Black Swan (2010)

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A ballet dancer wins the lead in "Swan Lake" and is perfect for the role of the delicate White Swan 

- Princess Odette - but slowly loses her mind as she becomes more and more like Odile, the Black Swan.

Starring Natalie PortmanVincent Cassel, andMila Kunis,Black Swan is a 2010 American psychological thriller film directed by Darren Aronofsky.

Storyline
        Nina (Portman) is a ballerina in a New York City ballet company whose life, like all those in her profession, is completely consumed with dance. She lives with her obsessive former ballerina mother Erica (Hershey) who exerts a suffocating control over her. When artistic director Thomas Leroy (Cassel) decides to replace prima ballerina Beth MacIntyre (Ryder) for the opening production of their new season, Swan Lake, Nina is his first choice. But Nina has competition: a new dancer, Lily (Kunis), who impresses Leroy as well. Swan Lake requires a dancer who can play both the White Swan with innocence and grace, and the Black Swan, who represents guile and sensuality. Nina fits the White Swan role perfectly but Lily is the personification of the Black Swan. As the two young dancers expand their rivalry into a twisted friendship, Nina begins to get more in touch with her dark side - a recklessness that threatens to destroy her. 

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Did You Know?

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*Natalie Portman lost 20 pounds to look more like a ballerina.

*The budget on this film was so tight that when star Natalie Portman had a rib dislocated during a lift and she called the producer for help. She was told that the budget was so low they had no medic. She stated that if they needed to cut items from the budget they could take away her trailer, instead of the medic. The next day her trailer was gone.

*Natalie Portman drew on her ballet training from ages 4-13 for the role. She resumed ballet training a year before principal filming began. She trained with Mary Helen Bowers (formerly of the New York City Ballet) and the regimen included fifteen minutes of toe exercises (for her to be on point for dance scenes), substantial muscle toning, and swimming a mile a day. However, Portman has acknowledged having dance doubles (unnamed) in some interviews. Professional ballerinas Sarah Lane and Kimberly Prosa were the dance doubles for Natalie Portman. The special effects team also digitally placed Natalie Portman's head on Sarah Lane's body in several dance scenes. Lane did most of the heavy tricks, while Kimberly Prosa did the rest of the dance shots that were needed. According to both Prosa and Lane in separate interviews, Portman's dance scenes in full body shots were actually the dance doubles. Prosa and Lane also said Portman was filmed dancing from the waist up, showing only face and arms, while the rest of her body dancing were that of the dance doubles.

*Natalie Portman hit her head during the filming of one scene, sustaining a bad concussion that required an MRI.

*Due to a dislocated rib injury, Natalie Portman had to receive physical therapy during filming. Portman is undergoing a real therapy session in one scene with Michelle Rodriguez, an actual physical therapist brought in by choreographer Benjamin Millepied. DirectorDarren Aronofsky told Portman to stay in character during the appointment so he could film and include the scene into the final cut.


*Both Mila Kunis and Natalie Portman have praised choreographer Benjamin Millepied for altering the choreography enough to allow them to do most of their own dancing and to help them appear like professionals.

*There are 139 dance shots in the film. Out of the 139, 111 are untouched shots of Natalie Portman and the remaining 28 are her dance double, Sarah Lane. Of the shots in which Lane is featured, 26 of the 28 are wide shots and rarely appear on screen longer than one second. The two remaining shots required digital face replacement so the audience sees Portman's face instead of Lane's.


*Vincent Cassel has compared his character to George Balanchine, who co-founded New York City Ballet. The actor said Balanchine was "a control freak, a true artist using sexuality to direct his dancers".


Black Swan | 2010.
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