Following up on Sasha’s mention earlier today about the Venice premiere of Black Swan, via USA Today we have the first photos from Darren Aronofsky’s psychological thriller set in the world of New York City ballet.
The dark tale with psychological twists stars Natalie Portman as Nina, a technically brilliant ballerina whose life takes some strange turns after being picked as the lead in a New York City production of Swan Lake. Pressures mount as her overbearing mother (Barbara Hershey) pushes her to succeed and her manipulative dance master (Vincent Cassel) commands her to be more seductive and loose in her performance.
Complicating matters is the arrival of Lily (Mila Kunis), a sultry dancer who exhibits all the innate ease and sexuality that Nina lacks. Nina begins to fixate on the newcomer as the two forge an unusual relationship.
Also starring Vincent Cassel, Barbara Hershey and Winona Ryder, Black Swan may be one of the more sparkly gems in Fox Searchlight’s tiara this awards season. The last time an Aronofsky film opened on the Lido, in 2008, he took home the Golden Lion for The Wrestler in 2008. If nothing else, with Matthew Libatique behind the camera, it’s sure to look marvelous. More photos after the cut.
“The cast and crew of Black Swan are both excited and humbled by the festival’s invitation. It is an honor to walk the great red carpet on the Lido and we are excited to premier our film to the wonderful audiences in Venice,” said Aronofsky.
“What an honor and privilege it is to be selected as the opening night film,” said Fox Searchlight Presidents Stephen Gilula and Nancy Utley. “We could not have asked for a better launch for Darren and ‘Black Swan’ than the Venice International Film Festival.”
Drawing an awkward connection, USA Today attempts to stitch together shiny vinyl tights and tutus:
Similar to the sports-underdog drama starring Mickey Rourke as a washed-up warrior whose years in the ring take their toll, the psychological thriller due in late fall features Natalie Portman as a prima ballerina on the brink of a breakdown after winning the lead in “Swan Lake.”
okaaay, let’s hope they go easy with the staple gun. And let’s leave the rest of the connections to Aronofsky:
He stresses that his gothic tale with hints of Hitchcock is several grand jettes away from such ballet-themed soap operas as 1977’s The Turning Point. “Maybe only The Red Shoes had a realistic point of view of this unique world,” Aronofsky says of the 1948 classic. “It captured the human drama and the sacrifice.”
He became interested in ballet when his sister studied dance at the Manhattan arts school featured in Fame. The chance to make a film on the subject came after he hired several writers to rework a screenplay, The Understudy, that originally dealt with off-Broadway actors. “It had a little bit of All About Eve in it, a little bit of Polanski’s The Tenant and a little bit of Dostoevsky’s The Double.”
He has seen countless productions of Swan Lake. “The original script had this idea of being haunted by a double ‚Äî and Swan Lake is about a double, a White Swan and a Black Swan ‚Äî so the connections started to come alive.”
