Black Swan Tribute to Bergman

Rating: 10/10 (21 December 2010)

Black Swan's release was painful. I had looked forward to seeing it for months and bang, I had to drive 50 miles to see it. Upon reflection Portman's performance may be among the best of all time. I have seen thousands of films, taught theater and film making for years, and the arch of her performance is unmatched in my memory. She appears as a child, fragile and weak. She appears as an artist at the apex of her career. She is cold. She is sensual. She is fearless. She is terrified. I can think of no actor who has achieved such range.
Darren Aronofsky is an almost great director and achieves more in this effort than he has in the past. The telling and revealing of this story has so many complexities and layers, the film is a great achievement.
But the claustrophobia of the sets, the relentless close shots reminded me of something. The visual literacy was borrowed from somewhere. I had seen these image structures before. I knew this visual language.
I it hit me. Bergman. When I got home I went back to study Bergman's middle period. Persona and Trough a Glass Darkly have great similarities to Black Swan, especially Persona. Aronofsky's visual images are richer compared with the sparse Swede's but the images are consistent. This is not meant to diminish Black Swan in any way. It just seems that I have not seen any reference to this homily and tribute to Bergman in print.