Black Swan

Director:  Darren Aronofsky
Length: 108 min.
Released: 2010

Darren Aronofsky's latest film received much critical acclaim.  Aronofsky seems to enjoy exploring the human psyche.  In Black Swan, he concentrates on the world of classical ballet, and the competition within a company for lead and principal roles.

Natalie Portman plays Nina, a young ballet dancer who has worked her way up in the ranks of a professional company in a large metropolitan city.  She lives with her mother (played by Barbara Hershey), who pushes to make sure her daughter gets to be the professional dancer she herself was unable to be.  Nina struggles to emerge from under the wing of her overprotective mother.  The directory of the company (played by French actor Vincent Cassel) wants her to play the Swan Queen in Swan Lake, which will require her to play both the white swan (innocent and beautiful), and the black swan (mysterious and passionate).  To secure the coveted role, Nina begins a dark path of exploration, but starts to lose her footing.  Portman plays the lead role

A dancer brought in from San Francisco (played by Mila Kunis) provides added pressure and competition.  She seems to possess all the required characteristics needed for the Swan Queen role, which Nina views as a direct threat.  Kunis' plays her character as both friendly and menacing, keeping the viewer guessing.  Winona Ryder has a small part as the former prima ballerina displaced in favor of younger, more agile dancers, despite her own youth.  Nina's empathy for her situation foreshadows her own turn in the same position.

Aronofsky slowly blurs the lines separating reality from imagined sequences, and at the end we are left questioning what was real and what was not.  The film is certainly a psychological thriller, but is not a "psycho-sexual thriller", the way some critics claim.  

Aronofsky shows the world within a professional dance company as cold and fickle as the winter wind.    Despite their immense strength, the ease with which dancers can injure themselves and their vulnerability to scrutiny reveals an underlying general frailty of being human.  The catty competitiveness between the young female dancers reduces their abilities to support one another as a family.  Just as the line is blurred between reality and delusion, so too is the line between friend and enemy.

Aronofsky drives his film like a roller-coaster, with twists and lurches along the way.  The actors convey their world with realism.  The use of black and white as the color palette throughout the film is very effective.  Strong patterns in black and white dominate the film.  There is only some pink in Nina's apartment (evoking purity).  The music conveys tension and propels the story forward.  Tchaikovsky's score to Swan Lake provides certain scenes with extra emotion.  (Although used for dramatic effect, the scene where Kunis eats a hamburger is unrealistic; dancers are unable to consume that much fat, especially during a performance season.  She only ate one bite, however this was not the message conveyed.)  

Like a true Grimm fairy tale, the film is dark but not morbid, and gripping but not scary.  There is no moral at the end, but no happily-ever-after ending either.  After several surprise twists, the film arrives at its conclusion, leaving the viewer with much to ponder.

Only When I Dance

Director: Beadie Finzi
Length: 78 min.
Released: 2009

This documentary from Brazil focuses on the lives of two young dancers from a dance academy in Rio de Janeiro.  Their mentor believes students from poorer families should also be able to participate in the traditionally upper-class-only world of classical ballet.  She does everything she can to acquire scholarships and funding for her students.  Dance could be their ticket out of poverty, and they all know it.  Their motivation to work hard keeps them practicing long hours every day.  The documentary follows two students, Irlan and Isabela, both highly-skilled dancers hoping to make ballet a successful career.  Their mentor helps coordinate the high cost of traveling abroad and makes sure their families are prepared and can provide what is needed.

The camera follows Irlan and Isabela, along with other students from their dance school to the All-Brazil ballet competition, in which 200 dancers from the entire country will be chosen to attend an international competition held in New York, where they will compete for spots in elite dance companies from around the world.  When Irlan is selected for a prestigious competition in Switzerland, he is escorted by the film crew.  

The documentary features candid interviews and conversations with Irlan and Isabela's families, and Irlan and Isabela share hopes and fears about the future.  Dance may take them away from home, which both thrills and worries them.  Life in other countries and cultures can be cold (as Irlan finds out in Switzerland, where he discovers snow) or unfriendly (as Isabela is told she does not conform to the ballet standard; white and thin).  Their families and their school provide strong support for them.  

The film conveys the dedication and sacrifice ballet dancers make for their art and their dreams.  The stress of a competitive selection process is difficult in any discipline, but dancers form a close-knit family, and hugs abound when things don't go as hoped.   

Several full-length dance scenes show the talent of both Irlan and Isabela.  Their emotion, grace and strength captivate even those with no knowledge of ballet.  They make their dancing look so effortless: Irlan leaps high and bares his soul, Isabela flows gracefully from one difficult pose to another.      

    

It's rewarding to see where Irlan and Isabela are now, to continue to track their success through dance.

There is a website for the film:  www.onlywhenidance.com  

Western

Director:  Manuel Poirier
Length: 124 min.
Released:  1997



Europeans have a fascination with the American West, but this film gets its title from Bretagne, a region in Northwest France where this film takes place.  The story centers around two characters, both foreigners.  Paco is a Catalan in France on a business trip as a shoe representative, and Nino is a Russian hitchhiking his way around Europe.  Paco's initial goodwill to help Nino causes him nothing but problems, when he loses everything: his car, his wares. even his job.  But being stuck in a small French village has its upsides, as he meets a beautiful woman willing to help him.  Finding Nino, and restoring his life again become his highest priority, but he begins to change his opinion of Nino.

As catastrophes continue to cause Paco grief, he begins to adopt some of Nico's carefree nature.  Losing everything multiple times forms a bond between the two, who become friends.  In one of his first roles,   Sergi Lopez often plays villains, but he shows he's a more well-rounded actor with his portrayal of Paco.  French director Manuel Poirier has used him in several of his films, always playing a lost Spaniard in France.  Sacha Bourdo, a Russian-born actor popular in many French films, shows Nino is an intelligent and thoughtful individual, more a wandering philosopher than a vagrant gypsy.  

Western uses its foreign characters to tell a multicultural story, but it is not about the difficulties of being a stranger in a strange land.  Its characters reveal and challenge cultural stereotypes, and engage in real discussions about life and modern society.  The characters grow on each other, and we grow with them.

Western is charming.  It seems to say with a sense of humor you will get through anything, and live better.  The film won the Jury prize at the Cannes film festival.