Black Swan

While looking over Darren Aronofsky's work, there is always a certain psychodrama element at work be it the remarkable 'Requiem for a Dream' or the underrated 'The Fountain'. He seems to be at his best whilst dealing with the bleak side of human nature. Certainly not Kubrick-esque but arguably the closest modern cinema can get to him. And that is in itself an achievement of staggeringly epic proportions.

In 'Black Swan', Aronofsky does not disappoint us. A film about the ballet, rather more the ballerinas, it is a look at two proverbial white and black characters. Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) and Lily (Mila Kunis) play two ballet dancers in a production of 'Swan Lake' helmed by Thomas Leroy (Vince Cassel).The girls are polar opposites in the extreme with Nina's dainty ways and inherent goodness contrasting with the brash and almost libertine Lily. The concept of 'Swan Lake' where there is a black swan (evil) and a white swan (good) is central to the story. Nina is chosen to play the Swan, yet she finds it hard to display an evil side. Enter Lily, who is the archetypal Black Swan. There isn't much of a story line, just a metamorphosis of Nina's character into one resembling that of Lily's or rather White Swan to Black Swan.

Nina's character is formulaic, almost. She is as pure as a flower, a girl who's probably never been with a man. Looked after by her mother, Erica (Barbara Hershey) who was a dancer herself but put all her energies into making her daughter what she could not be. Her journey or rather metamorphosis is visceral in the extreme. Everything she does somehow filters back to her sexual repression. It could be argued that sex is but one of the fundamental choices that humans make, or rather even have the freedom to make. And when this choice isn't even an option it just adds to the mental drudgery of a too-pure-to-be-true experience. Nina's mental problems are quite possibly just an offshoot of all her desires being repressed or told off. While it is not clear that being good is her defining trait, it is more likely her mother's raising of her impregnated her against being a wee bit bad.

It is here that Aronofsky displays a control of his characters so intimate that one cannot help but marvel at his sheer brilliance. The major gripe with most people who prefer books over movies is that emotions cannot be transmitted to the screen whereas within a book, you can be inside the character's head. This is one of those rare films where you can actually enter Nina's mind space and observe how Lily causes it to disintegrate amidst chaos. Lily's character is a fascinating journey into another extreme. She is liberated and at ease with her own sexuality, a modern woman aware of the power she commands just by being her. Her conversations with Nina are indeed particularly interesting as she introduces her to a world unlike her fairyland. This different world cannot help but seduce Nina. If there's one constant in humankind from the Adam & Eve days, it is the overwhelming temptation of being bad. Nina’s mental battles to resist change are handled well and offer an insightful portrait of the mental tussle that she undergoes.

Ballet as a medium is well chosen. Simply because, it is inherently transcendental in nature. The dancers transcend their current selves in a way, to reach the graceful heights and play characters expressed only through their bodies. Natalie Portman gives a cracking performance and her perfection is scarcely believable at times. Lily is at complete ease and you feel that the role was tailor made for Mila Kunis. The ballet performances are brilliant and especially the actors who've learnt ballet just for their roles are scintillating.Indeed when Nina does her Black Swan act,we break into heartfelt applause.

The strange thing about this film was that there was no normal 'grey' character; all the characters were extremes in their own ways from the darkness of Lily and Thomas Leroy to the light of Nina and her mother. What this leads to is removal of any empathy with the audience, as there is simply no connect with any of the characters. So, while you feel horrified at what Nina is going through, you never really feel anything more than just pity at her thrill-less existence. Black Swan is an exploration into the foundations of human character and a very insightful look at why we are what we are. One wonders though, if only Nina had more sex then she probably wouldn't have had to go through all this.

Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind

Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind is a film that could be broadly classified as a sci-fi romance. Scripted by the legendary Jason Kaufman whose scripting credits include Being John Malkovich, Synedoche and Adaptation and helmed by Michael Gondry, it is certainly a film that is 'different' and very refreshingly so.

The movie is about the life and mind of one Joel Barish(Jim Carrey).He is shy, restrained and gentle. His girlfriend, Clementine(Kate Winslet) on the other hand is everything that he is not, vivacious, foul mouthed and brash. They break up and Joel learns that she has had the memory of him removed from her brain at 'Lacuna Inc' a firm/clinic that removes people's desired memories.  Shocked, he decides to do the same. All his memories of her are being wiped out, when he realizes he doesn't want it to happen. He takes the memory of her and hides in umpteen places such as his childhood, even so that her memory isn't lost to him.

The whole thing turns into a race through Joel's mind to try and protect his memories of Clem, as he calls her. The transitions from memory to memory are a bit lacking in production quality, but the subject matter is such that it simply does not matter. It is about a romance that is almost feral in its intensity.

While the film won an Oscar for Best Cinematography, technical perfection is simply not what this film is about. Jason Kaufman's script is probably the biggest star amidst a cast of actors such as Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet and Kirsten Dunst. The actors chip in with performances that are delightfully understated with their characterizations being secondary to the script's musing about love and separation.

The endearing thing here is its ability to make us think. We've all wished we could forget something from our lives. And so we begin to think, should we be grateful for our memories or get rid of them if they're too painful? It isn't an easy question to answer. Clementine does because she's impulsive, Joel wants to abort because he'd rather have all those memories of the one woman who actually did love him.

The movie is summed up when in his memory, he leaves a house simply because of Clem's brashness and now when it is his last memory, she asks him to make up a goodbye at least and instead of walking away, he comes close and tells her he loves her. The house she is in is crumbling as with the rest of that memory, but we want him to hold on. We want him to have a final goodbye. Maybe as much as he does. That is where this movie wins, in getting you to emote with Joel and Clem who love each other, but have differences simply on account of being so vastly different from each other.

Jim Carrey does a fantastic job as the shy, insecure man who has loved and lost. His face betrays the emotions of a despondent man, one with sadness etched into every line. The few moments he is happy we see the difference in his smile,  that tells how unfamiliar it is for him to smile. Kate Winslet, Kirsten Dunst and the rest of the cast are equally good and we can understand and appreciate each ones travails.

The quote that gives the film its title is oddly fitting and comes from Alexander Pope, poet extraordinaire, forever in the shadow of Tennyson, Hardy and the like

How happy is the blameless vestal's lot!

The world forgetting, by the world forgot.

Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!

Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd

While an article could be devoted to what it means, I’ll be brief. An innocent pure woman is happy only because she has prayed for and received the gift of forgetting everything she's been concerned about. Ignorance is bliss, and such is the case for this woman.

'Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind' refers to the fact that a mind unclouded or shrouded in memories is eternally bright, like sunshine.

This isn't a great movie; not even a very well made one but reaches far deeper than most blockbusters with all special effects and no heart. As I listen to the background score as Joel travels through his Clem-less memories, the twinge of the guitar may be the twinge of his own sadness. The film put simply, has this human element. It isn't just a script or a collection of actors, it's us, people we've known and choices we've made, lives we've led...it is about all of that. And heart-breakingly beautiful...

Rango (2011)

Rango is a delightful animation movie for mature moviegoers which acts as a homage to western cinema in a smart, creative and amusing manner. It has so much going for it- vibrant colorful animation, sapid characters and a beautiful Wild West theme with a Mexican flavor coupled with shrewd humor.

Rango (Johnny Depp) is a thespian chameleon who gets landed into the Southwest desert highway after falling from his terrarium in a car accident. In the burning environment, he finds a run-over armadillo in his quest for Spirit of The West, who informs him about the town of Dirt. On the way, he befriends a female lizard- Beans (Isla Fisher) who takes him to Dirt, a forgotten town inhabited mostly by reptiles and rodents.

Rango tries to blend in among the town folk, using bravado and improvisation by faking himself as a rootin’-tootin’ gunslinger.  After accidentally killing the hawk preying on Dirt, he is promoted to Sheriff by its narcissistic mayor, an old turtle, John (Ned Beatty).  Things begin to get dirty in Dirt when the water in their bank is stolen by moles. Rango dutifully organizes a posse and tracks the robbers to their hideout. They fight the robber’s clan over the stolen water bottle in a ‘Ride of the Valkyrie’-chase through the canyon before discovering the bottle to be empty. Despite the robbers asserting they had already found it empty, the posse brings them to town for trial.

Rango suspects the Mayor on his water-controlling notions to which the Mayor reacts by summoning Rattlesnake Jake (Bill Nighy) who humiliates Rango in front of the town and makes him admit that he is no more than a fake and a coward. He walks away ashamed and doubting his very identity. Then he meets the Spirit of The West, as a cowboy-with-no-name who drives his golf cart . Now, personally I wanted Clint Eastwood to do this voice-over  but nonetheless, Timothy Olyphant lives up to the expectations by brilliantly inspiring Rango telling him “No man can walk out on his own story”.

In his quest assisted by mystical yuccas, Rango learns about the water-supply scenario which the mayor had been manipulating. With the aid of his friends, Rango returns to town with a plan to call out Jake for a duel with a single bullet and turns the water-valve to flood the town with water. In the climax, Dirt is renamed to Mud and Rango is recognized as their Hero.

The movie indeed has innumerable cues to old time favorites like Chinatown, The Shakiest Gun in The West, Blazing Saddles and of course, the dogfight scene inspired by Star Wars. The animation is mind-blowing and so precise that it would make you wonder at the marvel of 2-D animation. Hans Zimmer’s music is wonderful, though some of it has been derived from the western flavor viz. Once upon a time in The West. The duel scenes are unforgettable and the chorus-providing Mariachi owls that appear throughout the movie are very enjoyable. Actor voice-overs are class-apart and Johnny Depp pulls it off very well in a suave style. The director, Gore Verbinsky of Pirates of the Caribbean fame, has done a remarkable job as his debut in animation field.

There is no denying the lure of this Oscar-winning movie. The message conveyed is simple: ‘How high can you aim when your whole purpose in life is to blend in ?’