Black Swan

[Ms Thrifty]

Bet I shall be castigated for saying so, but I didn't like this film. There were no previews in my area but I wasn't too bothered as it didn't sound very appealing. However, today I decided to take a chance on it after all, partly to see if it was better than I'd expected and partly as I'd just collected my free Curzon vouchers and could just fit this in before the matinee of "Wicked". Should have known better: overwrought, overindulgent and, whilst obviously not meant to be pleasant to watch, simply too nasty for me - I left before the end.

[denisel]

Saw this last night and well it was still playing on my mind this morning. There is no way that should have been a 15 - more like an 18. The sexual scene between the 2 girls was very explicit - even said so by my 14 year old. Very gruesome in parts too.

However I actually did really like the film. Very dark and sinister and having a daughter that does ballet - I could appreciate that side of things.

I was still picturing the feathers being pulled out of her back when i woke up this morning - yuk!!

Thought Natalie was excellent in her role. Dancing was superb.

I truly believe that the ballet world is like that and thank goodness we arent a part of it at that level! Wonderful to be able to dance like that though.

Its a film that plays on your mind for sure but again - one i would recommend.

[raj101]

i think if you go in with the wrong frame of mind, the film becomes a lot less than it is. ... self obsessed, overacting, slice after slice of sickening visuals. If you arent on the rollercoaster for the trip you wont really enjoy it. its an odd thing, that is, like a wierd duality in the film haha.

[Celini]

Saw it this afternoon at Clapham PH (thanks to the free tix coming with the membership ) and I did not really like it
Portman did a pretty good job but I just did not like her character and I tought the entire movie definitely lacked something! maybe another strong character... Cassel is such a good actor, I think the director could have done a better job there!

6/10

(and the hand held camera at the begining, WTF was that!)

[aruif]

i know i'm a bit late seeing it - never wait for people who are faffing is my new rule hehe.

i thought natalie portman was absolutely incredible in this. one of the most stunning performances i've seen in a very very long time.

i wasn't sure at first what i really thought. it's difficult when there's so much hype around something. but having had a little while to reflect right now i really did enjoy it. want to see it again

[elski]

i know i'm a bit late seeing it - never wait for people who are faffing is my new rule hehe.

i thought natalie portman was absolutely incredible in this. one of the most stunning performances i've seen in a very very long time.

i wasn't sure at first what i really thought. it's difficult when there's so much hype around something. but having had a little while to reflect right now i really did enjoy it. want to see it again

That's how I felt when i left the cinema sort of stunned and not sure if I liked it or not but it staed with me and left me thinking about it for a long time after it, something most films don't do. I'd definitely like to see it again and that's my usual guage of how much I like a film.
I thought the finale was excellent with the dancing performance I was too drawn in to even notice where they might be cutting to a real ballet dancer rather than Natalie Portman. Whereas earlier on in the practices it did seem that they'd deliberately focus on her head and shoulders and not have to show what's going on with the feet.

[June]

I'm hoping that Black Swan is one of the Orange Bafta films showing free next week at selected Cineworlds as I would love to watch this. Natalie Portman is an excellent actor, one of my favourites since watching her in my all time favourite film Leon.

[Aziemah]

The last time Natalie Portman blew me away was when she acted in Leon and V for Vendetta. Watched it for the sake of watching her and she does not disappoint. Though I'm sure people went to watch it for entirely different reasons.

"We were wondering how to get men to watch a movie about ballet, then we figured it out. Lesbian sex scene." Words of infinite wisdom right there.

[June]

Hmmm, yes that would sell the film to a lot of men, probably some woman too!

[Aziemah]

Seeing its box office success and numerous Oscar nominations, I say yes, it did pan out very well. In fact, I think it created a whole new genre now, which is going to be my new buzzword.

"Pseudo-sexual thriller"