Natalie Portman received her 2nd Oscar nomination and is currently the frontrunner to win the Oscar tomorrow tonight for her performance as Nina Sayers in Black Swan.
The first time I saw Black Swan was over two months ago. I found it to be great, though not perfect. This time, I found it wonderfully directed, but about I don't like. Maybe it's because it's more of a vechicle for Portman who doesn't disappoint.
Nina is a very frigid, nervous person who has been isolated from everyone her entire life, presumably (More on that later). But she has great ambition as a dancer and when she finally gets the part of the Swan Queen, she is thrilled. But her insecurities start to takke toll and the film begins to plunge straight within her disturbed, paranoid mind. Throughout the whole film, the camera is focused on Nina, which is sort of strange, but actually is very effective and this really helps Natalie's performance. It is very subtle work, and so much of Natalie's expressions are facial. She remarkably shows how Nina develops, how happy she is when sge gets the part (A great moment!), how tightly wound she is, how she starts to realize she wants to escape the life she leads with her mother, ect. Natalie Portman is an actress who was terrible in the last two Stars Wars movie (Don't remember much of her in the first one), but here she excels in creating a unique character that goes from being incredibly trapped within herself to getting high on drugs and having sex with men she doesn't know.
The ending of the movie is rather campy and unbelievable for my taste, but Portman plays it with riveting strength and disturbing, yet breathtaking beauty. A fantastic performance which gets
8 comments:
Portman is a limited actress, but she is used quite well here.
I understand why people think this is so one-note, but it IS a very interior performance, despite the emotions she conveys. Her journey is so psychological and nuanced that the change is nearly seamless and unoticable until the end. And I agree, the film does have it's flaws, but the nominations are deserved. I just wish Mila made the cut...
BTW, I think Steinfeld's gonna win this. I'll wait for your predix, but alot of last minute predictions point to her, and I really can see it happening. Leo's lost steam for a few reasons, and seeing Hailee win will be very exciting to see!
Agree completely, totally with Louis. But it's certainly a very good performance.
Louis: i really haven't seen much of her, so I'm not sure, but you're right, here she shined.
Twister: We agree, except on Kunis, I really just didn't like her.
Hmmm, well my predictions will be up soon!
For me this is an easy 5. I would be super-pissed of she lost.
She did cme very close to a five, but in the end, I decided on a 4 and a half. I think the ending sort of effects her a little, but it's a really small complaint.
My third favourite best win for leading actress ever, after Leigh in Streetcar and Taylor in Virginia Woolf. I thought she was just amazing..
Wow, already on your list! Well, I'm not finished with this year yet, so I can't tell you anything about what I would do.
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