Black Swan

Year: 2010

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Direction: Darren Aronofsky

Cast: Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis

Rating: Good

Black Swan is the story of a ballet dancer with a dance troupe performing the 'Black Swan' for the opening season. All through her career she had been an extra. But now that the lead dancer has been removed, she has chances of becoming the new Swan Queen. To be the Swan Queen, she has to dance as both the White and Black Swans with ease. The White Swan comes to her naturally. Black Swan seems to be a bit of trouble as she is a perfectionist and is scared to let loose of herself to become the Black Swan.

All through the movie we see how earnestly she tries to become the Swan Queen, the hardships, revelations, a very dominating mother, hallucinations, and how finally she transforms into the Black Swan on stage.

Portman has done a truely wonderful job. I have no idea of how ballet is and haven't observed one before. But her moves seem perfect and like those of a seasoned dancer.

The movie is shot almost in shades of white, grey, and black. These shades seemed to portray the moods and sadness of Portman's character effectively.

There are some scenes where I had to literally close my eyes fearing what would happen next. One of those is where she pulls out the loose skin from the back of her finger nail. Another one was when she goes to meet the old Swan Queen in hospital. Even the scenes where she quickly nips off her nails with scissors seemed scary to me :-D

All said, I liked the movie. Though there are no bright colors, romance, or action to keep you entertained, the dance sequences, and story does keep you glued on. A good watch.

The Descendants

Year:2011

Genre: Drama

Director: Alexander Payne

Cast: George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, and Amara Miller

Rating: Excellent

The movie revolves around George Clooney (Matt) who is a busy lawyer and is always away from family on work. Though he is the sole trustee of a trust which owns 25,000 acres of pristine land handed over from the ancestors over generations, he believes in living on his own earned money.

Matt's wife, Elizabeth, meets with an accident and enters a comma. Matt has to come down to take care of his wife. The doctors let him know that the comma is permanent and his wife is not going to make it again. He starts taking care of his daughters, Alex and Scottie, 17 and 10 years each. He has no idea of how to handle their unruly and spoilt behaviour. Most of the times, he is very uncomfortable being with the girls. Gradually he starts understanding them and the girls also get used to him.

As the movie moves on we see how the girls become closer to their dad, how they cope with the loss of their mother, and what decision Matt takes regarding the sale of the land he owns.

Though having complexities in itself as an emotional story, the cast seemed wonderful. Everything just fell in place. The actors just have to be praised again and again for portraying the emotions so well. There were some very touchy scenes in the movie - when Matt says final farewell to his wife, the reaction on Scottie's face when the tragic news of her Mom is broken to her, the shot where Alex cried under the water, and so goes on the list.

I would say that I actually loved the movie for the correct proportion of emotions than the story. Not a pinch is more. You just look at their faces and understand what is it that they are going through.

A wonderful movie!