Overall, watching Black Swan, and often while watching many movies, it is difficult for me to separate the actor's performance from the script, from the cinematography, and from the other elements that are brought together in a film. This is probably me looking at the film from a director's standpoint. In terms of Natalie Portman's performance, then, I thought it was a successful performance insomuch as she showed a descent into the Black Swan, her "evil" side, that developed a journey for her character over the course of the movie. Now, my issue with Black Swan is that it is a one-note story: terribly predictable (is the final OMG moment where she turns into a swan at the end supposed to be a surprise?) and, as such, quite boring. I really didn't care when Portman's character died at the end, let alone when Mila Kunis's character "died." So, Portman does an excellent job of playing the innocent, sweet girl that descends into this awful bitch, but it's not a particularly exciting performance because I could see it all coming, and there was no point in the movie where I thought that Portman would actually be strong enough to resist the darker nature of herself.
As such, the only way to really appreciate Black Swan is by looking at it as Aronofsky's retelling - in a film adaptation - of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake - in which case it is very interesting. But that's not the outright point of the movie, and by itself the movie just doesn't work. The point is, however, that I wouldn't blame that on Portman, because I think she excelled in the stereotype of her character; just the fact that her character was a stereotype undercut the story.
The best parts of the movie by far were the scenes between Portman and Barbara Hershey, who played her neurotic mother. These were the best scenes because the real cause of Portman's innocence, the reason she is so perfect as a white swan, is because her mother has babied her for her entire life - but this lack of independence on Portman's side gives lead to incredible tension between the two actresses. You can see the tension in every scene between them, but it is expressed in different ways throughout the movie. At the beginning, the tension is covered up as Portman plays the subservient daughter. As Portman begins to assert her independence, that's where things get really interesting because Hershey is provoked into committing harsher acts to control her daughter and the madness in her character is revealed. Then, as Hershey starts to work harder to keep Portman under control, and as Portman accepts her "black swan" more and more, Portman fights back against Hershey, leading to hands getting smashed in doors and the like - scenes where the tension is out in the open and the two actresses are making strong choices to defeat the other.
What I also loved about those scenes were how much they reminded me of another of Aronofsky's parent-child relationships: that of Ellen Burstyn and Jared Leto in his strongest film, Requiem for a Dream. The scenes between Burstyn and Leto are successful performances in a different way - theirs is a relationship based not on hate but on love, and on Burstyn's desire that Leto become successful - whatever that may mean. Of course, Burstyn is living in a world of drugs and television that has replaced reality, and so Leto, while dealing with his own problems, must have the strength to also watch his mother spiral into madness.
The following scene in particular is an excellent performance from Burstyn. As you watch it, notice how she tries to stay strong in front of her son by not crying, by holding onto the "red dress" and being on TV, but how in doing so she even more clearly reveals the struggles that are going on inside her. Meanwhile, Leto doesn't know how to help his mother and resorts to drugs in the end to make the pain of seeing his mother like this go away.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3OK0KgXjmk
(video could not be embedded)
Overall, when thinking about what makes a performance successful, especially on film, it comes down to spontaneity, making bold choices, developing a journey of the character, and reacting to the situation honestly and with great thought. The problem with the script for Natalie Portman's character was that the character's descent was entirely predictable with no opposition - no signs that might make the audience think "maybe she'll turn out alright after all." So, although Portman showed a journey very well, and her internal struggle, she didn't give me any hope that I could cling to. In Requiem for a Dream, however, all the characters seemed to have hope throughout the movie - Jared Leto thinks if he can just score that pound of pure he'll be alright, and he almost does; and then they think if they go to Florida they'll be able to escape. Ellen Burstyn loses weight, fits inside the red dress, and seems to be set to go for the television until we realize how much the drugs have actually changed her. The point is, I don't want to know where the character is going to end up halfway through the movie - so give me performances that keep me on the edge of unknowing.
No comments:
Post a Comment