When I got home from holiday vacation two weeks ago, there were a pair of boxes waiting on me. Both contained handsome music boxes featuring “Black Swan”‘s Nina Sayers on the lid (and I got two because, as usual this time of year, I’m on multiple mailing lists). Once again, my swag deluge is your gain. Giveaway!
Let’s see, what to do? Hmm……I got it! Darren Aronofsky’s film is very much about duality and the internal struggle of the Yin and the Yang. So contradict yourself for me. Tell me why you think the film deserves to win Best Picture and why you think, perhaps, it doesn’t. Being a true fan is more about balanced consideration than blind acceptance, in my opinion, so give me that Yin and Yang in 50 words or less and the two most well-reasoned entries win.
They’ll make a nice jewelry case for the special schizophrenic someone in your life. Images of the prize after the jump.
[Photos: NBC, Kristopher Tapley]
Comments
68 responses to “CONTEST: Win a ‘Black Swan’ music box”
Black Swan deserves to win because of its frightening editing, overwhelming sound design, beautifully constructed set design and costuming, and heart-pounding psychological ambiguity, but it doesn’t deserve to win because the experience doesn’t say anything about mankind in general, only about the potential of great artists.
I think it’s perfect that you’ve asked for a contradiction because the film deserves Best Picture for the very reason it doesn’t. Black Swan deserves Best Picture because of its bravery. Black Swan wasn’t afraid to be campy and, dare I say, humorous, while also convincing its audience to take it seriously. This very struggle makes scenes where Nina believes herself to be on the verge of turning into the swan, like where her legs morph, both absurd and horrifying. We’re asked as viewers to identify with her struggle, but the very literal way that she deals with her fear of losing herself, makes it difficult, and almost impossible at times, to suspend disbelief. It’s brave, but imperfect… because of its bravery.
Black Swan is near perfect by aesthetically fusing genres to explore an untapped subject of ambition. The film is creatively and technically original from conception to execution, keeping the viewer on edge during and after the film. But near perfect is not perfect. I must concede to TSN.
“Black Swan” is Aronofsky in full bloom, showing absolute command of cinematic vocabulary. There is no boundary too sacred for him, and he doesn’t just push them; he eradicates them. Thus, this isn’t a victory for Aronofsky only; it’s a victory for the craft of filmmaking as we know it.
Black Swan deserves to win because it was the great horror film of the year: the unraveled mother unravels her child. Overlooked line of the film: “Nina, did you see it?”
Black Swan doesn’t deserve to win because its representation of Yin and Yang via sexual liberation was simplified to the point of absurdity, or even worse, naivete. Its psychological aspirations left much to be desired.
A1: Maaan, that movie was superb.
A2: Ehhh. weelll.
A1: What? The acting was great, the direction was superb, it was thrilling, it was captivating. That movie was a ride, Man!
A2: But what is it about?
A1: It’s about… you know… losing yourself. And.. you know…
A2: It’s about nothing.
A1: Well, it’s a movie, not a comment on the economy crisis. That’s what I liked about it.
A2: That’s what I didn’t like about it.
A1: Bad luck for you. *claps in his hands and jumps* What a ride, maaan. Let’s do this again.
Black Swan deserves to win because of how it fuses horror-movie conventions with the tortured life of the artist, and because of the unexpectedly committed lead performance.
Black Swan doesn’t deserve to win because of its single-minded one-dimensionality, which leaves the side characters not as strongly developed as Nina.
I think the film deserves Best Picture for a variety of reasons. It has everything you’d hope a film has. Natalie Portman delivers the female performance of the year in Black Swan, portraying the “Yin and Yang” factor beautifully. In the beginning, she starts out as a young girl, mentally. She lets mommy dress her, she lives in a room designed for a young girl, she is quiet, fearful, sexually repressed, and strives to be perfect. But as she gets in touch with her sexuality, her inner Black Swan pushes away her seemingly exterior White Swan. The whole time, we are victims to her hallucinations, brought upon by her inner conflict, and Portman does this fantastically. Even when she isn’t speaking, her facial expressions are doing the talking. We can see how afraid Nina is; it’s painted on her beautifully gaunt face. The conflict comes to surface when Nina is in her dressing room, and slams “Lily” into the mirror. The Black Swan fights the White Swan, and ultimately, we know that the Black Swan has taken control of Nina, as she declares “it’s my turn”, her eyes are blood red, and we sense the anger in her once childlike voice. She goes off on stage, and entices the audience with her dancing, becoming the Black Swan with each spin, until she pirouettes to perfection. But this proves to be too much for our heroine, and she is ultimately killed by her doing what it took to be perfect: eliminating her White Swan. But as she dies, she knows she has attained perfection. The Yin Yang struggle is over, and it has taken Nina with it.
The film also boasts a haunting score, that will leave you humming Tchaikovsky long after you’ve left the theater. The cinematography is astounding; you feel as if you’re dancing with the dancers as an audience, because the camera is right up there with Nina and the rest of the ballerinas. The sound editing is great as well; the little flutters and laughter you hear when something mischievous is afoot was one of my favorite parts in the movie. The makeup, costumes, art direction, everything is PERFECTION. All falling under Darren Aronofsky’s lovely direction And for that, Black Swan deserves the Oscar for Best Picture. It took the year’s biggest risk, meshing horror, melodrama, and ballet together into one film, and pulled it off exceptionally, better than many had pegged early on in the season when the trailer debuted. And to top it off, it plays well every time you go back to the theater, and you even catch something new along the way (especially in the club scene with all of the subliminal images placed in there). This is why it deserves the Best Picture Oscar. Does that mean it will win? Probably not. But Aronofsky went somewhere no director had really gone to before, (successfully that is, check out it’s box office receipts and nominations) making me hungry for the day when directors take more risks, rather than making Transformers 3 and Pirates 4.
I think Black Swan should win because it’s a great movie, simple as that. If anybody told me that a “thriller psychosexual ballerina” movie would be this good, I would’ve laughed. And Aronosfky is due since Requiem for a Dream. It should win because it’s time for something totally different to win, it’s time for a genre film to win. If it wins, it will be a reward for all these kinds of movies. And again, if months ago someone would’ve told me that this small and artsy movie will be even more successful in the box office that movies like Prince of Persia, The Chronicles of Narnia 3, Sex and the City 2, Unstoppable, Eat Pray Love, Knight and Day or even The Social Network, I would’ve laughed so hard in their faces (I know it hasn’t surpassed some of these movies, but it will, sooner or later)
Maybe it shouldn’t win because I liked Inception and Toy Story 3 more. And Inception is also different.
Dammit, I forgot it was 50 words or less…….. guh
Black Swan deserves to win Best Picture because it gets under your skin, through the brilliant acting, editing, score, cinematography and its a film you think long about after one’s seen it. It shouldn’t win Best Picture because The Social Network is better.
it should win because Natalie Portam gave an amazing perfomance, the best of the year by any actor.
it should NOT win because it’s an amazing movie, but Inception was amazing-er. Inception was so good that it broke the english language rules!
Black Swan deserves to win, because it is a great achievement in just about every field, from the direction and the performances, to the cinematography and the sound design, like every best picture winner should have. It should not win, however, because, honestly, it is not THE best of 2010
From a storytelling point of view, it excels at delivering a narrative void of a formal antagonist. Nina must pursue a self-destruction of her childish ways to transcend into a perfect dancer. Nevertheless, said transformation occasionally borders on silly because of how literally she’s becoming a black swan, anatomically speaking.
The film envelops you into a sensory cinematic experience on every level as the film progresses into a psychological hell with each decibel of sound and each swoop of the camera. That said, the themes are as blunt as a caveman’s hammer constantly hitting you over the head.
Black Swan shows the suicidal commitment of an artist in horror and sensual fulled world. The acting, directing, music, and cinematography are all fresh and exciting. But in the end, the themes almost knock you out, and the movie doesn’t represent something big enough that a Best Picture should represent.
Black Swan deserves to win because it´s about a sexy young ballerina that starts to get lunatic while discovering her sexuality. Good story, quite familiar to most viewers. It doesn´t deserve to win because in the end the movie itself gets more and more lunatic. And making Winona Ryder stab herself with a nail file is …just…wrong.
Black Swan sweeps you away in a dark fantasy so mesmerizing, heartbreaking, and haunting that you can hardly breathe. It, like the performances of both Natalie Portman and Nina, is perfect… but for the screenplay. If Vincent Cassel explained the yin/yang, light/dark thematic schematic one more time, so help me…
Black Swan deserves to win Best Picture because Darren Aronofsky had the forethought to cast a well-loved Hollywood ingenue in her career-defining role, and what’s more included a hot lesbian scene to ensure wowzer box-office.
Black Swan does not deserve to win Best Picture because Darren Aronofsky fucked up and didn’t think that film might not translate very well via screener. No respect for the process.
It deserves to win Best Picture because of its astute message about the importance of the balance between light and dark within us all. Nina lived as the ‘white swan,’ too afraid to ever indulge the ‘black swan’ within her, so it eventually took over and became her entire persona.
Black Swan should win because of it’s technical prowess & superb acting. And the film is one of the most memorable of the year. Those traits alone could validate a win.
But it also shouldn’t win because it’s inherent style & absurdity doesn’t allow for great character depth; something all BP’s probably should inhabit. It isn’t human enough; in a time when we need more humanity than ever.
Either way, great absurdist, fatalist fun.
It made ballet/horror/smut work together, tastefully. But is up against The Social Network.
Black Swan deserves to win because Aronofsky has been making quality films for 12 years and has not been awarded. Black Swan deserves to lose because David Fincher has been making quality films for 18 years and has not been awarded.
Deserves to win because it’s the first horror film to fully harness viewers’ “fear of penetration” to express the emotional violence of the creative process.
Doesn’t deserve to win because it uses non-traditional sexuality to free its heroine, then doesn’t reconcile the idea that lesbianism is a violent, destructive psychosis.
It simply deserves to win because it’s a great movie.
It doesn’t deserve to win because The Social Network is better.
Black Swan deserves Best Picture because of it’s masterey in acting, directing, writing and technical achievement…however…some have called it simply “Showgirls” with ballerinas and it’s technical prowess has masked the facade of it being basically an elegant version of what some revere as the worst movie ever made.
Black Swan should win because it’s a pulpy, soapy terror-treat examining the masochism of beauty and the creative process.
Black Swan should not win because watching it is an at time beautiful but often masochistic examination of a pulpy, soapy terror-treat.
Pro-Win:
It is a elegant but nightmarish deconstruction of the classic psychological horror, but a knowing one which repurposes the motifs and moods in skillfully manic ways. Simply put, it’s the best damn genre film in years.
No-Win:
It’s often silly and always overt. Subtlety isn’t a priority here.
Mother of hell. “AN*** elegant but nightmarish…”
Nice.
“Black Swan” wins because it’s time for a female-focused film instead of the testosterone-driven films that have dominated 9 out of 10 years. “Black Swan” loses because girl-on-girl sex doesn’t make it a female-focused film. It makes it a 15-year-old’s wet dream.
It doesn’t deserve to win because Aronofsky, while deserving to be recognized as a bold, ambitious and creative filmmaker, takes far too many risks that don’t quite work in “Black Swan”. Why it deserves to win? Because years from now, “Black Swan” will be an inevitable classic, considering it has a place at the top of Aronofsky’s already robust and still blossoming body of work. The film also bennefits from its intriguing and interesting perfectionism theme and it’s provacative way of approaching that theme from a storytelling standpoint. Last but not least is Natalie Portman’s surprising (considering some of her previous work) tour-de-force that lift’s the film to a new level of memorability.
It deserves bet pic because it has a nice callback to the horror thriller days of Roman Polanski. I think it would be nice to show that his influence, whether intentional or not, is strong in the eyes of todays great up and comers. plus it would be nice to have another horror-esque film win best pic, especially if Silence of the Lambs and Rebecca don’t do it for you.
It shouldn’t win because, WE GET IT! Her black swan isn’t as good as her white swan.
Black Swan deserves the highest praise for the terrifying, sensual and beautifully fragile leading work of Natalie Portman. She grounds the film in a disturbing reality.
However, less accomplished artists could not have handled the material, and the gritty camera work here makes other contenders seem more polished and accessible.
Black Swan should win Best Picture because it’s a female-driven work by an established, often controversial director, featuring tons of melodrama and a lesbian scene. Oscar bait.
Black Swan should NOT win Best Picture because it’s a female-driven work by an established, often controversial director, featuring tons of melodrama and a lesbian scene. Oscar bait.
I think about 1/10 of these are under 50 words.
Black Swan deserves to win Best Picture for its multilayered infusion of well crafted cinema and campy thrills, containing the technical perfection of the film’s White Swan and the sexiness of its Black Swan. It deserves to lose for its frivolity and little say on the overall human condition.
Black Swan should win best picture of the year because its is the best picture of the year . Simply a beautiful film about a womans attempt to acheive prefection.
It might lose because its scary for people . people who dont appreciate it or are stupid might be scared of it and its prefection.
Black Swan deserves recognition for the hard work and perseverance that Darren and his crew put into making a film about the perception on perfection. In all honesty, we all wish to be perfect, but it is the struggle to obtain it becomes daunting. The character does things that, we as the audience, find inarguably sketchy and daunting but she is trying to find who she really is. By following our actions, we become who we are and Nina followed hers, sure her decisions and thoughts became irrational, but it’s the method we use, within thought and action, to purvey who we are. Nina wanted to become perfect for her role as the Swan Queen and I think through the film, using a voyeurique point of view, we see through her mind and understand that through sheer will we can achieve what we truly want. The content of the film is disturbing, yes, but it’s the general message of perseverance. I think in years to come, this will be a film that a lot of people can look back on this film and feel for the character as the horror of her mirror image points her to her inevitable doom. The film is brilliantly directed and written, with exceptional acting from the players in the film.
The reason why it would lose is the sexuality of the film depicting sex as the evil essence to Nina’s purity. She wants to rebel and it seems like the only true way she can do that is through sexual expression. The voters may not like it enough have it amongst the ranks of such Best Picture winners as Driving Miss Daisy or Terms of Endearment.
BLACK SWAN deserves to win because the Oscars are political and Darren Aronofsky has an incredible body of work to date and is long overdue for some recognition.
BLACK SWAN does not deserve to win because the Oscars are political and David Fincher has an incredible body of work to date and is long overdue for some recognition.
Black Swan deserves to win because, beyond being technically astonishing, it deals with classic themes of duality, repression, and the artistic process in a way that feels fresh and exciting.
It doesn’t deserve to win because those themes are not subtle, not revelatory, and dealt with in the most heavy-handed way possible.
After writing that last part, I am surprised that this is not being considered a more serious contender.
The imperfection of black swan makes it deserving to win. As Nina, Aronofsky craves to be perfect, equally, he fails, its a reflection of her, great technique from the beginning, perfect seduction only in the end. Perfection wouldn’t reflect the struggle of an artist; imperfection makes it unworthy to win.
Bold and brash, chockful of stellar performances, littered with dazzling FX, and conducted with swagger by Aronofsky, Swan proved you didn’t need a big budget and bigger names to be the year’s best. Its greatness, however, was muted by its similarity to cinematic predecessors like The Red Shoes and Repulsion.
Length = 50 words
It should win because there’s a scene where Mila Kunis performs cunninglingus on Natalie Portman.
It shouldn’t win because it was all a sex fantasy.
Black Swan is a masturbatory dream of a film, a fantasy that leaves you touched, satisfied and exhilarated and yet, somehow, still rubs you the wrong way as if your rubbed yourself once too often. The swan is half full.
Aronofksy and Portman pull the audience into the depths of Nina’s psychosis. You won’t find a more frightening foursome of female performances. What ultimately keeps this film from being perfect for the academy is that it’s heart lies under too many layers to fully understand after one stab at it.
Aronofsky*
there goes my credibility. yikes.
The movie should not win, because it doesn’t embody both, the White and the Black Swan.
It’s a perfect black one by being captivating and seducing, but the White Swan is missing, as the movie clearly lacks in substance.
If we were only casting the Black Swan, it should be yours. But we’re not.
It is not easy to answer such a question. Black Swan is a visceral masterpiece. It has an ensemble of performances that push the envelope in a way rarely seen on the screen if ever. This is an art house film that has managed to cross over to the main stream and become part of popular culture. The film is overwhelming and accomplishes more then inception could hope for with a fraction of the budget. It is a love hate relationship, and thus doesnt deserve best picture. As best picture perhaps belongs to the most agreed upon best film, while Black Swan would only win from a passionate group of supporters.
The low-brow answer…
It deserves to win Best Picture because, frankly, it’s actually the best picture of the year.
It doesn’t deserve to win because it doesn’t deserve the stigma of having been the movie that “stole” The Social Network’s BP Oscar.
The fact that The Wrestler did not get a Best Picture nomination obliges me to argue that Black Swan does not deserve to win. The Wrestler is more natural than Black Swan, who’s performances, albeit fantastic, ultimately get drowned out, like in The Fountain, by Aronofsky’s focus on melodramatic metaphor.