Black Swan

Who would have thought that a movie about ballet could be so scary? Forget about the fact that I’m naturally a jittery person, ‘Black Swan’ had me squirming in my seat and watching through the slits of the fingers that covered my eyes. The story is about meek and mild-mannered Nina, a back-up dancer in a large ballet company who suffers from a dangerous combination of shyness, ambition and psychotic delusions. Nina’s big break comes when she is cast as the Queen Swan in the company’s production of ‘Swan Lake’; and while she is well-suited to the role of the white swan, she must overcome her timidity to play the sensuous and aggressive black swan.

The production’s rehearsals, and the small cast of characters who surround the heroine are the backdrops for Nina’s escalating psychosis. Thomas Leroy is the stereotypically misogynist company director, who seduces Nina and takes advantage of her apprehension in order to get her to ‘loosen up’; Erica Sayers is the overbearing, controlling, jealous mother whose attitude oscillates between joy for her daughter’s success and resentment that it came at such a price to her own burgeoning dance career; Lily is the free-spirited new recruit whose confidence and precarious nature both entice and threaten Nina; and finally there is Beth, the veteran dancer whose position Nina has unwittingly usurped, and who the young dancer desperately wishes to become. These characters, and the protagonist’s increasingly unstable mindset, push Nina further into an abyss of fatigue-inducing training, paranoia, and finally self-destructive psychosis as she struggles to become the ‘perfect’ ballerina.

Nina’s snowballing descent into insanity is underscored by a bleak, yet crisp, palette of grey and monochrome tutus and dance studios, a beautifully dramatic orchestral soundtrack, some very creepy and spine-tingling special effects, and camera work which spins with the dizzying swiftness and grace of the passionate dancer and her confused, ambitious psyche. The film reaches its crescendo at the opening night of the production, where Nina’s shyness, ambition, fatigue and hallucinations all dramatically collide in a tragic conclusion.

In this film, director Darren Aronofsky captures, with chilling realism, Nina’s psychotic unravelling. As does Natalie Portman, whose performance just this week earned her the Golden Globe for best actress. Separately, the individual elements of this film – music, special effects, acting, cinematography – were excellent, and really added to the texture, tension and thrill of watching it. But together, they did not quite mesh completely. While it was visually and musically stunning, there was something slightly off about the story that I can’t quite articulate. Perhaps it was Nina’s unexplained delusions, the two-dimensionality of characters like the company director, or the haphazardly-developed (non)relationship between Nina and Lily. Either way, I’m not entirely sure that I like the movie. I certainly don’t hate it, but it was missing a crucial something that would have made me like it. But still it is worth a viewing, not for its realistic insight into the cut-throat world of ballerinas, but for its disturbing depiction of the deterioration of an already-weak mind. [Image from http://www.washingtontimes.com/]

Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer's Life 1990 - 2005

The MCA’s exhibition of works by world-renowned American photographer Annie Leibovitz is spectacular! Covering 15 years of the photographer’s career and personal life, the exhibition offers fleeting glimpses into the convoluted world of celebrities and intimate snapshots of Leibovitz’s life and that of her family and friends.

The list of celebrities photographed reads like the guest list for Oscars night. Johnny Depp and Kate Moss in a lazy embrace on a hotel bed; Brad Pitt engulfed by a backdrop and questionable wardrobe of warm hues; Nicole Kidman, polished and regal, amongst the spotlights of a concert hall; THAT photograph of Demi Moore, and next to it, a lesser known one of the bare-breasted actress with then-husband Bruce Willis’ lovingly-protective hands secured around her pregnant belly. The rapport and comfort between the photographer and her celebrity subjects is apparent, with many of the photographs capturing that essence of humanness that is often lost in the two-dimensionality of the celebrity world and the multitudes of images that capture this world. Leibovitz’s photographs show us that these are merely people, with their own complexities and intricacies, which only her lens can capture. Most haunting, but beautiful, is a monochromatic photograph of a lone Mic Jagger, sitting on a simple white bed, looking forlorn yet stoic. Here, the legendary rock star is just a man, no different to the men of Leibovitz’s family, whose photographs line the same walls as that of the celebrities.

Indeed, amongst the famous faces are those of Leibovitz’s family, in black and white photographs that chronicle the everyday-ness of their lives; at the beach, in the kitchen, in bed, the backyard. Author and literary theorist Susan Sontag is also heavily represented, as the exhibition includes photographs of Leibovitz’s ailing friend. Sontag’s fatal experience with cancer is recorded in detail; from her promising, yet frail, recovery, to her unfortunate relapse and deterioration, and finally to her final moments on an ambulance stretcher, Leibovitz shows her dedication to her friend as she is there every step of the way, capturing the moments that are dear to them both.

My favourite photograph in the exhibition is of dancer Bill T. Jones at Sun Studios in 1993. Here, Leibovitz shows why she is the master of the monochrome in a beautifully double-framed image of the back of the naked dancer in a delicate mid-jump. His dark skin is a crisp contrast to the backdrop of the white studio wall, which in turn is backgrounded by the grounds and buildings of a dilapidated industrial site. So many elements of dance, grace, texture, colour and contradictions are at work in this stunning, liberating, almost cathartic image.

The exhibition ends with two walls of chronologically-ordered prints, one personal, the other professional, which have been transplanted from Leibovitz’s home studio. Containing everyone from the Obamas and the Clintons (who appear on the ‘personal’ wall), to the photographer’s three young daughters, these walls are a fitting conclusion to the immensity and overwhelming density of the body of work one has just journeyed through (I didn’t even get to mention the large-scale landscape photographs which dwarf the very room they hang in). They capture the spirit, professionalism, longevity, and innovativeness of Leibovitz’s still-strong career. And with the birth of the photographer’s first child in 2001, the death of her dear friend Susan Sontag in 2004, and the arrival of her twins in 2005, this exhibition perhaps marks the end of one stellar phase of her life and the beginning of a new, but no less epic, journey. I am anticipating the photographic results of that in another 15 years. [Image from http://www.dailygloss.com/]

Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Kanye West’s much anticipated and now celebrated new album actually lives up to the hype. ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’ is an extremely well-written and well-produced body of work. Each song has its own individual ‘oomph’ and uniqueness, with distinctly original beats, clever and beautifully-composed lyrics and most importantly, each song tells a powerful story about Kanye’s life, career, controversies, dreams, nightmares, fantasies, and views on the world. Whereas other artists’ albums contain a handful of good songs and a whole bunch of fillers, making it easy to pick out the good ones, Kanye’s entire record is exceptional, making it almost impossible to ‘choose’ a favourite. This is due in part to the very meticulous production, care, and obvious, and no doubt obsessive, detail that is apparent in each individual song. This album really is a purely creative product of Kanye’s rich and ‘beautiful, dark, twisted fantasy’ world.

Of course the artist’s trademark, and notorious, narcissism pervades the entire record. After a one-year hiatus, the lead track from the album ‘Power’ explains that “I just needed time alone, with my own thoughts/Got treasures in my mind but couldn’t open up my own vault”, and then confidently and aggressively announces that “I was the obamanation of Obama’s nation.”

The record’s zenith is ‘Runaway’, a nine-minute peice which begins with a few simple notes on the piano. Here, Kanye delves into his complex and contradictory relationships and attitudes towards women, and then raises a toast to the ‘douchebags, scumbags, assholes, and jerkoffs’, all labels which he has been given at one time or another. The song ends in an epic guitar riff and then abruptly cuts to ‘Hell of a Life’ which begins with, ‘I think I just fell in love with a porn star.’

Indeed, nothing in this record is subtle or half-hearted. From its controversial original cover (pictured here), to the belligerently poetic honesty of the lyrics, to the tribal undertones of the drums, and finally to the intensely vibrant short film which accompanies the album. All these elements combine to declare to the world that Kanye West is back and better than ever. The film, which Kanye directed, features ex-Victoria’s Secret model Selita E. Banks as an otherworldly phoenix who must die in order to rise and return to her planet, a shallow metaphor for the artist’s fleetingly-stalled career. Nevertheless, and despite Kanye’s terrible acting (he should stick to his day job), it is a visual masterpiece. The most memorable scene contains a group of black-tutued ballerinas performing a beautifully-choreographed dance to the climactic riff of the ‘Runaway’ song against the backdrop of vibrantly green wooden doors. Artistically directed by Italian artist Vanessa Beecroft, the whole film, with its beautiful natural scenery, is shot in ultra colour to accentuate every hue to an artificial and epically-photoshopped palette, thus creating that ‘dark, twisted fantasy’ aura.

Having given an extremely positive review, I am now going to take the unpopular stance and declare that this album is not as good as ‘Heartbreak and 808s’, Kanye West’s previous album. To me, this album lacked the emotional intensity of the last, which was so fraught with pain, passion, angst and outright grittiness. However, both records are, without a doubt, great in their own right, with this latest one further cementing Kanye West’s position as one of the great musicians of this era. [Image from http://kanyewest.com/]