Transcendence within gritty realism

Rating: 9/10 (20 December 2010)

Being a former athlete, I related to this film on so many levels. Aronofsky really understands the consuming and often unglamorous sacrifice that athletes make. In this case, it consumes her sanity and explores some of the deepest archetypes in our minds. The film felt very similar to The Wrestler, but achieved a level of beauty that was stunning. The exploration of human sexuality was also ultra-realistic and was brilliantly interwoven with her central goal. Really loved the ending too. What a beautiful tragedy. There was only one period (albeit brief) where I was pulled out of the story ever so slightly. It seemed as though the breakdown happened slightly fast, but film time is of course different than real time. Overall, 9 out of 10. Beautiful film.