Black Swan - S14 E112

It’s time to swan-dive into the sixth episode of our Identity season. This week, Dan has chosen to subject us to the dark, grainy and deeply uncomfortable world of Darren Aronofsky’s 2010 psychodrama, Black Swan. After surviving Requiem for a Dream during our season of films about drugs, we’re back for a second helping of Aronofsky-flavoured self-destruction.

We’re talking Natalie Portman in possibly, her career-best role as Nina, a ballerina on a quest for artistic perfection that makes the guy from Whiplash look like a hobbyist. We’ve got Mila Kunis as the seductive Lily, Vincent Cassel playing his creepy Frenchman archetype, Barbara Hershey putting the mother in smother and Winona Ryder who thought she was signing up for a Face/Off sequel.

What to expect from this episode:

• Dan explains why he chose a ballet movie for a season about identity despite usually only watching films about disenfranchised men.
• A deep dive into why Darren Aronofsky is the undisputed king of making his protagonists suffer for their art.
• Making connections with Aronofsky’s filmography between self-destruction, loss of innocence and duality.
• Sarah shares her genuine physical trauma regarding the nail-clipping scene.
• We discuss the keratin connection between fingernails and feathers that makes the body horror so much worse.
• Why The Wrestler is the perfect companion piece to Black Swan.
• We explore the fan theory that Nina’s mother is actually a predator, not just an overbearing show mum.
• A look at the colour theory and what they represent for the protagonist.

This season has eight episodes, concluding April 27th

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