Psychological Thriller · Drama
A perfectionist ballerina wins the lead in Swan Lake. As opening night gets closer, paranoia and hallucinations take her over. It's a psychosexual horror film about the violence of perfectionism and losing your sense of who you are.
At a glance
Black Swan is a 2010 psychological thriller and drama film directed by Darren Aronofsky. This breakdown covers 4 techniques (2 psychology, 1 cinematography and 1 sound), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, Amadeus uses several of the same techniques.
Pairing the main character with a second character who mirrors them. The double shows what the hero wants, fears or secretly is.
How this film uses it
Lily stands for the sensuality and freedom Nina has shut away. That is, everything Nina can't let herself be. As Nina's psychosis deepens, you can no longer tell Lily from her hallucinations.
Where to see it
Nina's mirror hallucinations and the backstage dressing room sequence. You can't be sure what is real.
Shooting with a handheld camera so the frame shakes and moves with the action. This documentary-style look, called cinema vérité, puts you uncomfortably close to the character.
How this film uses it
Aronofsky's camera (shot by Matthew Libatique) stays inches behind Nina's neck and shoulders. Being that close is claustrophobic, and it traps you inside her failing sense of what's real.
Where to see it
Nina's daily rehearsal sequences and the backstage passages on opening night. The camera stays right behind her.
Showing the human body being changed, damaged or falling apart. The horror works because you imagine it happening to your own body, and it often stands for mental suffering.
How this film uses it
Nina's hallucinations show up in her body: feathers under the skin, snapping joints, flesh that changes shape. Her mental breakdown turns physical and gut-level. You can't think your way out of it.
Where to see it
The transformation sequence in Nina's dressing room. It comes before the Black Swan act.
Repeating a short piece of music or a sound every time a certain character, idea or feeling comes up. You learn to connect the 2.
How this film uses it
Clint Mansell's score keeps changing Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake themes. They sound clean for the White Swan and electronically distorted for the Black Swan, so you can hear Nina splitting apart in the music.
Where to see it
The Black Swan act. Tchaikovsky's score plays as the sound of Nina's transformation.
Questions
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