Black Swan and The Wrestler

My plan for this post is to compare the movie Black Swan with The Wrestler. The director of both films, Darren Aronofsky, has said that Black Swan is a companion piece to The Wrestler. It is very easy to see the connection between the two. Both films are about people pushing their bodies and minds to reach perfection in art and sport. In both films Aronofsky’s camera follows Mickey Rourke and Natalie Portman’s characters like an entourage behind its hero. In moments of action the camera spins widly around creating an urgency and rhythm to both art forms.  Portman and Rourke both pushed their bodies to extremes in order to play their roles. Portman stuck to a strict ballerina regimen and learned to dance so well they were able to use her dancing for the majority of shots. Rourke pumped his body so full of steroids that he is barely recognizable as Randy the Ram. I could go on and on with more similarities but it doesn’t matter. No matter how much one compares the two they are not equal; one is a great film and one is a good film. Watching the two back to back brought out the flaws of Black Swan and emphasized the tenderness and toughness of The Wrestler.

Portman’s performance has gotten a lot of critical acclaim and is winning lots of awards, and while she is impressive in the role, on second viewing her acting seems limited. In terms of her dancing she has managed a great feat but that is only one half of her performance. Through most of the film her eyes have a look of panic in them but they lack other emotions. When I compare it to a very similar performance like Catherine Deneuve’s in Repulsion it seems to lack the true madness necessary for the character to be believable. In Repulsion Deneuve is mentally unstable right from the beginning, just as Portman’s character is, but slowly Deneuve’s character loses herself in her own insanity just as Portman’s character should. Deneuve wanders around aimlessly, maniacally itching at her body and as the movie continues her character becomes so disturbed that she is disturbing to watch. There is a sense of danger that grows not from tricks with the camera but from her performance. Throughout Black Swan it seems that Portman stays rather one dimensional. She is a frightened perfectionist and spends the whole movie projecting exactly that. If it wasn’t for the tricks of the camera, pulling the skin off her index finger or seeing her exact reflection in other people numerous times, there is no way we could really know she was suffering from mental instability.

The script for Black Swan also seems to be one dimensional. Other than a broken toenail and repetitive practice the dancer’s strife and hard work is missing. Only in a few scenes do we get a chance to learn more about Portman’s Nina. One that comes to mind in particular is the scene in which Nina calls her mother to tell her she got the role as Swan Queen. In that moment, as she fights back tears of joy, it is apparent this girl will not be able to handle the task at hand. Scenes like this are seldom in Black Swan, especially as Nina’s mental instability takes over and the movie becomes one horror moment followed by the next.

Compare this to The Wrestler where we not only see life in the ring but also the life a wrestler leads outside of the ring. What makes the movie fascinating are all the details such as wrestlers discussing how the match will play out or Randy going through his preparations for a match- going to a tanning booth, bleaching his hair, buying steroids and shooting up. All these elements add to our appreciation and understanding of the difficulty and work that goes into a job such as wrestling. In Black Swan the plot focuses on the same things over and over. Nina can’t break through and connect with the darker side needed for the black swan. Over and over she dances beautifully but never reaches inside herself to conjure out the demonic swan. It’s no wonder Portman’s performance seemed a bit one dimensional, her character never has a chance to show how she grows.

Rourke on the other hand had a character with so much depth and so much humanity that it’s hard to imagine he didn’t win the Oscar. With his long, stringy hair, silly putty face, and wallowing eyes he looks a bit like the cowardly lion. No matter where he is there is magic around him. When working at the deli counter he flirts with the young and the old while serving potato salad bringing a smile to everyone’s face. In a strip club he defends the stripper who he has befriended from a bunch of young men who are demeaning her. And standing in a ring, surrounded by hundreds of admiring fans, his charisma and charm make him the popular wrestling hero that he has been for twenty years.

Rourke’s performance is so tender and heartbreaking that Aronofsky lets it to dominate and carry the movie. In every scene he lets the camera rest of Rourke’s face and allows Rourke tell the story. In Black Swan Aronofsky has done the exact opposite. To show madness he uses the camera. With fast cuts and manic camera movements an emotional thrill and nervous tension is created. To show terror he uses tricks of the eye. To show suspense the music gets ominous with just the right amount of foreboding tones. The audience’s emotions are manufactured in Black Swan. In The Wrestler he has allowed for the script and the actor to provide the audience with the necessary emotions, which is why The Wrestler is so much more genuine and haunting than Black Swan.