There's a lot of Oscar buzz about this film. I mean, that's no indication (necessarily) of whether a film is good or not; but there you are. That's a thing. Now I'm not sure if buzz is created by the quality and timing of the release of the film - or by someone simply declaring that such a buzz is indeed palpable and must be attended to as swiftly as a wounded kitten. Buzz is simply buzz - but I thought you should know about it.
Okay, something I loved about this film was the use of sound. The foley artist needs a fucking hand-job. Minimum. For those who aren't as supremely smart as I am, a foley artist is someone who records sounds which are to be inserted within the film. Basically the person who records 'sound effects.' That being said, any sounds, people walking on gravel, background noise, etc, are included in this description. The sounds in this film, of skin peeling, bones cracking, flesh rippling, were all fantastic. They were so exaggerated that even ordinary things such as Nina cutting her nails bordered on the grotesque. If these images were simply viewed without sound they would have no effect whatsoever - but with the sickening crunches that accompany them they become larger than life. There is a revulsion and a kind of white hot tension that sits in your stomach for this entire film as a result. It's not just emotional - your body reacts physically to what is going on. Viewing this film will physically alter you. This is not for the feint of heart - but to me, at least, it's an indicator of excellent film-making.
Something which I didn't love as much was the cinematography. Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler) made, and continually makes, stylistic choices I don't always agree with. Whilst I appreciate a bit of Cinema Dogma as much as the next person, there's a limit to what I can take. Sure, a shake here and there is fine, but sometimes you're allowed to use a tri-pod. Just saying. One of the follow-shots of Nina actually reminded me exactly of an entire sequence of The Wrestler - and I don't think that's a positive thing. I've said it before and I'll say it again - it's a trick; not a method. Thankfully it didn't interfere too much with my viewing and I managed to enjoy (seems a strange word) the film.
The narrative, I think backed itself into a corner. Without giving too much away it seemed fairly obvious what had to happen. There were only a few outcomes and all of them would've been hack. Admittedly the film shied away from that - but not without leaving many (most) questions unanswered. Unsure of the divide between reality and fantasy the viewer is left to think, as both I and my sister did: Well, how else could it have gone? Was any of that real? What was the point of that? And unfortunately this lets down what was otherwise quite a remarkable film.
Great performances all around. Special mention to Winona Ryder who plays the mentally fragile predecessor to Portman's Nina. Though it was a small role it was meaty and it's good to see her working again. Oh yeah, and you get to see Mila Kunis eat Natalie Portman's nanni. Kinda cool.
With a little re-working of the narrative and the photography, this film could easily have been a nine. 8/10
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