Black Swan

There's a LOT of ballet in it... dancing, barre work, feet, stretching, rehearsal, performance, etc. If you're not big on ballet, it would probably be a bit much. To me, there was never any question what was happening, so no suspense. I don't watch thriller/horror genre much at all, so the gross stuff put me off. I just wish the Black Swan performance had been longer.

A friend I was talking to last night started going on about another friend's experience with it and started to go on about some key plot points.
When i asked her to please not reveal anything, she was a bit upset with me and said she couldn't watch a movie like that.
I realizer that it's probably not going to be for everyone, but none of this director's films ever are. So, I still want to see it for myself.

I have to disagree with the point that if you don't like ballet then you won't like this movie. I don't hate ballet, but I wouldn't call myself a fan per se. The ballet dancing is, IMO, a detail of the movie. The main aspect of the film is the hallucinations of Nina and how she deals with having the main role of Swan Lake.

Overall I thought it was a good movie. It was interesting and the acting was outstanding, especially from Natalie Portman. I was reeeeeeally glad I didn't offer to let my teenage sons come with me. They are pretty laid back about sex scenes in movies when I am around, but I would have been uncomfortable. I'm not going to give away any plot details in my next comment, but I am going to make a comparison that may ruin it for someone so I'm going to spoiler.

Click to see Spoiler:

The "big twist" was a bit of a letdown for me because I saw it coming pretty far ahead. For me it was pretty reminiscent of the Korean film "A Tale of Two Sisters" (which was an outstanding movie, albeit a bit confusing). It had an awful American remake called"The Invisible".

This is probably the only "chick flick" I have ever seen the preview to and said to myself, wow, that looks pretty awesome, sexy, weird, psycho thriller, lots of positives. I will eventually watch this, not sure when, but eventually.

Wow!
Who would have thought that David Cronenberg, The Red Shoes and Repulsion would produce such a heady film. I love Natalie Portman in this, her performance was so amazing and breathtaking.I absolutely loved the Tchaikovsky on steroids score and the climatic ballet sequence itself was amazing. I thought all of the other actors also did a great job especially Barbara Hershey.

I just saw it. What a brilliant movie.
I think the Red Shoes/David Cronenberg/Repulsion take on it upthread is very apt. :up
Natalie Portman should win an Oscar for her mesmerizing performance. She's been overlooked for years; yet always turns in terrific acting.
Kudos to Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey and, of course, Winona Ryder. The latter made her mark in a very small role.

What could have turned into a very cheesy, over the top movie, was handled so well by Aronofsky, and of course, Portman.
The theater I went to had just as many men in the audience as women. They didn't seem at all bothered by the ballet sequences, either.
The movie just totally blew me away! :up

I adore ballet and will definitely be seeing this. I'm guessing that the plot line may be similar to the story of Odette/Odille in the Swan Lake ballet.

I watched this on VOD on TV last night figuring though it was rated R which I don't normally like to see I could fast forward through parts that I didn't want to participate in watching. I'm certainly no prude, but it's just boring and juvenile to be bombarded with bad language, violence and horrid sex scenes. Well, had to FF through much of this movie. It was not for me....gratuitous sex for no reason except to once again portray sex as deviant and evil, manipulative and not ever in a loving scenario. No one is good in this movie. Appalling movie imho, I have always loved ballet, have appreciated and taken ballet since I was a little girl. I was looking forward to seeing a movie about ballet and don't know what this was. It was Rosmary's baby on steroids. The actors did a good job in a messed up movie. Please do not take kids to see this movie.:down:eek

The movie's not for everyone.

I didn't view the sex depicted as deviant, though, in any way. That was not the point of it, either.

I think I saw a total of 4 of the most nominated Oscar movies prior to the Oscars. This movie was the one that stuck with me the most.