'' in having "a nightmarish quality ... of a dancer consumed by her desire to dance".<ref>{{cite news | last=Hughes | first=Sarah | url=http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/darkness-and-despair-thats-dance-on-screen-2062957.html | title=Darkness and despair: that's dance on screen | work=[[The Independent]] | date=August&nbsp;27, 2010 | archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5sK8qJAKq | archivedate=August&nbsp;26, 2010 }}</ref>


===Box office===
=== Box office ===


The film had a [[limited release]] in select cities in North America on December 3, 2010 in 18 theaters. It took in $415,822—$23,101 per theater, its opening day.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=daily&id=blackswan.htm | title=Daily Box Office for Friday, December 3, 2010 | work=Box Office Mojo | publisher=IMDb | date= December 6, | accessdate= December 6, 2010}}</ref> By the end of its opening weekend it grossed $1,443,809—$80,212 per theater. The per location average was the second highest for the opening weekend of 2010 behind ''[[The King's Speech (film)|The King's Speech]]''.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://insidemovies.ew.com/2010/12/05/box-office-report-tangled/| title=Box office report: 'Tangled' wins slow weekend with $21.5 mil|author=Young, John| work = [[Entertainment Weekly]]|date=December 5, 2010|accessdate = December 8, 2010}}</ref> The film has [[Fox Searchlight Pictures]] highest per-theater average gross ever, and it ranks 21st on the all-time list.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3004&p=.htm| title=Arthouse Audit: Black Swan Soars |author=Subers, Ray| work = Boxoffice Mojo|date=December 6, 2010|accessdate = December 7, 2010}}</ref>
The film had a [[limited release]] in select cities in North America on December 3, 2010 in 18 theaters. It took in $415,822—$23,101 per theater, its opening day.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=daily&id=blackswan.htm | title=Daily Box Office for Friday, December 3, 2010 | work=Box Office Mojo | publisher=IMDb | date= December 6, | accessdate= December 6, 2010}}</ref> By the end of its opening weekend it grossed $1,443,809—$80,212 per theater. The per location average was the second highest for the opening weekend of 2010 behind ''[[The King's Speech (film)|The King's Speech]]''.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://insidemovies.ew.com/2010/12/05/box-office-report-tangled/| title=Box office report: 'Tangled' wins slow weekend with $21.5 mil|author=Young, John| work = [[Entertainment Weekly]]|date=December 5, 2010|accessdate = December 8, 2010}}</ref> The film has [[Fox Searchlight Pictures]] highest per-theater average gross ever, and it ranks 21st on the all-time list.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3004&p=.htm| title=Arthouse Audit: Black Swan Soars |author=Subers, Ray| work = Boxoffice Mojo|date=December 6, 2010|accessdate = December 7, 2010}}</ref>


== Critical reception ==
== Critical reception ==
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! Result
! Result
|-
|-
| [[Detroit Film Critics Society|4th Detroit Film Society Awards]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://detroitfilmcritics.com/Home_Page.html|title=ANNOUNCES THE BEST OF 2010 NOMINATIONS! |publisher=[[Detroit Film Critics Society]] |accessdate=11 December 2010}}</ref>
| [[Detroit Film Critics Society|4th Detroit Film Society Awards]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://detroitfilmcritics.com/Home_Page.html|title=DETROIT FILM CRITICS SOCIETY ANNOUNCES THE BEST OF 2010 NOMINATIONS! |publisher=[[Detroit Film Critics Society]] |accessdate=11 December 2010}}</ref>
|17 December 2010
|16 December 2010
| [[Detroit_Film_Critics_Society#2010_Awards|Best Actress]]
| [[Detroit_Film_Critics_Society#2010_Awards|Best Actress]]
| Natalie Portman
| Natalie Portman
| {{Pending}}
| {{Pending}}
|-
|-
| [[Gotham Independent Film Awards 2010|20th Gotham Independent Film Awards]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://gotham.ifp.org/ |title=Award Nominees |publisher=[[Gotham Independent Film Awards 2010]] |date=30 November 2010 |accessdate=16 November 2010}}</ref>
| [[Gotham Independent Film Awards 2010|20th Gotham Independent Film Awards]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://gotham.ifp.org/ |title=Award Nominees |publisher=[[Gotham Independent Film Awards 2010]] |date=30 November 2010 |accessdate=16 November 2010}}</ref>
| 28 November 2010
| 28 November 2010
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|-
|-
| rowspan="4"|[[Independent Spirit Awards 2010|25th Independent Spirit Awards]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.spiritawards.com/nominees#Best%20Supporting%20Female |title=Nominees |publisher=[[Independent Spirit Awards]] |date=30 November 2010 |accessdate=30 November 2010}}</ref>
| rowspan="4"|[[Independent Spirit Awards 2010|25th Independent Spirit Awards]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.spiritawards.com/nominees#Best%20Supporting%20Female |title=Nominees |publisher=[[Independent Spirit Awards]] |date=30 November 2010 |accessdate=30 November 2010}}</ref>
| rowspan="4"| 26 February 2011
| rowspan="4"| 26 February 2011
| [[Independent Spirit Award for Best Film|Best Film]]
| [[Independent Spirit Award for Best Film|Best Film]]
| Mike Medavoy, Arnold Messer, Brian Oliver & Scott Franklin
| Mike Medavoy, Arnold Messer, Brian Oliver & Scott Franklin
| {{pending}}
| {{pending}}
|-
|-
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| 27 October 2010
| 27 October 2010
| [[London Film Festival#2010|Best Film]]
| [[London Film Festival#2010|Best Film]]
| Mike Medavoy, Arnold Messer, Brian Oliver & Scott Franklin
| Mike Medavoy, Arnold Messer, Brian Oliver & Scott Franklin
| {{nom}}
| {{nom}}
|-
|-
| rowspan="4"|[[Satellite Awards 2010|15th Satellite Awards]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pressacademy.com/satawards/index.html|title=15th Satellite Awards to be held December 19, 2010 in Los Angeles|publisher=[[Satellite Awards]] |accessdate=1 December 2010}}</ref>
| rowspan="4"|[[Satellite Awards 2010|15th Satellite Awards]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pressacademy.com/satawards/index.html|title=15th Satellite Awards to be held December 19, 2010 in Los Angeles|publisher=[[Satellite Awards]] |accessdate=1 December 2010}}</ref>
| rowspan="4"| 19 December 2010
| rowspan="4"| 19 December 2010
| [[Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama|Best Actress — Drama]]
| [[Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama|Best Actress&nbsp;— Drama]]
| Natalie Portman
| Natalie Portman
| {{pending}}
| {{pending}}
Line 154: Line 198:
|-
|-
| [[Satellite Award for Best Art Direction and Production Design|Best Art Direction and Production Design]]
| [[Satellite Award for Best Art Direction and Production Design|Best Art Direction and Production Design]]
| David Stein & Therese Deprez
| David Stein & Therese Deprez
| {{pending}}
| {{pending}}
|-
|-
| rowspan="2"| [[67th Venice Film Festival]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/news/venezia67-awards.html|title=Venezia 67 Awards|publisher=[[Venice Film Festival]] |accessdate=11 September 2010}}</ref>
| rowspan="2"| [[67th Venice Film Festival]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/news/venezia67-awards.html|title=Venezia 67 Awards|publisher=[[Venice Film Festival]] |accessdate=11 September 2010}}</ref>
| rowspan="2"| 11 September 2010
| rowspan="2"| 11 September 2010
| [[Golden Lion]]
| [[Golden Lion]]
| Mike Medavoy, Arnold Messer, Brian Oliver & Scott Franklin
| Mike Medavoy, Arnold Messer, Brian Oliver & Scott Franklin
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| rowspan="7"| 6 December 2010
| rowspan="7"| 6 December 2010
| [[Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Film|Best Film]]
| [[Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Film|Best Film]]
| Mike Medavoy, Arnold Messer, Brian Oliver & Scott Franklin
| Mike Medavoy, Arnold Messer, Brian Oliver & Scott Franklin
| {{nom}}
| {{nom}}
|-
|-
Line 210: Line 254:
{{Darren Aronofsky}}
{{Darren Aronofsky}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Black Swan (Film)}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Black Swan}}
[[Category:2010 films]]
[[Category:2010 films]]
[[Category:American films]]
[[Category:2010s thriller films]]
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[[Category:American dance films]]
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[[Category:American thriller films]]
[[Category:Ballet films]]
[[Category:Ballet films]]
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[[Category:English-language films]]
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[[Category:Films directed by Darren Aronofsky]]
[[Category:Films set in New York City]]
[[Category:Films shot in New York City]]
[[Category:Films shot in New York City]]
[[Category:Fox Searchlight films]]
[[Category:Fox Searchlight films]]
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[[Category:English-language films]]
[[Category:Independent films]]
[[Category:Independent films]]
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[[Category:Films directed by Darren Aronofsky]]
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[[Category:Psychological thriller films]]
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[[Category:2010s thriller films]]
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[[Category:American thriller films]]
[[Category:Lesbian-related films]]
[[Category:Lesbian-related films]]
[[Category:American LGBT-related films]]
[[Category:Psychological thriller films]]
[[Category:Swan Lake]]


[[ca:Black Swan]]
[[ca:Black Swan]]

Revision as of 18:11, 12 December 2010

Template:Distinguish2

Black Swan
Natalie Portman with white facial makeup, black-winged eye liner around bloodshot red eyes, and a jagged crystal tiara.
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDarren Aronofsky
Screenplay byMark Heyman
Andres Heinz
John McLaughlin
Story byAndres Heinz
Produced byMike Medavoy
Scott Franklin
Arnold Messer
Brian Oliver
StarringNatalie Portman
Vincent Cassel
Mila Kunis
CinematographyMatthew Libatique
Edited byAndrew Weisblum
Music byClint Mansell
Distributed byFox Searchlight Pictures
Release date
  • December 3, 2010 (2010-12-03)
Running time
103 minutes
CountryTemplate:Film US
LanguageEnglish
Budget$13 million[1]
Box office$3,266,000[2]

Black Swan is a 2010 American psychological thriller film directed by Darren Aronofsky. The film stars Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis as ballet dancers in a New York City production of Swan Lake. This production requires a dancer who can play both the White Swan with innocence and grace, and the Black Swan, who represents guile and sensuality. Nina (Portman) fits the White Swan role perfectly, while Lily (Kunis) is the ideal personification of the Black Swan. As the two young dancers expand their rivalry into a twisted friendship, Nina grows more in touch with her dark side, with a recklessness that threatens to destroy her.

Aronofsky conceived the premise by connecting his viewings of an actual production of Swan Lake with an unrealized screenplay about understudies and the notion of being haunted by a double, similar to the folklore surrounding doppelgängers. The director also considered Black Swan a companion piece to his 2008 film The Wrestler, with both films involving demanding performances for different kinds of art. He and Portman first discussed the project in 2000, and after a brief attachment to Universal Pictures, Black Swan was produced in New York City in 2009 by Fox Searchlight Pictures. Portman and Kunis trained in ballet for several months prior to filming and notable figures from the ballet world helped with film production to shape the ballet presentation. The film premiered as the opening film for the 67th Venice International Film Festival on September 1, 2010. It had a limited release starting December 3, 2010 and will have a wide release on December 22.[3]

Synopsis

A New York City ballet company is producing Swan Lake, and director Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) decides to replace prima ballerina Beth MacIntyre (Winona Ryder) with her younger colleague Nina (Natalie Portman). Nina lives with her overbearing mother and former ballerina Erica (Barbara Hershey) who puts pressure on her daughter to succeed where her career failed. Nina finds competition in new dancer Lily (Kunis) and struggles with the stress by apparently mutilating herself. Swan Lake requires a ballerina who can play the innocent White Swan, which fits Nina, and the sensual Black Swan, which fits Lily, but Nina gets the part after she violently rebuffs the sexual advances of Leroy. The dancers' rivalry changes into a bizarre friendship, and Nina begins being overtaken by dark revenge fantasies against Lily and starts to lose her grip on reality.[4]

Cast

Mila Kunis was first approached to perform in Black Swan in 2008. She and co-star Natalie Portman spent six months training and toning their bodies before filming began.
Natalie Portman ... Nina Sayers
Vincent Cassel ... Thomas Leroy
Mila Kunis ... Lily
Winona Ryder ... Beth MacIntyre
Barbara Hershey ... Erica Sayers

Aronofsky first discussed with Portman the possibility of a ballet film in 2000, and he found she was interested in playing a ballet dancer.[5] Portman explained being part of Black Swan, "I'm trying to find roles that demand more adulthood from me because you can get stuck in a very awful cute cycle as a woman in film, especially being such a small person."[6] Portman also introduced Aronofsky to Kunis, whom he knew from the 2008 film Forgetting Sarah Marshall.[5] Kunis contrasted Lily with Nina, "My character is very loose... She's not as technically good as Natalie's character, but she has more passion, naturally. That's what [Nina] lacks."[7] The female characters are directed in the Swan Lake production by Thomas Leroy, played by Cassel. He compared his character to George Balanchine, who co-founded New York City Ballet and was "a control freak, a true artist using sexuality to direct his dancers".[8]

Portman and Kunis started training six months before the start of filming in order to attain a body type and muscular tone more similar to those of professional dancers.[9] Portman worked out for five hours a day, doing ballet, cross-training, and swimming. A few months closer to filming, she began choreography training.[10] Kunis engaged in cardio and Pilates. Kunis said, "I did ballet as a kid like every other kid does ballet. You wear a tutu and you stand on stage and you look cute and twirl. But this is very different because you can't fake it. You can't just stay in there and like pretend you know what you're doing. Your whole body has to be structured differently."[11] Georgina Parkinson, a ballet mistress from the American Ballet Theatre, coached the actors in ballet.[12] For certain scenes, American Ballet Theatre soloists Sarah Lane and Maria Riccetto were "dance doubles" for Portman and Kunis respectively.[13] Aronofsky said during filming about Portman's ballet performance, "She was able to pull it off. Except for the wide shots when she has to be en pointe for a real long time, it's Natalie on screen. I haven't used her double a lot."[9]

Benjamin Millepied, a principal dancer from New York City Ballet, debuted in Black Swan as both actor and choreographer.[9][14] In addition to the soloist performances, members of the Pennsylvania Ballet were cast as the corps de ballet, backdrop for the main actors' performances.[9] Also appearing in the film are Kristina Anapau,[15] Toby Hemingway,[16] Sebastian Stan,[17] and Janet Montgomery.[18]

Production

Conception

The third act of the film and the ballet climax in the transition of the innocent white Swan Queen into the emotionally crippled black swan

Darren Aronofsky first became interested in ballet when his sister studied dance at the High School of Performing Arts in New York City. The basic idea for the film started when he hired screenwriters to rework a screenplay called The Understudy, which was about off-Broadway actors and explored the notion of being haunted by a double. Aronofsky said the screenplay had elements of the film All About Eve, Roman Polanski's film The Tenant, and Fyodor Dostoyevsky's novella The Double. The director had also seen numerous productions of Swan Lake, and he connected the duality of the White Swan and the Black Swan to his script.[9] When researching for production of Black Swan, he found ballet to be "a very insular world" whose dancers were "not impressed by movies". Regardless, the director found active and inactive dancers to share their experiences with him. He also stood backstage to see the Bolshoi Ballet perform at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.[5]

Aronofsky called Black Swan a companion piece to his previous film The Wrestler, recalling one of his early projects about a love affair between a wrestler and a ballet dancer. He eventually separated the wrestling and the ballet worlds as "too much for one movie". He compared the two films: "Wrestling some consider the lowest art—if they would even call it art—and ballet some people consider the highest art. But what was amazing to me was how similar the performers in both of these worlds are. They both make incredible use of their bodies to express themselves."[5] About the psychological thriller nature of Black Swan, actress Natalie Portman compared the film's tone to Polanski's 1968 film Rosemary's Baby,[19] while Aronofsky said Polanski's Repulsion (1965) and The Tenant (1976) were "big influences" on the final film.[5] Actor Vincent Cassel also compared Black Swan to Polanski's early works and additionally compared it to David Cronenberg's early works.[20]

Development and filming

Filming took place at the State University of New York at Purchase Performing Arts Center

Aronofsky and Portman first discussed the ballet film in 2000, though the script was yet to be written.[5] He told her about the love scene between competing ballet dancers, and Portman recalled, "I thought that was very interesting because this movie is in so many ways an exploration of an artist's ego and that narcissistic sort of attraction to yourself and also repulsion with yourself."[21] On the decade's wait before production, she said, "The fact that I had spent so much time with the idea ... allowed it to marinate a little before we shot."[22] When Aronofsky proposed a detailed outline of Black Swan to Universal Pictures, the studio decided to fast-track development of the project in January 2007.[23] The project did not come together at the studio, and Aronofsky would go on to shoot The Wrestler instead. After finishing The Wrestler in 2008, he asked Mark Heyman, who had worked for him on the film, to write Black Swan.[5] By June 2009, Universal had placed the project in turnaround, generating attention from other studios and specialty divisions, particularly with actress Portman attached to star.[24] Black Swan began development under Protozoa Pictures and Overnight Productions, the latter financing the film. In July 2009, actor Mila Kunis was cast in a lead role as a rival dancer to Portman's character.[25]

Fox Searchlight Pictures became the distributor for Black Swan. The film was given a production budget of $10–12 million, and principal photography began in New York City toward the end of 2009.[26] Aronofsky filmed Black Swan with a muted palette and a grainy style intended to be similar to The Wrestler.[27] Part of filming took place at the Performing Arts Center at State University of New York at Purchase.[9] Like The Wrestler, the majority of the film was shot on Super 16mm film.[28] The film's score was composed by Clint Mansell, a long-time collaborator of Aronofsky's, and Mansell built the score using elements from Swan Lake.[29] For the film Kunis "trained seven days a week, five hours, for five, six months total, and I was put on a very strict diet of 1,200 calories a day." She lost 20 pounds from her normal weight of about 117 pounds, and reported that Portman "became smaller than I did."[30]

Soundtrack

Untitled

Black Swan marks the return of English composer Clint Mansell to Aronofsky's films. Mansell attempted to score the film based on Tchaikovsky's ballet, but with radical changes to the music.[31]

Track listing

  1. "Nina's Dream" – 2:48
  2. "Mother Me" – 1:06
  3. "The New Season" – 2:39
  4. "A Room of Her Own" – 1:56
  5. "A New Swan Queen" – 3:28
  6. "Lose Yourself" – 2:08
  7. "Cruel Mistress" – 3:29
  8. "Power, Seduction, Cries" – 1:42
  9. "The Double" – 2:20
  10. "Opposites Attract" – 3:45
  11. "Night of Terror" – 8:01
  12. "Stumbled Beginnings..." – 3:51
  13. "It's My Time" – 1:30
  14. "A Swan Is Born" – 1:38
  15. "Perfection" – 5:45
  16. "A Swan Song (For Nina)" – 6:23

Release

Black Swan opened at the 67th Venice International Film Festival, making it the third consecutive Aronofsky film to be screened at the ceremony

Black Swan had its world premiere as the opening film at the 67th Venice Film Festival on September 1, 2010. It received a standing ovation whose length Variety said made it "one of the strongest Venice openers in recent memory".[32] The festival's artistic director Marco Mueller had chosen Black Swan over The American (starring George Clooney) for opening film, saying, "[It] was just a better fit... Clooney is a wonderful actor, and he will always be welcome in Venice. But it was as simple as that."[33] Black Swan screened in competition and is the third consecutive film directed by Aronofsky to premiere at the festival, following The Fountain and The Wrestler.[34] In addition, Black Swan was one of seven films nominated for the Queer Lion prize, to be awarded to the best film with "homosexual themes or queer interests",[35] though En el futuro (In The Future) by Argentinian director Mauro Andrizzi won the prize.[36]

Portman at a premiere for the film at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival

Black Swan was presented in a sneak screening at the Telluride Film Festival on September 5, 2010.[37] It also had a Gala screening at the 35th Toronto International Film Festival later in the month.[38][39] In October 2010, Black Swan was screened at the New Orleans Film Festival,[40] the Austin Film Festival,[41] and the London Film Festival.[42] In November 2010, the film was screened at American Film Institute's AFI Fest in Los Angeles.[43]

Black Swan will be released in the United Kingdom on February 11, 2011. According to The Independent, the film is one of "the most highly anticipated" of late 2010. The newspaper compared it to the 1948 ballet film The Red Shoes in having "a nightmarish quality ... of a dancer consumed by her desire to dance".[44]

Box office

The film had a limited release in select cities in North America on December 3, 2010 in 18 theaters. It took in $415,822—$23,101 per theater, its opening day.[45] By the end of its opening weekend it grossed $1,443,809—$80,212 per theater. The per location average was the second highest for the opening weekend of 2010 behind The King's Speech.[46] The film has Fox Searchlight Pictures highest per-theater average gross ever, and it ranks 21st on the all-time list.[47]

Critical reception

Black Swan has received mostly positive reviews. Review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes reports that 87% of 154 critics have given the film a positive review, holding an average score of 8.2/10.[48] Among Rotten Tomatoes' Top Critics, which consists of notable critics from the media, the film holds an average rating of 86%, based on 36 reviews.[49] According to the website, the film's critical consensus is, "Bracingly intense, passionate, and wildly melodramatic, Black Swan glides on Darren Aronofsky's bold direction -- and a bravura performance from Natalie Portman."[48] Review aggregate Metacritic has given the film a weighted score of 77, based on 35 reviews, indicating "Generally favorable reviews".[50]

In September 2010, Entertainment Weekly reported that based on reviews from the film's screening at the Venice Film Festival, "[Black Swan] is already set to be one of the year’s most love-it-or-hate-it movies."[51] Reuters described the early response to the film as "largely positive" with Portman's performance being highly praised.[52] The Sydney Morning Herald reported, "The film divided critics. Some found its theatricality maddening, but most declared themselves 'swept away'."[53]

Mike Goodridge from Screen Daily called Black Swan "alternately disturbing and exhilarating" and described the film as a hybrid of The Turning Point and Polanski's films Repulsion and Rosemary's Baby. Goodridge described Portman's performance, "[She] is captivating as Nina ... she captures the confusion of a repressed young woman thrown into a world of danger and temptation with frightening veracity." The critic also commended Cassel, Kunis, and Hershey in their supporting roles, particularly comparing Hershey to Ruth Gordon in the role of "the desperate, jealous mother". Goodridge praised Libatique's cinematography with the dance scenes and the psychologically "unnerving" scenes: "It's a mesmerising psychological ride that builds to a gloriously theatrical tragic finale as Nina attempts to deliver the perfect performance."[54]

Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter had less praise for the film. He wrote, "[Black Swan] is an instant guilty pleasure, a gorgeously shot, visually complex film whose badness is what's so good about it. You might howl at the sheer audacity of mixing mental illness with the body-fatiguing, mind-numbing rigors of ballet, but its lurid imagery and a hellcat competition between two rival dancers is pretty irresistible." Honeycutt commended Millepied's "sumptuous" choreography and Libatique's "darting, weaving" camera work. The critic said of the thematic mashup, "Aronofsky ... never succeeds in wedding genre elements to the world of ballet ... White Swan/Black Swan dynamics almost work, but the horror-movie nonsense drags everything down the rabbit hole of preposterousness."[55]

Accolades

Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result
4th Detroit Film Society Awards[56] 16 December 2010 Best Actress Natalie Portman Pending
20th Gotham Independent Film Awards[57] 28 November 2010 Best Feature Mike Medavoy, Arnold Messer, Brian Oliver & Scott Franklin Nominated
25th Independent Spirit Awards[58] 26 February 2011 Best Film Mike Medavoy, Arnold Messer, Brian Oliver & Scott Franklin Pending
Best Director Darren Aronofsky Pending
Best Female Lead Natalie Portman Pending
Best Cinematography Matthew Libatique Pending
London Film Festival Awards[59] 27 October 2010 Best Film Mike Medavoy, Arnold Messer, Brian Oliver & Scott Franklin Nominated
15th Satellite Awards[60] 19 December 2010 Best Actress — Drama Natalie Portman Pending
Best Director Darren Aronofsky Pending
Best Original Score Clint Mansell Pending
Best Art Direction and Production Design David Stein & Therese Deprez Pending
67th Venice Film Festival[61] 11 September 2010 Golden Lion Mike Medavoy, Arnold Messer, Brian Oliver & Scott Franklin Nominated
Marcello Mastroianni Award Mila Kunis Won
7th Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards[62] 6 December 2010 Best Film Mike Medavoy, Arnold Messer, Brian Oliver & Scott Franklin Nominated
Best Director Darren Aronofsky Nominated
Best Actress Natalie Portman Nominated
Best Original Screenplay Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz and John McLaughlin Nominated
Best Art Direction Nominated
Best Cinematography Matthew Libatique Nominated
Best Score Clint Mansell Nominated

References

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External links

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