Black Swan - What it all Meant
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- Опубликовано: 8 фев 2025
- A thematic analysis of Black Swan. If you have a question please ask below and I will get back to you as soon as possible. If you disagree with my interpretation please be polite and state your case with examples. This is a learning experience for everyone and I am happy to be proven incorrect if that be the case. Thank you!
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I don’t know why, but many people don’t talk about the symbolism of the swan. Swans irl, when they die they sing their last song which is considered perfection and Nina when she dances out her her role she then says I’m perfect and dies.
swan song
My own review does touch on this idea - that perfection in art can only be achieved through suffering. Please have a look: ruclips.net/video/ObJW4kTcOFw/видео.html
She does.
Megan Mcleod when
leo oel I meant she does as in “die”
Natalie Portman best acting ever.She frightened and utterly captivated me.All her other roles pale in comparison. She must have been mentally and psychologically drained after this film. It was a masterpiece of acting by her.
Yeah I know, just giving a voice out to my tots😊
I don't get you,sorry
what ever makes you happy
She became depressed and quite acting for the 3 following years. At least that's what I read.
MAROON HAMSA no she was just pregnant and was raising her baby lol
3:26 This part really struck a chord with me because I never noticed it before. The broken ballerina figure on the music box is still performing, fulfilling its intended purpose, even though it is damaged beyond recognition.
lmao i thought it was a swan head
@@AstriMaulidina Good Catch!
Nina's mother is mentally, not sexually abusive; she's repressive and wants Nina to remain a pure innocent child because the mother had to give up her chance at stardom when she became pregnant with Nina. Sexuality to the mother represents the end of childhood dreams. Mother and M. Leroy represent opposite ends of the sexual spectrum between which Nina is torn and fractured.
Now this is what I can agree and searching for
Yeah, I'm kinda confused. She obviously wants Nina to remain pure, but if she was sexually abusive, then it would take away Nina's innocence.
I can't stand people labelling everything as sexual abuse
@@jellocat4100 i think this isn't sexual abuse her mother is controlling and infantalizing which is a form of abuse. don't ask me how i know this.
Great insight
Coming from a ballet dancer, this explanation makes so much sense. As a girl, usually the first activity you get signed up for is ballet. Most girls move on to sports or other things but when you keep dancing it's like you keep that innocence from childhood. I find that I relate to Nina's character a lot.
I agree - I would still be dancing if I hadn't had to take time off for injury. If I had done a little more in that time off, I would probably still be training. My teachers always told me I was amazing, my line and turnout was perfect and I had a great performing personality.
+girlytalk64 ok lol
girlytalk64 You can start dancing again at any age.
@@Bernihurton_x agreeeeed
yea. Basically every girl starts ballet young. In ballet you are taught to be "proper" and good. And i think i can agree with the fact that you keep that innocence. I'm also a ballet dancer, we are "told" to be "perfect" but especially in ballet, there are set rules that you _must_ follow. Ballet has a image of "perfection" , purity, grace . Compared to hip hop, which is associated with freedom, empowerment, etc. i think any dancer can , unfortunately relate to Nina's character to some degree. [this paragraph probably doesnt make sense, but idgaf]
I remember seeing the trailer for Black Swan when i was like 11 and thinking it was about demons.
same girl, same
It is in a way! It's about our inner demons :) the ones we repress and then are eventually unable to control
sunshine lola I'm a guy but call me whatever u feel like lmao.
Callie Rae ya totally totally agree with you there :)
+Sam Adolph *dude :)
I think it goes way deeper. A few years ago, I read an analysis of a woman that had been sexually abused by her mother. She recognised a lot of it in the movie. And when I watched it again yesterday, it really made sense and it explaines a lot:
There are a lot of hints in the movie. Like how the mother takes off her clothes, and in one scene she even asks "honey, are you ready for me?" In another scene, the girl is hiding a wooden stick in her bedroom, maybe she wants to kill her mother when it happens again? When she's having sex with the other dancer, her face changes into her mothers face and she is shocked. Also when she's touching herslelf and when she is in bath, she sees her mother and it scares her a lot. The mother is a very ill character, every time the girl isn't doing exactly what she wants, she's getting angry. And she's jealous when she's going out with people of her own age, when she's feeling love for somebody and when everybody's watches her being the pretty swan. She's always trying to keep the girl small and right by her side, acting like she's the one who's always there for her and cares for her. But it's not unconditionally like mothers love should be.
It also explaines why the girl acts like she does. After a long day, when she needs to rest, she's staying in the studio to practice more and more. She's so obsessed with being perfect because it's her way of dealing with the situation. When she's dancing, she doesn't have to think about the sexual abuse and her mother. And it all works, untill she has to let the darkside in, which she has pushed away for many years. She can't seduce because she has experienced sexuality in a total different way. I think that's why she is crying in the studio when Lily comes in. But she's keeping her secret to herself. She actually needs to talk and get psychological help. But instead, no one knows about it and she's facing her problems under very stressfull conditions where she also has to perform. That's the point where her mental illness gets to the next level and she starts to think everybody is against her, while it's actually just herself.
this actually makes a lot of sense as in her mother's room there were so many paintings and drawings of nina... like that is twisted
very cool and chilling analysis for a haunting movie! Lots to think about... My English professors would have loved this sort of analysis, you probably would have gotteb an A lol.
very interesting analysis but just a correction: when Nina is having sex with the other girl, her face turns to her own (nina) and not her mother's.
Oh my gosh. That is so crazy’
Wow this is a good explanation! When I saw this movie I didn't really put much thought into it but these types of analysis make the movie so much more interesting. :)
I'm still seeing people confused, so I'll try to sum the movie up more! The movie is literally about mental illness and being obsessed with perfection. Nina does not actually have a twin; it's all in her head. She became so wrapped up and obsessed with being perfect and jealous over Mila's character's ability to let loose and be passionate as she dances (while Nina herself is very uptight and controlled) that she grew threatened. The encounter in the dressing room? Nina was alone. She was literally battling herself and her own insecurity/worry of being replaced in the Black Swam role/bested, that she raged, fought herself and literally ended up killing herself by mistake. Finally letting herself explore her own being a bit more (built-up sexual tension, social events, etc in hopes to let loose and play a better Black Swan) and letting the paranoia of being replaced by Mila led her to kind of become this "Black Swan" character mentally: a new, messed up version of herself because it was too much at once. Sadly, it was her paranoia and obsession with perfection that ended her. Hope this helps!
So she does die?
Beatrice Price not necessary. depends on how you see it and what you think about it.
Merci Beaucoup no she doesn’t die. It’s an ambious ending for a reason
Nikki Mouse you’re missing the sub plot.
It's a movie. A work of art. Open to interpretation. So you are right if you want.
That movie creeped me out.
Jennifer Adams Franklin Me too.
I thought I was the only one. I'd look in the mirror twice to see if my reflection moved, took me a while to get over it
That movie actually made me laugh, cry, feel super anxious, angry it was all so weird but strong i freaking love this movie
@@karenalejandra3580 me
Strange movie
This movie was so depressing.
The mother was once a dancer and blamed her unsuccessful life on having her daughter. Also, the mother was using her daughter by trying to live through her.
The teacher was using her to perfect his play, of course. Also he was a pervert who should have been exposed and fired.
She tried to please them and in the end they broke her, mentally, like how they showed the glass ballerina broken.
As a result of her cracking, she took her life, convinced that she is now perfect. The power of intimidating elders that abuse on innocence. This still continues.
Like I said, depressing movie.
so true. she had no one by her side ....who could help her ...and be to her normal ...she just was surrounded by people who used her and controlled her. but at the same time i think the teacher helped her so be stronger and to get feelings .....
The only one she might have been able to lean on was Mila Kunis' character but she pushed her away convinced that she too was against. I think the result would have been tragic regardless, however. She wasn't strong enough to handle things. If you are not in touch with your darkness and are convinced that you are harmless in every way you are just a ticking time bomb. Her only concern was her art and she didn't know herself and hadn't become a part of the world thanks to her mother. The unknown devoured her.
Her mother was using her? But wasn't dancing nina's passion?
Good summation ;)
I think Nina blamed her mother unfairly. She made it about jealousy in her head. Her mother was frustrated with her daughter, trying her best to to behave in a manner that was supportive but also protective. And Nina needed protection. Nina resented it and constantly, needled her mother with snippy remarks and denying the cake and ultimately flat out saying:"What career?" That pushed her mother to clap back with:" the career I gave up for you". This was no slight. Her mother loves her, no matter what. But Nina took it as a slight rather than admitting she was wrong and say 'sorry'. Nina would not be a dancer if her mother had not been there for her.
I basically took it as... "Striving for perfection fucks us up."
I would add something about playing to your strengths and not pushing your boundaries fully in an instant, but yeah.
"So let's all aspire to be average."
stealthgeek29 Better to be average and sane than perfect and inhuman.
Indigo Osmanthus Too bad history doesn't remember average and sane people.
stealthgeek29
too bad most people couldn't give two shits about history.
When this was released in theatres, here was me thinking it was just some romantic drama. How wrong was I.
I thought it was a musical
+Beef Cake LMAO
+10isthisthereallife LMAOOOO. She did need saving though haha
+10isthisthereallife lmaooo
"What a fool I was!"
This is one of my favorite movies, and it is probably because I got the message the first time I watched it. Unfortunately, had to really learn the message later on the hard way. We all have our "black swan", and trying hold it all the time will kick you in the ass later on, the key is to let them both live in a good balance.
+elena mitropoulou skip a class, break your diet on a weekday, get out early from work to get ready for a date and make out with him if it feels right, say "no" if people ask you to do something you don't want to, buy the expensive shoes even if it means living on instant noodles for a month.
Being "bad" once in a while (carefully of course, without harming anyone or yourself) is good in the long run.
elena mitropoulou Exactly... let the black swan play ;)
When I was nine. I was with my parents, waiting for a prescription to be filled. We went to a book store to kill time where they told me to pick any book I wanted. The book I decided on was a pictorial history of witchcraft, Satanism and demonnology throughout the ages. Neither me nore my parents found this to be strange.
To some; finding our dark side comes very natural. Embracing love and my light-hearted affections is what took some practice and learning.
John Milton Well, you let the white swan be, hehe
Reading your comment now, I feel like looking in the mirror.
I don't think there is much to look into this movie when you know about ballet. This is about the behind the scenes of something that society perceives as perfection, which is ballet. It's something that happens in this world, the child like way of being, that and the whole aura of it, eating disorders, rape, the act pf doing anything for a role. This is stuff that happens.
But The Swan Lake is such of a different ballet. It is not innocent, it isn't about a princess, or a doll that comes to life, it is about jealously and greed, it's definitely the darkest ballet. And in this movie Nina has to become a different dancer, this one is not about perfection alone, it's also about expression, which she hadn't explored before. That's what this movie is about, a girl who had been so worried about being "perfect" her whole life that she forgot how to feel, and she needs to get there so fast that it crashes her.
As a prima Donna at the opera house I also found this movie quite literal. The artist is no more than an object of trained flexibility and the concept of freedom both artistic and personal is only an illusion.
i need to hear that
Amalia Flores bravo you got it 👌🏼👌🏼
Amalia Flores Thank U for BREAKING that down & making it REAL simple b'cuz as far as the movie is concerned ALL FOLKS see is NATALIE PORTMAN! but the BLACK swan to me represents a SACRIFICE to the discipline of BEING a top-notch ballerina. PEACE &♡ 2U & ALL 2day #MESSENGER #Lifelessons #REALTALK #STAND #JESUSAVES
Amalia Flores so deep.
Interesting analysis. Actually makes me understand the film on a deeper level now. I was taking everything too literally.
The first time i watched in 2011 illegaly xD i swear i was so confuse and impressed at the same time.
YazmanianDevil I always knew she was hallucinating but I thought it was due to her crazy mother. She seemed almost like Carrie. Without the telekinesis that is.
I agree. I was also taking the movie to literally.
Don't watch The Fountain by the same realisator then ^^
I really applaud Natalie's amount of real-life 'black swan acting' with her role. She actually did starve herself to perfect the way she looked for the movie, and practiced the ballet she was taught for the movie over and over, late into the night. In a way, playing Nina and the black swan wasn't just in the movie; it was exactly what Natalie was needing to do to be 'perfect' for the role. This portrayal of acting and becoming something you're not all for one performance is not as unrealistic as we think! Amazing job, Natalie!
yes lets applaud actors for starving themselves in order to be fit for the role, amazing! bravo! beautiful eating disorders!
@nedaafzali-zg3nv I'm sorry, I made this comment over 7 years ago, when I was 12 and in the midst of an eating disorder myself. I didn't even remember commenting this until you replied.
About the "Loving and oppressive mother" part, when the mother throws the cake in the bin, she's upset that her daughter (who puts ballet in front of anything pleasure related if it comes in the way of perfect fitness, and maybe suffers from a form of anorexia: barely touching food + vomiting) refused to eat the cake, yes, but first and foremost, her mother was also jealous: both putting what she expected for herself and could never achieve on the shoulders of her daughter, and not liking it and acting jealous if her daughter did more than she ever did. I found that this was quite present during all of the movie, showing up from the cake scene until the end. Her mother loves her that way yes, but she's unwell... Nina lived through her expectations and sickening regrets.
Solene R. This is the core of the film to me. You expressed it so well!
It's actually called bulimia when you vomit up your food.
No it's more complex than that. Anorexia= starvation
Bulimia= BINGE+purging
You can be both, and both involve throwing up for most people at some point. Nina is not much interested in food , throws up sometimes but doesn't binge. She's closer to anorexia, not bulimia.
I just thought she wanted to keep her body looking perfect for ballet and choose not to eat because she thought she could gain weight as if a piece of cake will make her gain 20 pounds overnight.
So M. Her mother is legit insane
I thought it was beautiful. She was void of any kind of experience and her being caged physically and emotionally/sexually, her darkness boiled. Her mother said the scratching happened before and the more she scratched the further we saw the darkness leak it's way out. So that dark part of her, the primal, erotic and passionate side was a benefit to her. However, like you said, it came out rapidly and it wasn't healthy since she didn't know how to manage it. She was going through a radial state of individuation and it was fated for her to either destroy herself or merge.
is this related to the integration of the shadow that's talked about by carl jung?
Best comment ever...im at that stage also...either become an adult or get destroyed...no more running from the truth
Good analysis! The story explores Nina’s metamorphosis from a sweet, shy girl (White Swan) to a possessed, thrilling superstar (Black Swan). In playing the Black Swan she was overpowered by the "destructive force", and became a different person. She freed herself by dying. I liked how the director used mirrors to show Nina’s altered perception of reality. Nina's story suggests that living a balanced life is to find harmony between our good side and our bad.
Anytime ...
Wow. That’s a good perception.
Ninas relationship with the dance instructor was so uncomfortable!!
The nail breaking moment is haunting me, the sound of it
I wonder what would become of Tomas, that in the course of a few weeks, his first protégé and lover hurled himself in front of a bus and the new one then stabbed herself with broken glass and bled to death onstage. It would definitely be a national news story and he himself would come under scrutiny, with questions of sexual harassment and emotional abuse of his performers swirling around him. He seemed to have very little guilt about Beth, but I think Nina's death would change him profoundly.
One of the most underrated movie of 20th century
Ryan Reid I'm not sure how you can call it underrated when Natalie Portman won best actress for her role in Black Swan.
Rose L. Natalie Portman won an Oscar for her role she deserves it I was talking about the movie
Ryan Reid agreed!
Underrated? According to imdb, the movie achieved 91 award wins and 245 nominations, which included 5 top-tier Oscar nominations with a Best Actress win. It had its share of accolades.
Ryan Reid It's a Rip off though :/
Now I want to watch this movie again
then watch it lol
Léna Bnr
Will do LOL
Lol, once was more than I can handle. It was creepy and horrifying in some scenes.
I saw a lot of similarities between this movie and whiplash. Both are about talented young people wanting to become the epitome of their art form, and their respective movies showcase how far they will mentally and emotionally abuse themselves and what they will sacrifice to achieve that. In the case of whiplash, Miles Teller's character(can't remember name) becomes a great drummer, but in doing so sabotages a relationship with a girl and its hinted that he turns his back on his family, becoming that broke, addicted musician who died young but is still talked about at dinner parties. In Nina's case, she literally gives up her life and her sanity, but in doing so captured the kind of both emotional chaos and technical perfection that made her swan queen immortal.
Wow. I played with my darkness from such a young age and didn't even realize it till I got older and knew something was wrong and chose to be good after a very hard battle that almost killed me. This is so perfect explaining the evil in one. I think we all have evil in us and we fight it everyday without realizing and it's so important to realize and seek out the goodness of the world to overcome the evil.
@ Rachael.... I could not agree with you more .
Rachael Marie good and evil go hand in hand
We need both evil and good
When we abandon one aspect of ourselves, it becomes subconscious (shadow work). It never leaves because it can't, it's a part of us that we have to accept and love and understand why it's there. The movie showed us what happens to people who never embrace their darker qualities- (it also represents adulthood) they're stuck in childhood and get taken advantage of by predators (joker 2 also shows this)
Darkness is NECESSARY, a lot of people just don't know how to use it for the good, so they mistake it for evil
@everythingwillbe6904 and who owns the movie industry? No scratch that, the entertainment industry? Are they people who want the best for you? This whole world is about good vs evil. Don't let them fool you. Good and evil cannot go hand in hand. Either you are hot or you are cold but you cannot be lukewarm. It says so in the Bible. I was lost years ago thinking that we could be both but no. You have to leave one and choose the other. Every day you have to choose good over evil because that's the right thing. People in power in the entertainment industry work for evil and they want people to think you can be both which is the biggest lie ever. I read this book once that talked about how you could be both and was basically saying you could kill for the right reasons and the book was recommended by popular people in the entertainment industry. I won't say who but the same book was recommended by an old time band too from the 60s. It's all the illuminati. Besides, even with that logic if you analyze the movie, you saw that her poor choices lead to her downward spiral. Working too hard isn't the same as being good. So like the Bible says, there is a time for everything. I time to rest and a time to work. So don't work yourself to the brink of destruction is what I actually take from this movie and how I see it.
*edit* but I agree with your last statement. We cant be naive and taken advantage of and being firm and standing up for yourself isn't "evil" so yeah balance to everything. :) Kind but astute.
I feel this movie is a beautiful depiction of the emotional and psychological stress that unravels from a person who has no sense of self but has to conform to unachievable perfection. The evolution of the black swan at the demise of the white swan is a running theme in many aspects of contemporary life. To achieve excellence in any art form will always make you balance precariously on the beam of insanity. To find yourself you need to realise you are lost. I adore how the binary polar opposites are contrasted but then are meshed in a linear fashion to leave us in a state that questions our own reality. This movie is an epic master piece!!!!!!
PRINCESS DeeDee yes
dude is that your real face or you just sarcastically put it
One of the details I really like is her choice of colour in clothes
She starts off wearing whites and pinks symbolism for her innocence and purity and isolated herself in this sugar coated world with what at first appears to be a long seated duration most likely since toddler age
Middle of the film she starts wearing grey which could mean that while Nina's had a few encounters with her "shadow self" she's still trying to retain herself because she's had no guidance or knowledge on how to deal with "her" so she tries to repress it but her world is comprised at this point because she's aware of what she's trying to bury
Interestingly enough the only time she wears black if I remember right is when she's at the club with Lily wearing a black top over white which could mean she's being consumed by her inner desires and her shadow self is taking dominance but she then goes back to grey out of shame and fear of what her true unrepressed self is capable of and then there's the white swan dance near the end where she falls and messes up due to the male dancer dropping her this could mean that now that she's not only aware of her shadow self but also let her out by drugs clubbing and hurting her mother after she asks "what happened to my sweet girl huh" only for Nina to reply "SHE'S GONE" she can't ever go back to that innocence which could further be taken to the atmosphere that her wearing white once again doesn't feel appropriate for her no more it could also be a metaphor for her "fall from grace" but the black swan dance feels powerful creepy and alluring only to return to her white swan persona and find out she's fatally wounded that could mean either her innocence that was "holding her back" is dead and fully gone or it could mean that all her efforts at repressing her twin led to her peak of self destruction
i think this movie explains a lot about Insecurity..comparing yourself to others and desperation for perfection..it is all about the desire to impress people rather than yourself..perfect does not exists in real life so the lesson for this movie is just to be yourself..and the only thing you should compare yourself to is the person you were yesterday...
Is it any wonder she started experiencing schizophrenia with that lecherous dance instructor who was so very full of shit and groping her, living with a control freak mother who tried to live her never-was-career through her daughter and the pressure of being a star?
+Joseph Irizarry It's usually caused by trauma, though.
Joseph Irizarry
I didn't say it's an attitude. But there are factors that can trigger it.
+Joseph Irizarry
Stress is clearly a trigger for certain mental illnesses, including schizophrenia. For example, I didn't have a shred of OCD until after a felt so stressed to be perfect I would rather die than fail. Well, I couldn't carry on with the suicide attempt, but *BAM* I immediately got symptoms of several anxiety disorders that took years to fix.
Mental illness(in a simplistic view)is something you are born with that just needs to be 'switched on.'
+Joe A. Average could easily be the age range of nina
+Aivottaja I had wondered myself if Nina had a pre-existing disorder (like schizophrenia), or was pushed toward a psychotic break. I think that was meant to be ambiguous.
I'm not very emotional, but invariably cry when I watch the ending. It's the saddest, yet most beautiful thing in the world. Natalie Portman truly deserved that oscar.
I think there are a lot of meanings from Swan Lake that contribute to the plot behind Black Swan. It seems that you might be paying closer attention to the movie than the story of the ballet behind it. Her physical transformation into the Black Swan was a symbol of Nina's achievement of artistic perfection. A perfection that could only be reached through a culmination of technique and an acceptance of our inner emotions. Nina and Lily are represented by Odette/Odile in Swan Lake. But instead of two different Swans, Darren Aronofsky wanted the lines between them to be blurred, so he created Nina and Lily who preform Swan Lake, but are in fact an analogy for the ballet itself. Even Thomas, who is Nina's director/choreographer in Black Swan, is represented both as Prince Siegfried (who falls in love with both the white and black swan) and Von Rothbart (who turns the human Odette into the white swan). You can see these blurred lines in the plot, as well as when Thomas is chewing out Nina during rehearsal and his face is split down the middle in the reflection of the practice mirrors. Thomas' love for both swans is the same as Prince Siegfried's in the ballet. For example, his apartment is entirely furnished in white/black furniture. Not to mention the scene where Nina see's herself/Lily having intercourse with Thomas.
***** I focused on the film because that's the story being told, but I definitely should have mentioned the Swan Lake ties more than just that post-credits thing I did. Everything you said is spot on and plays into what I presented though. Having read/watched that story or not, the film still gets across it's parallels to SL naturally through Thomas' description of the story at the beginning, how the later dances are talked about in practice, and especially the last dance at the end of the film. Again sorry I didn't mention it as much, but I know it's importance and over all purpose.
As a ballerina, I see this as an overworked woman’s descent into madness. She works so hard to be perfect that she cannot possibly be truly happy. She cannot ever be happy with who she is, because she always wants more. As Odette, she is her real self, as a virginal, innocent person, with to much want for control. As Odile, she sees a dark side that she never allowed herself to confront. She buckles under the pressure.
Edit: I love the idea of a twin because that is what swan lake represents to me. She doesn’t truly know herself.
One can find a lot of parallels between the movie and the story of the ballet.
Through upbringing or abuse (or both) Nina was cursed by her mother/the wizard to be the white swan - this gracious, soft, delicate, overly innocent creature. But she's not really free, she's caged in this persona, she craves for something more, to be perfect, she calls it, same as the White Swan craves to be princess again. For both of them it means to be free from the curse of being the white swan (although Nina doesn't quite see the full picture, the curse and the need to break free from it in the beginning).
Only true love could turn her into the princess again, into herself. Considering how Thomas was trying to get her out of that "white swan" shell, how they were attracted to each other and how she wanted for him to call her princess, he's the prince. He was the one who could make her free, make her princess again. At the same time, same as the prince falls for the white swan, but ultimately goes for the black swan, who both look the same, so did Thomas fall for the innocent Nina, but want a passionate/darker Nina. On another level Thomas/the prince chose the Black Swan when he asked Lily to dance, while Nina saw her as her opponent, as the black swan. The black swan wins, just like it does in the story, when Nina stands up to her mother and then when she fully takes on the role of the black swan, "letting go" or "loosing herself" as Thomas put it (aka letting go of the white swan) and becoming free and passionate in her dance. However that's also when her hallucinations get the most powerful. This isn't good for her either.
During the evening, she changes between the two swans several times and near the end she's in this frantic dance between the white swans, the prince and the dark wizard, which I think symbolizes how hard this whole thing is for her, the chaos in her mind (as well as being an actual part of the ballet).
In the end she stands as the white swan giving a look to her mother and taking the jump. I think the close-up after jumping is very important. After a huge culmination in music and emotions, music disappeared and her face became peaceful, everything even slowed down. I believe that is when she felt perfect. After exchanging the look with her mom that expressed all the pain that was created, maybe forgiving her (we don't exactly know what happened in her mind during that look), after being done with all the chaos in her mind, with the show. She broke the curse, she finally felt perfect, free, just like the white swan became free after jumping. Her becoming free of the curse is also showed by Thomas calling her little princess, the thing White Swan would become when breaking the curse.
You could interpret it to mean that she became free because she let go of the white swan part of her nature, because she broke the curse, but I think it's largely about finding a balance. She gave amazing performances as both the black and white swan, she embodied both and her prince loves her as both. Yet at the same time in the ballet the princess suffers from both the White Swan as it's the curse and the Black Swan and as she kills herself she's also freed from both of the swans. And after all her goal wasn't to become the black swan, it was to become herself again, a princess. They were both broken and driven to madness (if suicide is a form of madness) just to be who they are.
amazing!!
Loved ur analysis
Great analysis, but your delivery's a bit dry.
yes agreed.
Dry?
Doapsique Gaming yeah
How do you deliver enthusiasm for a psychological analysis.
I agree especially the thank you at the end
4:06 That shot freaks me out every time
I know right
Any questions or arguments are greatly welcomed and appreciated.
dude, you need more subscribers!
Jimmy Le In time, that would be nice.
Great video dude I definitely will subscribe. Black Swan is one of my favorite movies
+What it all Meant I thought that it was perfection that ultimately killed her. The need to be free with the wings of the black swan and the perfect applaud of the audience. Yet, your childhood philosophy seems to make much more sense.
+What it all Meant And also, at the end the light is what consumes her, so that means that the white swan won the conflict between the two swans, that her perfection was what killed her and the dark side was what could have saved her... Maybe like you said it means that she wanted to be pure and innocent, while she needed to mature and grow up, but her inability to do so, was what killed her.
This is a great analysis. It’s been on my “watch later” list for years and I finally got to it tonight.
Nina in Spanish means “little girl”
Sì, correcto
@@tanyastewart3451 no... niña no nina
Lol no it doesn't
belle s www.spanishdict.com/translate/ni%C3%B1a then scroll down you will see “little girl “ always google before you commit your self publicly. Have a good day
Azra Su Akbaş it’s too much of a coincidence to be non intentional. Read the writers social commentary and you will see he intended this. Thank you
I love how thanks to BTS, I get interested to Carl Jung's theories, Black Swan, the Greek gods, the existence of oneself with its multiple faces...
literally same
SAME
same here
like seriously!!!! this movie is fire!!!!
I'm from Greece but... Same(for the rest)
+Deep Night
I'm sure she did. I obviously talked about her character over her psyche because that's how people connect with a non-existent person (whom they may not share a mental illness with) BUT just to examine her as a sort of practice I'd say Paranoid Schizophrenia or Dissociative Identity Disorder have the most evidence. There are tons of people debating these two, so look it up sometime if you want all that discussion. Whoever is talking about it probably knows way more than I ever will.
In any case, to answer your question I'm pretty sure I've heard that both of those mental illnesses can come from or worsen due to stress and the events of Black Swan are extremely stressful for Nina, and all the craziness worsens as more pressure is put on. So I guess stress would be the trigger. You agree?
*(also sorry for taking so long to respond, it's been a bad two weeks)
For me in the play she was in her fullness in the character, Being the withe swan, who turned in the black swan (Killing someone, in this case the white one), and the scene where she was dying as a white swan by the lose of her love (Actually dying) and in the end how she said she felt it and it was perfect. meaning she did felt the role in all her ways and how she lived the role which for her was feeling like an absolute prima ballerina, and how she died for love just like the swan.
You say that the daughter is Shcizofrenic or DID? Her mother have narcissistic tendencies. She is normal but with a crazy mother.
I'm talking as a dancer myself... You not only act while performing, you feel the characters emotions... She felt it, she lived it, and as a performer, she was the swan in that specific moment, and she felt perfect... Plus the "bravo" in the end
Yes, stress can trigger and worsen mental illness.
nowadays we call passion and ambition Paranoid Schizophrenia or Dissociative Identity Disorder - what a time to live in! I pretty sure she's fine. in fact better that that - a genius, the overman to put it Nietszche's terms. she just doesn't subscribe to a worldview where "good" is what's healthy, comfortable and sustains human life. she subscribes to a lifestyle that's more ambitious than that, where enjoying one's life is not enough - where you have to overcome yourself, where perfection - idols are more important than health and even life itself, because they make it worth living, they are the purpose, the task that defines it. those scenes where you can find symptoms of mental illness should be taken figuratively - they represent a kind of violence that one has to inflict upon itself in order to gain knowledge, grow and achieve the desired idol. her death represents triumph of a great soul rather than tragedy - she dies happy because she fulfilled the purpose of her life
Another thing I observed. If the mirror is a representation of her inner "Dark" self reflected, then her cause of death can be taken as a metaphor, too. She stabs herself with the very object that reflects her dark side. Her innocence dies--her "White Swan." Killed by her own reflection.
The director threw out the movie drops hints that Nina was sexually molested by her mother.
I also think Nina's psychosis lends itself to this theory. The trauma of being molested by her mother might contribute to the onslaught of her paranoid schizophrenia, and her desire to be perfect and in control of everything. Getting the role of the Black Swan gives Nina the courage to deny her mother's advances for the first time, but it also pressures her to the point of a complete mental breakdown....
I just want to say i haven't seen some one analyze to such a dope and considerable degree. Very satisfying watching your vids.
This move took me two days to finish, I had to stop multiple times because it was so intense. It’s psychological horror. So disturbing and beautiful, I’ll never see ballet the same way.
There was a theory that her mom was sexually abusive towards her.Like the part where her and Mila's character were having oral and she called her "sweet girl," it was actually her mom calling her that, that her mom was actually there not Mila. Well, they broke the whole movie down, but can't remember where I read it. This was a great explanation tho! Because when I first watched Black Swan I didn't understand it
Actually that's what My dad said, during the movie I was so confuse about that like where did Mila's character go? Nina was dreaming? and then my dad said "it was her mom" I was like O.O what??? noo way, it was so awkward :/ but I still have the doubt
JUST ME I don't quite agree! I always believed that Nina just had to let a "darker" --more grown up, according to some people-- person lead her and show her how the black swan should be. so, she chose the other girl (I don't remember her name). I think it's all in Nina's mind, and all about her willingness to be the best. her mum... that would may make sense, but I think we get to see things from Nina's perspective, and not her whole family situation... I don't know if this made any sense to you, I'm not a native speaker of English language.. hopefully you get what I'm trying to say here!!:)
also remember when she sucked the cake off of her mom’s finger?
JUST ME really I understood first time around just how harrowing it is and why
I remember watching this movie and being so confused and now I'm even more confused...?
Watched this movie over 100 times and this explanation really helped a lot. Nice job 👍
The mother is definitely living vicariously through Nina. All this perfection and never feeling freedom, living for her mother and up to her standards, her own and everyone else's, it was just too much. She's so afraid to fail. She definitely has some mental health issues, and the mother didn't help that. She was overprotective and constantly watching her, therefore Nina felt she could never misstep or fail. I think the mother was genuinely concerned for Nina, that's why she at one point said either way she'll shine and at the end locked Nina in her room. Even though she wants the best for her, she was allowing her room to step back and then put her health first, because she knew the pressure was too much. She was genuinely concerned and put Nina's mental state before perfection. Yes, she expected Nina to do well, but that makes sense. All parents think their child is the best, and especially because Nina was talented, her mother was a dancer and they have a history with the company. Clipping her nails, wanting to see her back, the doors without locks, wanting to know what she's doing in the bathroom, her concern for Nina mental state and her self harming habits, that was because Nina had obviously done these things before and her mother thought this was the way to handle it. She gave Nina little to no privacy because she didn't trust her. I think the mother constantly watching her and Nina's childlike behaviour really contributed to the audience seeing the mother negatively, but Nina is mentally unstable and we see the pressure on her, her hallucinations, paranoia and her self harming behaviour enough to know she's an unreliable narrator. She paints lily a certain way. We don't even know if the tattoo was real. If Nina represents the white Swan, Lily represents the black swan/odile. When Nina leaves the bathroom stall and "whore" is written in red lipstick, that's the lipstick she stole from Beth. In her mind to be a "whore" is wrong, that's her opposite and she's afraid that's perception of her, but she's the one who wrote it. She hallucinates about Lily/Odile many times. She also hallucinates about her reflection or a second violent, daring, sneaky "Nina", one that's taunting her. This is her inner Odile, an opposition to her own White Swan. This represents the transition and metamorphosis in Nina. We start with a Nina who wears pinks, is very close and dependent on her mother, childlike, naive, controlled then her self destructive inner black swan starts attacking that version. Nina purposefully hurts herself and gradually it gets worse, finally ending with the black swan killing the white. This final version of Nina wears blacks, let's down her hair, she's violent, daring, flirtatious, uncontrolled, sexual, doesn't listen to whispering around her nor does she care what people think, she goes for what she wants and feels freedom.
The film uses those around Nina, who lacks personality, to aid the audience in making ideas about her. Her mother represents the childlike, repressed, controlled, scared, mentally unwell and perfection obsessed Nina. Thomas represents a desire for maturity, to be what a man might want, the Nina who's trying to "grow up" and be free. Beth represents Nina's fears and desires about her future, a once perfect ballerina who's now an aged, washed up, used, mentally unstable, needy, violent, "whore", who got to wear she is by doing what men wanted. Lily/odile/the hallucinations represents Nina's feared darker side, the side that she's trying to repress, the side that she's afraid to submit to, but wants to be. She imprints all of this onto lily and forms ideas about her, based on her fears and paranoia. Lily is wild, flirtatious, uncontrolled, free of perfection, doesn't care what people think about her. Nina chooses to believe this newcomer is opposition, the same way she sees the scarier repressed parts of herself as her opposition. When she believes she's killed lily, but it's turns out she's stabbed herself, we see it represents killing her white Swan self, the old version of herself. She frees herself
There are plenty of ways to interpret this movie. That's why it's so good.
My theory is, that she begins to live the story of the Swan. How she was young and beautiful and naive and the black Swan steals her love and imprisons the swan. I think, because of the role and her way of life, she manifested the malicious character from the story onto an actual living person, that person being Milas character. The difference being that Milas character was not actually all that present in (Natalie) her life. All of their interactions were her delusional manifestation of the Black Swan. She only defeats the Black Swan when she completes the best performance of her life and the character. which inevitably takes her life, because the manifestation was actually just the darker side of her, which she 'killed.'
Just my theory. Because if you look at it metaphorically, the dance instructor/molestor dude, tells a brief description of the Swan story which has mild relation to the situations she faces.
Alli Ghoul When I watched thos film . I understood Nina has schizophrenia and how she thought she was killing evil. When it was herself. What I never understood was after she stabbed herself . How did she managed to dance so well ? Yes u could say aderline rush kicked in but I'm not so sure.
+Asees Hera I understand where you're coming from, but I've heard and read of people surviving, or at least not dying as rapidly as they should or assume one would, from some strange situations.
I loooooved it. short, to the point, valid and intelligent. subscribed!
Lilly is ninas shadow ego. Hence the shadows and the faces she sees and general paranoia. Nina has CPTSD due to an overbearing mother and stress from her career.
She is codependent and narcissistically abused.
Another thing I noticed is that there are motifs and clues of swans and ballet all around her house, which signify how obsessed she is with that role.
Even her phone ring tone is the tune of Swan Lake, although anyone else would be tired of hearing it everywhere. It's like her heartbeat.
I've read quite a few points where people believe mother daughter sexual abuse is a huge underlying theme. perhaps it's something you could look into?
+Kat H I talk about her effect on Nina's sexuality in the video. If it's caused by her mother keeping sex from Nina or creating a very negative experience, it almost doesn't matter because the outcome i.e. what we see in the film is pretty clear.
+What it all Meant well what I mean is her mother sexually abusing Nina. (doing sexual acts with her)
+Kat H wow you have a wild imagination
+Brandon Kaeo mother daughter sexual abuse is a real thing.
The movie shows no abuse from her mother just a sheltered home life. To say sexual abuse from her mother is a far stretch.
wow, you have changed my perspective of this movie, what an awesome video man!!!!
The Black Swan is one of my favourite movies, and btw, can you do a video about The Neon Demon??? That movie is really good but weird and I think you would make a good explanation about whats going on in that movie haha
I've been dancing ballet since I was 2 (I'm 19 now) and I understand her struggle for trying to find perfection. Some I my friends thinks dancing ballet I one of the easiest things ever and is not, it's all about technic
This movie is absolutely fascinating and to me it's meaning is all about this duality of Evil and good that we all have inside us!
Nature and nurture will shape the way that we handle good and evil but this internal battle will never end.
I absolutely love the way Nina let her dark side to break free in such a tragic and yet beautiful way!
At the end of the day the stress and pressure,plus her medical condition was a recipe for a tragic ending since she didn't have the help she needed.
Black Swan is one of the best movies I've seen.
your voice is so soothing..
+Estephanie Zapata Thank you, I actually really hate it
+What it all Meant You are actually speaking so fast I can't understand what you are saying. Oh well, LOL, that's me.
+Christine Fougere I agree
This whole time I thought she became schizophrenic and she usually gets these episodes of when she sees herself is due to her stress, because that's mainly the case with other schizophrenic people.
BLUE ROSE p
BLUE ROSE I also always thought this. There are numerous threads on the internet which provide further proof.
Schizoid affectation but not schizophrenia.
The were representations of her emotions
I allways think the movie is about shizophrenia and multiple personality disorder. Its just obvious.
agree wih you, it makes it look like stages in paranoid schizophrenia when once pressured to become something that is not her, the pressure makes it more severe
Farah Diyana I'm not a psychologist ar psychiatrist but sounds obviously to me that any mental ilness is when you can matture in a normal way, so yes, of course, once you are pushed some disorders shows up
Additon it is
not multiple personality disorder
Additon then you are obviously wrong.
As a dancer, I can relate to the struggle of trying to find that one little thing inside that fits the character I'm playing, and letting this little thing take control of who I am, completely. *My English is not perfect, sorry about that
Beatriz Ballarin this movie also hit very close to home for me. I got into performing through both dance class and watching the town's middle/high school shows. Right away (6th grade) I joined the annual musical and became one of the most dedicated people. I didn't drop out when I didn't get a supporting or lead role. I also struggled with an eating disorder and the desire to be perfect for the show. Its my senior year, and the director let the middle school do the same show I always begged her to do. I constantly felt like Nina, always losing myself in the role, but never getting what I wanted.
I hope you are feeling better about it now... this is hard to deal with.
If you ever need someone to talk to, I am here for you okay?
Beatriz Ballarin Thank you. Same goes for you.
Sounds dangerous to me. Our character is our main asset.
Why is this channel so underrated? Bruh this is the best.
My grandma had me watch this when I was 6. I was terrified of the hallucinations. The end scared me
my favorite quote is still "what hapened to my sweet girl?" "She's gone!"
this movie is SUPER claustrophobic. I've never watched a movie with more close up shots
Those last 30 seconds blew my mind 😧 I never thought of the similarities between Nina's story and Swan Lake
this video is more complicated than the movie
I think that most of her scenes with Lily are in her head. Like when she comes to her place to pick her up, she doesn't interact with the mom at all or at least we don't see it, the mom keeps saying that "nobody" was at the door and when they come back drunk they ignore each other completely as well (the mom and lily), so Lily was never there with her which she confirms the next day. That's also why the mom was so concerned, because she just went out alone. Plus it happens right after they argue and the first time she manages to say "no" to her mom, rather agressively, it's like she manifested her dark persona and that's why Lily "rang" at the door. It gets more obvious during the fight scene. She's so jealous of Lily that she blames her for everything bad happening when it's just her.
I think Lilly was at least there to pick her up. The next day when Nina oversleeps and Lily is there she mentions that Nina and her did go out for drinks and that Nina left alone.
I dance and love the film...I came to the conclusion that the mother isn't alive. Except in Nina's head. The inappropriate closeness (dressing her and cutting her nails, no lock on the bathroom) seem to imply this. I think she sees her mother as the ultimate failure in dance...and her second as the ideal. And by trying express them independently (not integrated) it affects her delusions at home too.
Just a thought. Am a total bunhead myself!
The message of this movie will touch deeply into the heart of the true artists. Every artist can connect with the perfection obsession and the struggle to deal with the requirement coming not just from the audience, but most importantly, from himself. The feeling of anxiety getting stronger as the "Big day" keeps getting closer is perfectly portrayed in this picture. It is truly thrilling how the metalinguistic elements can transmit such a powerful meaning on the artist´s persona. It shows how the work result is intrinsically related to the emotional area, and that the true perfection only happens when the art is liberated from the inside out. While doing so, the movie brilliantly showcases how art is not suposed to be painful, and that it shouldn´t be an obsession, but a way to connect with yourself, and comunicate to the world. This film invites you not to get sufocated by your art, but to let loose in it, completely free. To perform in such a complex character study is not a job for weak actors, that´s why this work wouldn´t be as remarkable as it is with someone other than Natalie Portman. The performance of a lifetime! Aronofsky really created a master-piece with this movie, the direction is endowed with the purest refinement.
I like your analysis, but I think there is more going on. Seems every time I see this movie, I can find some other plot that is changing and follows the similar theme of growth and change. There is a fine balance in Nina's white swan relationship with her mother. Her mother, although proud of her daughter, has issues dealing with her failure to have ever lead in her time. I'm glad you mentioned the color theme. That was one of the first things I picked up on. As Nina's character begins to experience more black swan activities, her clothing, as well as other scene features, goes from white or pink to grey (the transition) to eventually black. Here's another thought, I do believe her battle towards the end was with her two selves, however, since swans choose one mate for life, she was the other half of her relationship, The monogamy, I believe this is why she stabbed herself with a piece of the mirror before dying as the white swan in the end. The mirror creating an opening in which something can go in or out and to also reflect the inner truth about Nina's fractured self also to reflect her inner truth. The Black Swan. Do U agree??
+cat crazy yeah!!! the black swan was stabbed, but later we find that in fact she stabbed herself, meaning that the black swan was within her, and the conflict between these two swans is what caused her death. The scene where she looks at her mother, could it mean that her mother could understand her? Because they were both crying.
+elena gomez I could talk about the possibilities in this movie forever. To me, when so many people can come out with so many different ideas and perspectives, only proves to me, that it is indeed a great movie. As far as her mother, I think she was having difficulty understanding the black swan, perhaps it never existed in her and that's why she never had a starring role. I think Nina's dark side scared her mother. No longer was she speaking in a little girls voice, she was more assertive and strong, aggressive and would no longer allow her mom to make choices for her.
I couldn't pay attention the narrative was so monotone😑
Sorry...
+What it all Meant I liked it 👍🏽👍🏽
Don't apologize -- don't worry.
Your speech in this video is a little bit monotone, but try to practice reading what you're going to say in your video aloud with more natural voice inflections before recording it.
What it all Meant 'Sorry...' See? thats what we mean. stop being so fucking weak
Marc Jacobs LMAAAAOOOO
I think it was all a dream. movie starts with her saying I had the craziest dream last night and there is constant reference to dream and fantasy and then it fades out to white at the end of the movie, like a dream
I've always wanted to see this, never got around to it. Now I really need to check it out.
Nina's mental condition is what bothers her mother, and she.s dedicated her life since to Nina, watching her, protecting her, making sure it didn't come back. She might have her imperfect moments but she wasn't the cause of her condition, though she might have had an affect on what followed...
We don't know that for sure, but I wouldn't discount it either
I hated this movie I refuse to buy or watch it on DVD again! It was a rip off of the anime movie Perfect Blue!
My own interpretation: Nina was a pure and good person, it´s true that she was easily manipulated, but that is part of growing. Her mother and teacher showed a wrong concept of "perfection" . She wanted to change, to be strong or just like others to achieve that perfection, but he lost herself in her negative emotions; metaphorically, Black Swan means negativity, tragedy and false personallity; in the movie we can see that those things finally beat her and she became a real Black Swan :(
That's an Interesting and plausible interpretation. It's been a long time since I've seen the movie but from what I recall it was all of that and a little more. A portrayal of a young girl's mind suffering with an undiagnosed and treated mental illness, schizophrenia in particular. A great depiction of how delusions and hallucinations are in fact a scary reality in her world. How dysfunctional relationships feed (and dare I say cause) her internal and real life nightmare. The viewer gets an opportunity to view her world from her perspective so we also think everything is really happening with no obvious logic or reason causing much confusion & fear. Her focus on her craft helps her make sense of her world but increasing stresses force her to confront the demons she has always suppressed with no life experience to deal with them. Everyone around her are so preoccupied with their own agendas that no one thinks that she may need help, protection, guidance and support.
MsRina66 this is a great summary!
thank you Amanda :)
still havent seen it but it terrifies me badly. great vid
Roger Waters it isn't really!
It wasn't that bad,gone girl is much more scary,freaks me out
Sylvia Lee
ow that one is different Amy is crazy and she knows it this one doesn't.
i went to watch the film with my dad and the tickets are all sold out so were seats are literally in second line...yeah I'm only 15years old haha
i'm totally fine with the movie but with my dad...haha kinda funny actually
If we talk in Jungian terms, she didn't acknowledge her shadow throughout her life and when confronted with it, the shadow swallowed her completely.
I overdosed in a movie theater when black swan was playing. It was one of my best highs.
There was a lot of abuse from her mom, caused ALOT of her sheltered, repressed, and anxious moments in the film
This is definitely part of the job and this just shows how much dedication they have just to give us a good movie to watch they deserve every award and respect
The premise I believe was that she entered into the adult world unprepared and succumbed to it. I believe such solution to this damning situation should be that one ought to build their house (their morale, world view, beliefs) on a solid rock rather than on shady sand. Because when that wind of problems that world huffs at our house, if the house be build on a weak foundation like said, our house and us included will sink.
watching this after watching the Lessons from the Screenplay comparison to whiplash (because of my obsessive tendencies to understand everything about every movie I ever watch) just gives this movie a whole new level of depth. Once you do this to enough movies it increases your movie going experience in total because you begin to form your own in depth analysis and theories about films, incorporating things you would have never thought of in the past.... long story short, I love films.
I thought this movie was just about mental health but then I read the comments, and rethinking my whole life 😭
wow thank you for this, i understood some of the meaning but couldnt quite put it together. my own interpretation is a little bit different from yours but your explanations helped me to even have an interpretation at all! thanks!
to me (a variant of your analysis) is that nina was the innocent, pure girl trapped in the sense that she limited/repressed her full self (full would be her innocent side AND her dark, lustful side). Being in the body of a swan manifests as being a ballerina (they are graceful). She desires freedom--that is, she desires to embrace her full self (maturity, as you have explained), and be free to be who she truly and wholly is. But only true love can break the spell: true love and acceptance from herself and literal love and acceptance from the ballet audience will allow her to fully embrace herself/"break the spell". The prince/true love is literally the audience who symbolically represent her inner self. Before he can declare his love (before she can fully embrace all sides of herself/before the final applause from the audience), the lustful black twin swan tricks (hallucinations and mind games) and seduces him/her love (the black swan seduces herself so that now she embraces ONLY this darker side of herself/seduces the audience, evident when the producer runs to her after the final dance and says "they love you! they love you!") and thus she does not achieve that freedom she desired. Devastated, she then kills herself (stabbing and eventually bleeding to death at the end, while she also symbolically kills herself in the ballet by jumping off the cliff) and in death finds freedom (since she is finally happy to have been "perfect" as she says to the producer guy).
I still didn't get it..
oh well.. some things we'll never know **sigh**
she was a girl being controlled by her mom to make her always be "perfect" just like the white swan but in deep pf her she's not she's actually a bad girl so to maje tge roll of her life aka the black swan dhe needed to explore that part of her self more and she did but it controlled her
then she met her over half the to make her happy and normal to get out if black or white swan thing ...I think that's the point lol
hero zayn this is the altered version of swan lake
hero zayn Easy to blame the mother in the movie. I my opinion the mother was trying to help her as mother's do. Being on the outside looking in the mother could see what was happening to Nina.
happy_kitty The Black Swan is like Nina's "dark passenger"
Shabnam Rafique if you think her mother was helping as mothers do, please don’t be a mother
I love this analysis. Kudos. I wrote one about this film but i elaborated a lot on her self destruction and finding the inner darkness which is essential and this film has so many layers(as do a lot of psychological films) But this i have to admit is much more in depth and spot on . Keep up the great work 🙌🙌
Yo this connects so well with Jung's Map of the Soul and bts
I was 13yo when i watched for the first this movie, i also thought that it was a demon film.
Now that i grew up, it all makes sense actually and i can relate to this...
Oppressive father, stressed about my studies, dealing with mental and emotional instabilities and most of all this constant desire to reach perfection whatever it may cost, that's so obsessing and overwhelming, the strange fact is that you feel that it bad for you and who surrounds you, but at the same time you find a kind of in it and start liking it...
This movie is by far the best one I've ever watch, really...
this is the passion of the performance artist.
They sell a dual DVD pack of Black Swan and The Fountain (Aronofsky's earlier work). These two movies (although seemingly different) have massive overlaps. Black Swan is a Russian doll. It is about the ballet of Swan Lake, while the character's play out swan lake, while she hallucinated a story of swan lake, while she mentally progresses through Swan Lake, while she physically endures a story of Swan Lake, while the entire movie is presented in the format of a ballet of Swan Lake. This is my #3 movie of all time (behind Magnolia and 2001: A Space Odyssey) and the Russian doll style (or Rubik's cube as Aronofsky puts it) is perfected in Black Swan but also used in the Fountain. At the end of the day both movies are metaphors for Buddhist Enlightenment. The Fountain is about enlightenment by overcoming fear of mortality, where Black Swan is about the necessity of Suffering to reach enlightenment. These are both central to Buddhism and can be attributed to Siddhartha's journey from innocent prince, to suffering, to enlightenment.
(Bigger Spoiler coming) I disagree with the video's use of the word "evil". The Black Swan represents "suffering", "self-destruction" and sometimes "doing the wrong or selfish thing". Evil is not the word I would use to describe the Black Swan inside of ourselves. I've heard some say this has an open ending as Nina may have been saved after the closing of the film. This is false. She dies, how do I know? Because that is the fate of the Swan. Another element that is sometimes said to be left open is whether Lily is really trying to take her role and sleep with the director or if it was simply paranoid hallucination. It is not open, we just don't get to see it. How do I know? Again, it is the fate of the Black Swan and the only indication that Lily was being manipulative is that she was awarded the role of the alternate dancer and almost did usurp her role. As Kurt Cobain said, "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not after you." He did not leave these elements out to leave anything open, he did so because they didn't need to be shown once you understand the equations of this move and Swan Lake.
One more note. Why did critics hail to Black Swan and critique The Fountain with much higher negativity. In these movies, Aronofsky focuses on the meaning with more priority than the plot. Black Swan had very little ambiguity to its plot. Yes, some things are questionable (but also not). Did Lily sleep with the director? Yes. She received the alternate role for it. Did Nina see it, it is unknown, but also makes no difference as it happened and was hallucinated whether she saw it or not.
The Fountain by contrast did not include a certainty to the connections in the 3 plots of The Fountain. Are the 3 characters reincarnations of 3 different time periods as he had not overcome mortality and thus stuck in a cycle of rebirth to fit the Buddhism motif? Maybe. Was the conquistador a story written by the wife while the future was really him after curing death and living to the future? Maybe. Was the future some sort of ending to the book? Maybe. Aronofsky doesn't know either. He left this out on purpose for us to focus on the point at the end of the day no matter which interpretation is used. This upset many viewers who focus too much on the plot and not enough on the intention of the movie. Aronofsky said [the plot] was open to many interpretations, but at the end, it all comes down to the same idea no matter how you interpret the plot. This was done on purpose and does not lower my view on this great movie. It was obvious that he DID make the connections easier to read in the Black Swan plot.
"Acts like a little girl"
"Whines like a little girl"
Its because of her abuse, she cannot be or do ANYTHING for herself because literally EVERYONE around her is abusive.
the music, cinematography... everything about this movie is gorgeous!!!! I adore it!
I never saw the tie between swan lake and her life. I understood the child and maturity etc but not that deeply. Wow, I'm gonna have to watch that movie again!
I believe it symbolizes about how obsessive mental disorders make you tear yourself apart. How trying to be perfect and never taking any break can lead you to being your own enemy. For example when the guy said “the only one stopping you, is you.” She soon realized the day of the performance. When she supposedly “killed” the girl but really she just didn’t want to believe it was her who was destroying herself. The drive to perfection can make you crazy. The ending reminded me about how anybody would die to be known as perfect. That is, if they’ve never had the reassuring love. Nina’s mother was controlling enough. Her mother was worried as well but I believe that’s only because she sees Nina in herself. Their relationship is odd and the mother seems to want Nina to still be a little girl. She talks down to her as one, dresses her up as one, and Nina’s room is also represented as a child’s room. Nina doesn’t seem to realize it until the end. I believe it’s Nina touching into her maturity side but also her negative side. Perfectionist will do anything to feel satisfied.
Interesting analysis. Although I think Nina is also in her sensitive, confused state because she's grown up in, and revered, a militantly regimented art form that twists the body through unnatural stress. She is what the professional ballet world has made her, to a degree. (What I mean is, she seems to be cracking under brutal career pressure, as well as her own emotional shortcomings.)
if you look at this side of the many thing that get into this movie. is that this supression mostly happened due to the mother. she kept her in she didn't let her grow up. many children need to grow up fast because their parents aren't being the adults and they now need to be the adult for themself.
but in this movie its the oppesite the mother never let her go and kept her away from all that is adult. she's 28 and just the bedroom itself already give that hint of her still being a child. (no direspect to anyone with this kind of bedroom) also her mother manipulating her when she sais no to the food is a way of her mother to keep her in her control. you don't see much of this in the movie but just those small details just gives the watcher more hints of her mother wanting her to keep being a child her little child that does her dream.