Black Swan spoiler review

Black swan spoiler review.

Darren Aronofsky’s psychological thriller and horror film, ‘Black Swan’ stars Natalie Portman as ‘Nina Sayers’ who is part of a ballet dance company that is about to open with the season of Swan Lake. 

Nina auditions for the part as the Swan Queen but is told by the director, Thomas that she is too rigid for the act and needs to loosen herself up. Thomas kisses her when she goes to talk to him about the part; it sparks a reaction that awakens an impulsive side to her that she has not yet been aware of. This sets in motion a dangerous turn of events after a night out with one of the other dancers in the company. Nina starts to experience hallucinations such as sleeping with a fellow female dancer, ripping feathers out of her skin, ripping her skin, killing the fellow female dancer and when she thinks she is turning into the swan literally when in actual fact it is her slow progression to her death at the end of the film. The psychological twist entices the attention of the audience to the grand finale at the end of the film where Nina dies after the final scene of the Swan Lake performance.

The iconography used such as, dark lighting, dramatic music and shadows create enigmas to create the right atmosphere for the thriller genre. The mise en scene is based in London, which gives it a more believable, personal feel to the film as I live near the area. Also, Nina’s outfits represent her good and bad side; when she is in either white or pink it conveys her as innocent and pure and not being controlled by her alter ego, however in her hallucination she sees herself dressed in black- this shows her dark and dangerous side: her alter ego breaking free. 

Nevertheless, the costume is not the main effect used to portray Nina’s good and bad side- it is often the lighting; dark lighting shows that she is either hallucinating or her bad side has come out to play and when there is bright lighting it shows that she is still sane and herself- this helps the audience understand the story and journey Nina is going through both physically and psychologically. 

In my opinion this film is 4 out of 5 stars due to the use of suspense and mystery and how it drops enigmas throughout the film so that it keeps the audience engaged up to the end of the film. The right use of iconography creates an illusion that captures the interest of the audience. 

         

this spoiler review helped me read into the representation of characters in a thriller as there are alot of aspects like the film 'shutter island' that only make sense right at the end of the film. I have now come to realise representation of characters is key role in a thriller film to be able to gage the expected reaction from the audience.