If you’ve seen director Darren Aronofsky’s latest work, then you‘re no doubt searching for a Black Swan movie interpretation. That‘s because the entire film is a brilliant and frequently dreamlike look at the price one pays for artistic excellence. The central plot concerns a ballerina (Natalie Portman) who tries to live up to expectations in the dual role of the White Swan and Black Swan during a production of Swan Lake. But it’s a lot more complex than it sounds, and many viewers have been seen wandering the theatre parking lot in a confused stupor.
But your worries are at an end, as a Black Swan movie explanation will be coming your way in just a few short minutes. I’ll also throw in a Black Swan movie analysis at no extra charge. But no matter how many opinions I deliver, just keep in mind that the only person with the real answers is Darren Aronofsky. And like many artists who deliver brilliantly mind-bending works, he’s keeping quiet on the subject.
The Origin of Black Swan
Darren Aronofsky first became fascinated with ballet when his sister performed at New York’s High School of Performing Arts. Years later, he hired a group of screenwriters to re-work a script about understudies and the idea of being haunted by a double. Then he dabbled with a project about a wrestler who falls in love with a ballerina. Eventually, this tale would be split into The Wrestler and subsequently Black Swan.
Aronofsky considers the two films to be companion pieces, saying “Wrestling some consider the lowest art–if they would even call it art–and ballet some people consider the highest art. But what was amazing to me was how similar the performers in both of these worlds are. They both make incredible use of their bodies to express themselves.”
He first mentioned the idea to Natalie Portman in 2000, and she was keen to expand her resume of diverse acting roles. While the project wouldn’t begin for another nine years, Portman has stated that this gave her plenty of time to mull the role over and get it straight in her head. That’s probably a good thing, as many who’ve seen the film will be wondering for decades without a little help from a Black Swan movie interpretation.
The Plot of Black Swan
Before I can provide you with a decent Black Swan movie analysis, we first need to take a look at the overall plot and meaning of the film. This section is filled with spoilers, so you might consider skipping this part if you‘ve yet to see the film.
Black Swan is set in New York City, where a respected ballet company is making plans to put on a production of Swan Lake. Aging ballet superstar Beth Macintyre (Winona Ryder) has been kicked to the curb, and company director Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) is looking for some fresh meat to fill the dual lead role of the White Swan and the Black Swan. The frontrunner is Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman), a beautiful and talented ballerina who Leroy would love to take to bed. Another dancer competing for the part is Lily (Mila Kunis), an exotic beauty who’s more in touch with her sensuality than Nina.
As everyone auditions and frets about the upcoming ballet, the audience gets a glimpse of Nina’s life at home. She lives with her controlling mother (Barbara Hershey), herself a failed dancer. She hopes Nina will surpass her limited success, so she pushes the young woman at every turn.
Leroy is in a bit of a pickle, as he wants to cast Nina (and subsequently have sex with her), but he doesn’t know if she has what it takes to embody the Black Swan role. As the pair share a kiss, Nina surprises him by biting his lip. Shocked, and more than a little turned on, he decides to go ahead and award her the part. But just in case, he casts the naturally sensual Lily as her understudy.
Nina develops an unsightly rash on her shoulder, and at the same time begins to be plagued by bizarre and graphically brutal visions. Things aren’t going any better at work, as her inhibitions are holding her back, and her reluctance to sleep with Thomas are making him increasingly frustrated. And like a rotten cherry on top of her life sundae, she becomes convinced that Lily is scheming behind her back to take the lead role.
Nina is more than a little surprised when Lily shows up at her door, inviting her out for dinner and dancing. But they wind up having a great time thanks to drugs and alcohol, and soon they’re getting in some lesbian action on Nina’s bed. But when the next morning comes, Lily is nowhere to be found, and Nina finds that she’s later for rehearsal.
When she arrives at the theatre, she’s shocked to find Lily dancing the part of the Swan Queen. Hurt and betrayed, she confronts Lily and asks why she didn’t wake her. Lily plays dumb, saying that she went home the previous night with a guy from the club. Lily mocks Nina’s sexual attraction to her.
The rash on Nina’s shoulder is getting worse, and picking at the wound reveals several black feathers imbedded inside. Her mother’s painting are also talking to her, and the horrific visions continue. It becomes too much for Nina to take, and she falls over, knocking herself out in the process.
Her mother discovers her the next morning, making the decision to call the company and tell them that her daughter won’t be there for opening night. That’s when Nina becomes violent, savagely lashing out at her parent in an effort to make the show on time. Once backstage at the theatre, she begins to prepare in earnest.
The first act is a disaster. Nina’s partner drops her while they dance, and she returns backstage to find Lily waiting in her dressing room, dressed as the Black Swan. Nina attacks her, breaking a mirror and stabbing Lily with one of the shards. Hiding the corpse of her rival, Nina returns to the stage for the second act and gives a brilliant performance. As she receives a standing ovation, Nina imagines that black feathers have sprouted from her body.
When she returns to her dressing room to prepare for the final act, she finds Lily waiting to congratulate her. As it turns out, Nina did not stab Lily. Noticing the broken mirror, Nina realizes that her fevered brain caused her to stab herself. But she heads to the stage anyway, dancing with both passion and abandon as her life fades away. She tries to leap to her death in an emulation of the Swan Queen, and the members of the concerned cast and crew surround her. Proud of her performance, Nina triumphantly comments as she does, “I felt it. Perfect. I was perfect.”
Black Swan Movie Interpretation
Now for the Black Swan movie analysis that you’ve been waiting patiently for:
Nina is nuts. There, I said it. To be more specific, she’s suffering from a mental condition known as schizophrenia. Without treatment, this disorder can be a real bitch, resulting in hallucinations, paranoid delusions, and disorganized thinking and speech.
The schizophrenia is brought on by the extreme pressure Nina is under, both from her mother, her dance director, and herself. She desires to be perfect, and this unattainable desire is slowly eating away at the walls of her psyche. It also doesn’t help that she’s struggling with confused sexual feelings, from the advances of her boss to the strong attraction to her chief rival.
While the film winds its way towards a grand conclusion, you should be able to chart a definite increase in Nina’s hallucinations. These start small in the beginning phase of the movie, but opening night brings her paranoia and obsession into full, bloody bloom.
As she obsesses about being able to pull off the role of the Black Swan, her personality shifts to one that’s more sensuous, unpredictable, and violent. After she believes herself to have killed Lily, she fully transforms into the Black Swan, with plenty of delusional feathers to prove it.
And if you need further proof that she’s losing her mind, just check out the increasingly deep scratches on her shoulder. Her mother recognizes this pattern (“You are scratching again”), which is part of the reason she tries to keep Nina confined to her home. But Nina’s art is more important than her health, and her desire to excel drives her to risk everything in an effort to achieve artistic perfection. The same can be witnessed at the conclusion of The Wrestler, as Mickey Rourke’s Randy “The Ram” Robinson leaps from the turnbuckles in a final display of artistic integrity and passion.
That wraps up our Black Swan movie interpretation. I hope you’ve found it instructive, and now maybe you’ll stop bothering your friends and family for an explanation. To read an explanation of the symbolism in 2011′s weird film The Tree of Life, read this “The Tree of Life movie interpretation“. Life By the way, in case anyone out there was wondering, Brad Pitt and Edward Norton are the same person in Fight Club, and Keyser Soze from The Usual Suspects is actually Verbal Kint (Kevin Spacey). Have a nice day.
In my opinion, it’s a film about binary opposites. Nina has two sides, a good side (the white swan) and a darker side (the black swan). The character of Lily is symbolic for and represents Nina’s “black swan” alter ego hence we see Lily transform into an evil version of Nina in a number of scenes (in the lesbian scene and the stabbing scene). Lily’s black swan wings tattoo also further reinforces her depiction as the “black swan” of the film. As may have been mentioned, this does raise suspicion as to whether Lily is simply a figment of Nina’s imagination.
The mirror is also used as a device for highlighting the existence of Nina’s alter ego. Throughout the film, we often see Nina’s reflection (on the train, in the ballet studio, in the bathroom etc). Towards the end of the film, the reflections of Nina begin to act differently from the real world Nina, signifying the rise of her “black swan” alter ego which will ultimately consume her.
The end of the film depicts Nina hallucinating her own transformation into a black swan which the audience has seen evidence of throughout the film (the feathers, the bending of the legs, the joining of the toes, the stretching of the neck etc). This demonstrates the dominance of Nina’s “black swan” personality and overcome by this, her “white swan” personality accepts death in the final scene.
That’s because I wrote both of them. Admittedly, not a very good job in either case.
You caught me. I can also offer our readers great deals on some beachfront Arizona property if anyone is interested.
I wrote that one, too, but thanks for keeping an eye out.
If you want to read something worth your while, go to roger eberts website. do not…i repeat, do not read this article.
hunk-a-junk
Thanks for the warning, Frank. Too bad it’s buried at #104 of the comments. I do, however, agree that Roger Ebert’s website is of the highest quality.
Some great interpretations from a lot of people on here. They really have me thinking a lot more about the different layers of themes.
I would agree with an earlier post in thinking that Ninas mother isn’t real, but a figment of her imagination. Nina is the perfect ‘ white swan’, but deep down wants to let loose and be the black. I think she created the image of her mother as a barrier to stop her from going between the two. Her mother is controlling, doesn’t want Lilly in the house, wants access to her private room and created endless paintings of the same theme. This though in itself throws up further complications. If her mother isn’t real, does Lilly really call to the house to ask Nina to come out and have fun? It’s the one argument i have against the theory of her being imagined. Did everyone else notice near the start of the movie, when Nina comes home and searches the different rooms for her mother? When she is walking out of the room with the paintings, the eyes in just one of the pictures moves. This may symbolise the beginning of her transformation from white to black, with the full transformation being portrayed by the moving of evry painting in the latter stages.
A lot more to say, but would like to watch it again. Great movie
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Everyone has a good and an evil side. The evil side nearly overcame her to play the black swan. However she overcame the evil side and STILL managed to depict the black swan passionately. It cost her mental exhaustion and perhaps a breakdown.. that is what the others see at the end… not blood.
It is a triumph of good over evil. Perfection.
Oh btw.. Lily and Nina are obviously the black and white shadows of the same person. The white part is victorious. But at a traumatic, mental cost.
Swan lake is just a metaphor for the struggle of a sexually repressed (perhaps abused) young woman. She is not a ballerina. There is no ballet.
everyones pointing out how nina imagined the sex scene between her and lily and that she never came home with her (which i fully agree with) but has anyone else thought that maybe lily never came to see lily at all in the first place? why would nina’s mum shut the door on lily like that? she would have no idea who she was. maybe their really was no one at the door and it was just knocked by some kids or something and nina just imagined that lily was there to create the scenario of them going out. This would also explain why nina’s mum was talking to her while she was talking to lily and asking what she was doing. plus on the dancing scene in the club ive seen that super slowed down, and there’s lots of shots of nina dancing by herself and with a double of herself (aswell as lots of other clever hidden things that you dont see at full speed)
just a thought?
Just so we’re clear, Lily is 100% without a doubt a real person. She is introduced to everyone by Leroy, AND more importantly, Nina says “we need to talk!!” and the other dancer makes an “ooo!” comment and Lily responds “shut up!”
I agree with the idea that Nina begins to hallucinate about Lily, since Lily is the perfect Black Swan. Lily did not get into the cab with Nina, and the rest of the events that evening were hallucinations.
Nina’s mom might have sexually abused her. I think there are grounds for that argument, as seen above.
This is the weakest attempt at a film interpretation I have ever seen. If this helps you understand the film check the back of your head for a pitchfork. I mean really! How do you interpret a film like easy rider, it’s two dudes on a bike having fun seeing America?
I thought this was a really good movie, but I think they went a little too far to blur the line between reality and metaphor, reality and psychology, etc. While I invite a little abstraction, I think they eventually went a little too far. I liked the part early on, where Nina accidentally tears a layer of skin off her finger (washing her hands over a sink), and is shocked, but looks again and her finger is fine. I see that as a metamorphasis she is going through as becomes stronger (more capable of the part). Eventually, however, the movie just gets a little wierd and hard to understand. Just my opinion. And I think in real life, they might have just had Nina play the white swan and Lily play the black swan, but then it wouldn’t have been much of a movie!
Fantastic and magic visualisation of the The Great Work. The Alchemy of being or becoming an Artist.
Artistic creation should be seen as a magical operation; the work itself is a talisman capable of invoking and concentrating occult and cosmic energies….
The film can also be seen as the Methaphore for all the stages of suffering and rewards when developing your spiritual and inner self..
Well b/t everyone’s explanation everything is almost covered but did no one find mila kunis’ name “Lilly” to be important enough to mention? Do your history and you’ll see that the origin of the name Lilly is the Succubus who is responsible for all temtation and wickedness… just a thought.
i realize that this movie is artistic mostly because of the ending. i get it, i really do! but i got to say my opinion, which is that i REALLY wish they hadnt left me hanging like that! They should make a movie about the explanations. you know, what was reaL AND WHAT WAS HALLUCINATIONS. maybe what mental illnes Nina had? Or even if she died because of the wound at the end. thay should NOT hae ended the film with the explanation or make a sequal( which, thank god they didnt), but instead make the public available to a 20 minute explanation. In my opinion they are too many mysteries that will probABLY never be solved.
I am on the wrong website. The only one making sense is Drrotren.
According to a story on ABC When they interviewed real psychiatrists (http://abcnews.go.com/m/story?id=12436873) Nina doesn’t fit the criteria for schizophrenia. Psychosis does not schizophrenia make.
I think this film is a bit of “The Emperors New Clothes”!!!! I
dont want to have to google for an explanation to a film I’ve
just watched. I should be able to figure this out for myself.
Far too arty-farty – although the acting with excellent. Over
rated in my opinion.
you ruined the ending of the wrestler. thanks bud :/
I couldn’t agree more, Angela.
Glad I could help, Jenny. If you need the ending of any more movies ruined, be sure to let me know.
I do not agree with you. According to psychiatrists’ statements, Nina is not schizophrenic, but she definitely is developing some form of psychosis. Schizophrenia does not work that way, as she is highly in control of herself right until the end of the movie. If she were suffering from schizophrenia, she wouldn’t be so obsessive. Hallucinations are symptoms of pshychosis (and schizophrenia, for that sake), but they do not necessarily prevent you from functioning in real life – something Nina does most parts of the movie. What is hallucinations and what is real is something no one but Aranofsky can know for certain, but it is indeed interesting to discuss.
I myself LOVED the movie, and everything about it. Otherwise, I fully agree with Rory and Drrotre. And Gabby… What kind of taste in movies do you really have? Does it HAVE to be that easy, one to one, not open for interpretation? Some people like to think for themselves, and continuing the movie with an “explanatory happy endig”-sort of thing would ruin the entire experience! If you don’t like movies like this, then Black Swan isn’t for you. Just sayn’.
As in Aranofsky’s previous films, the director delight himself with his leading characters giving them no escape from their sufferings. Remember the old woman in Requiem for a Dream, the couple and the black guy in the same movie, and Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler: everything goes wrong and everyone is against them.
I agree with E. Lily was not real. I believe that Nina suffered from mother-daughter sexual abuse and because of the exteme trauma and stress developed dissociative identity disorder and Lily was an alter.
This debate is great. Is the movie that simple. I don’t think so. Let me throw in one more mind bender for all of you to think about… What if Nina was actually Beth? What if Beth had Nina hallucinations?? Right before Nina dies the Director calls her “little princess” the name only for Beth. Maybe Swan Lake was actually Beth’s last performance, and the accident was just an imagination allowing the Nina hallucination to live on in full force.
Nina is the result of an obsession with striving towards perfection in a career without having a balanced life first: social, spiritual, physical, intellectual. Her entire life and priorities were out of perspective. She was a social retard. Her mother should of recognized this and engaged her in other activities and friends instead of living out her fantacies thru her. This happened to Van Gogh, Beethovan, self-inflicted gross hysteria. She was too fragile to handle the real world and it’s demands. The director should of backed off rather than attempt to change her into something she was not meant to be by provoking her and not challenging her decently. I don’t like their world. Beautiful, brilliant movie.
@kathy January 21, 2011 at 8:46 am: Bravo, Almost perfect ;]
Thanks Frank.
I think Nina is OCD, whenever she takes her makeup and things out of her bag she aligns them perfectly on the desk. The ways she strives for perfection reiterates this. And then that OCD transforms into psychosis. Im no doctor though.
Someone had a good point about her mother abusing her. It makes sense as she seems “imprisoned” at home at the age of 28, with a hole bunch of teddy’s in a single bed. Also, how her mum just rips off her robe to look at the scratching and she covers up all defensively . Her mum calls out “are you ready for me” when she is in bed. Her mother is definitely nuts.
As for if she is dead or not is a tough one because she definitely broke the mirror but i also noticed at one stage she wasn’t bleeding but couldn’t be sure. and the blood didn’t saturate her clothes until she was laying down. Somebody surely would of noticed any blood on her white costume.
Someone else’s interpretation that her life is “Swan Lake” is on the money.
In conclusion though, Leonardo Dicaprio actually planted this thought in her head about 6 layers of dreams down and Nina is actually trapped in limbo.
A lot of people have been saying that Nina’s mother is not real, but they forgot one part where the mother called in to tell them that Nina is sick and Nina walks in the building with everyone saying, “she’s supposed to be sick” and more similar comments like that. If the mother isn’t real, she wouldn’t be able to call in and everyone would be wondering why she isn’t there rather than knowing that she’s sick.
So… I think Nina’s mother is real after all.
The answer is simple. Forget the whole thing of ….is she crazy or not…and look at the obvious. The whole point of the film to express the dedication one gives when getting into character and overreaching perfection. That simple. Lily was real and Nina simply embraced the dark side that she felt Lily embodied. The sex scene was her becoming one with her own dark side in the deepest darkest way she can….hence the sexual abuse suggestiveness.
Ok maybe im missing something everyone is so easy to say schizophrenic what about the more obvious answer of anorexia. I mean no cake or food, throws up always and hallucinations. You guys try not eating for a whole day…see if you start going alittle crazy.
Nina isn’t schizophrenic, she’s suffering from psychosis. schizophrenics usually hear voices, and a lot of them don’t change into different personalities. even when they do have different personalities they would be ones that came to be earlier in her life. other personalities are used as a way of coping with trauma so becoming the black swan was not a new personality, it was a hallucination in a psychotic state.
the link below explains it better
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Movies/black-swan-psychiatrists-diagnose-natalie-portmans-portrayal-psychosis/story?id=12436873
also, anorexia doesn’t cause all of that to happen. its totally possible that she was anorexic because a lot of dancers do have problems, but it doesn’t explain what’s happening to her. anorexia could be exasperating the symptoms she showed, but it was definitely not the root cause.
i’m honestly not trying to be snobby and know-it-all-ish and i know it might seem that way because of my posts, but i have dealt with people with those problems, and i personally do have an eating disorder.
* i meant exacerbate. i feel dumb.
Okay, I haven’t finished reading all of the comments yet, but I will get to them shortly. I’m posting this question now because I have a diploma to write on Monday, and I’m considering using this as my device. However, I have a few questions that I need input on if I am to write on Black Swan effectively.
. There is Lily’s sanctuary, which is her bedroom. This is where she spends most of her time; this is also a room where the light is always on. Then, the room filled with pictures could depict her insanity. I’m not sure what the actual images represent, but I do know that the eyes in the pictures moving, and eventually crying, is an obvious indicator of growing insanity.
First: Is Nina’s mother real? If I do write on Black Swan for my diploma, I would be compelled to interpret Nina’s mother as a figment of her imagination; something that Nina created in her mind in order to keep her pure, innocent, and perfect. Nina’s mother tucks her in, cuts her nails when she tries to scratch her back (release the black swan), helps her with her dance, etc, etc. Her mother never actually has any interaction with anyone but Nina, except for an arguable instance in one scene. This scene is the reason that I would consider not pursuing the idea that Nina’s mother is imaginative. This scene is the one where Lily comes over to ask Nina out. While they are conversing, Nina’s mother continually pesters Nina to come back in, and Lily eventually says something along the lines of “Wow, isn’t she a trip.” So, I’m wondering if anyone has any input on this scene, and whether or not it does in fact prove that Nina’s mother is real.
Second: Could Nina’s apartment be a representation of her mind, and the crossing over from white swan to black swan? This theory flows much more smoothly if Nina’s mother is imaginative, so fingers crossed that she is
Third: I am fairly confident that Lily is real, but I’m not at all against the interpretation that she isn’t. I’ve read comments that say that no one ever actually speaks directly to Lily, but this isn’t exactly true. During the scene where Lily walks in late, she does converse with Thomas, which leads me to believe that this theory is bunk. Aside from this scene however, I can definitely see why a theory like this would arise.
Fourth: When Nina see’s her reflection disobeying her, this obviously represents her flourishing insanity. However, is it really as simple as that, or is there a deeper meaning to these reflections?
Fifth: When Nina’s mother confronts Nina about scratching her back, she uses the word “again”, implying that Nina had scratched her back before. I’m very curious what you all make of this. I’m not looking for an interpretation for Nina scratching her back; I already have that figured out. What I’m curious about is that Nina had been doing this before. Whether or not the mother is real is irrelevant to this, as either way, Nina had apparently been trying to release the black swan in her past. Very curious about this.
Alright, I’m sure I’ll be back with more later, but I look forward to your theories. If you are very knowledgable on Black Swan and would like to reach me directly, please do not hesitate in contacting me at elangton123123@gmail.com.
Thank-you all very much for taking the time to read this!
I have not read all of the comments yet so I am sorry if this has been previously stated. I am all for the theory that Lily never showed up at Nina’s house period, she was talking to herself, all that stuff. However I think everyone’s overlooking a major factor or quite a few for that matter… and that is while they were out, Lily ordered food, flirted with the waitstaff, ordered herself and Nina some drinks at the bar, slipped Nina a pill in her drink and introduced her to two gentlemen at the bar. I think where the hallucination begins is when Nina leaves the club in a cab.
Uh, I read through your initial ‘Black Swan’ plot section, and in the kindest way, I seriously recommend you watch the film a few more times and/or do some extra research.
There are quite a few actual mistakes (as opposed to ‘opinions’) that you’ve stated in your plot description, but I’ll just point out one major one for the sake of brevity. (If you DO want all that I found when reading it, i’m happy to list the rest)
what you wrote: …”Lily plays dumb, saying that she went home the previous night with a guy from the club. Lily mocks Nina’s sexual attraction to her.”
This is NOT true- it WAS shown just prior to that scene, that her bedroom door STILL had the ‘bar’ she would put against it! (so her mother could not intrude/get into her bedroom when she wanted privacy) She shows confusion as to why it’s STILL blocking her door though lily is now ‘gone’. You ALSO see that her mother has fallen asleep on the sofa opposite the door, obviously having kept a vigil/kept an eye on the door in the hopes Nina will come back out. The mother’s behaviour throughout the film and the argument she had when Nina came home drunk and stoned the night before leaves no doubt that she WOULD have gone into Nina’s bedroom if the door had been open and not ‘jammed with the bar’ before she eventually fell asleep. And even if some few viewers don’t think she would have, do they ALSO think that if Lily HAD actually been there that the mother would still be crashed out on the sofa and would only wake up the instant NINA finally comes out? I don’t think so.
When Nina does confront Lily when she arrives late, she REALIZES finally that Lily was NEVER THERE WITH HER IN THE HOUSE and this, of course, makes her even more confused! (the viewer realizes it’s another of her ‘delusions’ that occur throughout the film.
Lily DOES tease her about the accusation saying “Oh my god? Did you have a WET DREAM about me?? and then “Was I good?”, and though we DO know it’s a delusion, Lily’s character was deliberately MEANT to ‘confuse’ viewers as to whether she is truly ‘innocent’ of any ill dealings with Nina, or whether she is actually manipulating her and trying to steal the role, etc. (and this IS directly from comments made by Daronofsky about the role of Lily btw.)
Anyway, whether this is put in the comment section here or not, I hope it at least gives you some info you may have overlooked.
Cheers
…I agree with the commenters who noticed that neither the person writing this article, nor the majority of the commenters even ACCIDENTALLY understood this film.
This fact would terribly depress me if I thought it represented an accurate ‘slice’ of opinions of the TOTAL majority everywhere who ever saw the film. Indeed, if that were to prove true I’d probably shove handfuls of glass into my own abdomen DELIBERATELY.
I can only hope it does not and I pray to the gods this article (and most of the comments after) are a bunch of primary school children having some fun.
I agree with you megsch..also I think she split from lily after dancing on Ecxstacy because we suddenly see nina passionately making out with a guy in a stall in the mens room and stops and leaves the club. Too coincidental that lily goes right after and hops in a cab with her? I didnt take Lily for the type to wait for Nina while she goes into the mens room with a random guy!? ALSO- No one has touched on when Nina came to the hospital the second time to return her things that nina had stolen from beth. Did she really stab herself? If not, why did she drop the bloody knife (or whatever it was) in the elevator when we saw beth stabbing herself as she left.. or did Nina actually stab her ? or did she just drop the stolen stuff off with the note? Or did Beth just kill herself?
“This fact would terribly depress me if I thought it represented an accurate ‘slice’ of opinions of the TOTAL majority everywhere who ever saw the film. Indeed, if that were to prove true I’d probably shove handfuls of glass into my own abdomen DELIBERATELY.”
Holly, this does represent an accurate slice of opinions. Now put your money where your mouth is.
Holly are you a film student?
Well this article was every bit of disappointing! Duh the girl is crazy! I thought I was about to find out something that wasnt as obvious
actually if you watch the end of the credits carefully youll see Beth casted as the dying swan and Ninas mother as the Queen if you can explain this id be very happy thanks!
What about the relationship between Nina and Mother, I saw lots of incest suggestive scenes, especially the one in which mother suddenly rises up in front of Nina and says “Take of your shirt” while dark horror music plays.
First of all, it was not Schizophrenia, but a form of a mental breakdown with a bit of psychosis? Yes. You all forgot to point out a rather very, and obvious point: Do you ever see her eat? When she did, it was frosting from her Mom’s finger. Anyone who knows anything about how our brains and body’s work, can figure out that her hallucinations are channeled out by her brain from not eating well. We can go on and get a little bit more technical about how in order for that to happen, she would have also shown signs of being weak, fatigued, etc etc.. But that’s where her psychosis comes in, and gives her the drive, ambition, and extreme obsessiveness that she has towards her ‘art’ and dancing. Aside from that, you can see in one scene where she tries to throw up, and doesn’t deliver a single thing. I think she was suffering a form of psychosis, a mix of mental breakdown, and obsessive compulsive disorder. Great movie though.
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