8

Guilty feet have got no rhythm

Breaking down ‘Black Swan’, one egg at a time

    

Angela Espinoza

ee

r the better part of 2010, the

Pe surrounding Black Swan
had reached levels that are

often unmatched by the film itself,
case in point, Tron: Legacy. Seeing
as this is a work of Darren Aronofsky
though, there was a fairly low chance
the film would be a disappointment.
While Black Swan was far from
disappointing, it was also something
entirely different from what I was
expecting.

The story revolves around a
young woman named Nina Sayers
(Natalie Portman), a ballerina living
in New York with her mother, Erica
(Barbara Hershey). A local company
has announced plans for a semi-
revised production of Swan Lake, and
its director, Thomas Leroy (Vincent
Cassel), after much consideration, has
his eyes set on Nina to play the lead.
Nina, who is as fragile emotionally
as she is physically, begins to feel
her part weighing down on her when
Lily (Mila Kunis), a fellow dancer,
proves to be something of her equal.
Determined to keep the role hers,
Nina’s world descends into chaos.

Yet, at the same time, the movie
is nothing like that. Much of Black
Swan is multilayered in visual and
symbolic themes, with mirrors and the
concept of when blacks and whites
become grays being played on heavily.
Without spoiling too much, Lily is
indeed Nina’s equivalent as a dancer,
but they are on opposite sides of the
dance floor. Nina perfectly embodies
the white swan in the tale of Swan
Lake: graceful, gentle, and sensitive.
Lily, however, is the absolute black
swan: wild, seductive, and exciting.
This realization does not lead to a
‘revenge’ type thriller, as I have a
feeling some may have expected.
Instead, it attempts to build up a
combining of the two characters in
several awesome ways.

On top of these themes comes the
far less hidden need for perfection.
The character of Beth (Winona Ryder),
an ex-prima ballerina forced into
retirement, becomes another obsession
for Nina. Beth is meant to represent

6

where the desire for perfection can
lead one, and Nina’s unstable mind
follows after it like a lost puppy.
Black Swan can best be described
as a psychological thriller and body
horror. The first of the two genres
is easy to understand, with Nina
crumbling under the pressure she
places upon herself. Body horror
is another genre some may not
be all-to familiar with. Indeed,
even in a beautifully sophisticated
looking piece such as Black Swan,
it reaches fantastic levels of gory
‘transformation’ scenes reminiscent
of various Cronenberg works and,
more recently, District 9. Not only
must I warn the squeamish, but also
regular moviegoers for the occasional
disturbing mind trick or jump scare.
When I initially saw Black Swan,
I wasn’t sure how to feel. It’s indeed
a bleak tale (Aronofsky previously
directed The Wrestler and Requiem
for a Dream), and yet there are many
comedic moments. What’s strange
is these funny scenes are very dark;
something the average internet troll
might find amusing, and it’s all
intentional. Aronofsky is testing his
audience, pushing them to the edge of
just how cruel this world surrounding
Nina can become, and it is both
equally depressing and hilarious. Odds
are you’ve also recently heard about
Portman’s Oscar buzz; I can tell you
right now that not only will she be
nominated, but she’ll probably win.
Black Swan is currently in theatres,
and it honestly requires a second
viewing if you want to catch all the
subtext.

 

 

Great Scott! They’re sending you
back...to the future!

Telltale Games ain’t no chicken

   

By Cody Klyne, Arts Editor

Growing up in the 90s, I was raised
on a solid diet of sugary cereals,
Saturday morning cartoons, 80’s
movies and, perhaps the thing I
cherish most from this time in my
life, adventure games. Games like
Maniac Mansion and Day of the
Tentacle, the Monkey Island series,
and Sam and Max. Games that,
while not always clearly logical,
insert rubber chicken with a pulley
in the middle joke here, managed to
get my ADD-raddled child brain to
slow down and think creatively to
complete an objective.

It’s 2011 and, while my
personality and general attitude
towards life has...evened out
and slowed down some since the
aforementioned heydays of my
childhood, the tradition of the
madcap graphic adventure game
remains alive and intact thanks to
developer/publisher Telltale Games.
Seeing success as a result of their
treatment, and revival of, the Sam
and Max franchise back in 2006 was
only the beginning. Having since
gone on to release a series of episodic
adventure games based on Wallace
and Gromit, Homestar Runner, and
Monkey Island, their most recent
foray in the genre will, over the
course of the months to come, take
gamers back to the golden days of
traveling through time with Marty
McFly and Doc Brown. Back to the
Future is, well, back.

At the top of their game, and
realizing what’s at stake, Telltale
spared no expense when it came to
stacking the deck in their favour.
Bringing back Christopher Lloyd
as the voice of the ever eccentric
Doctor Emmet Brown was a pivotal
step in the right direction towards
making the game feel like Back to
the Future should. But what about
Marty? Unlike Chris Lloyd, who’s

always just kind of been “old,”
Michael J. Fox is hardly the same
plucky, charismatic young-man that
he was back in the 1980’s. Enter
AJ LoCascio. Failed actor turned
successful McFly sound-alike, if you
didn’t know it wasn’t Teen Wolf era
Michael J, you’d swear that it was.
Sticking to their patented
monthly release formula, episode
one of the planned five part series
fittingly titled ‘It’s About Time’ picks
up just six months after where the
third movie left off. With Doc Brown
gone, and with the bank eyeing the
contents of his estate to square off his
debts, and seeing nothing but dollar
signs, Marty’s forced to cope with
the idea that his time traveling friend
may actually be gone...forever? Of
course not! Without directly spoiling
the story, which is a heck of a lot of
fun and loosely captures the essence
of what made the original trilogy so
great, I’ll leave it at saying that Doc
is in trouble and it’s up to you, Marty
McFly, to go to his rescue.
Employing traditional point
and click graphic adventure game
mechanics, combining and using
items with objects and NPCs in the
environment, players will be forced
to solve puzzles, like how to retrieve
the Doc’s book of notes from Biff,
and overcome challenges to see
Marty to the end and rescue Emmet.
As a lifelong fan of the movies,
and an avid adventure gamer, I’d
be hard-pressed to find any reason
why anyone with even a passing
interest in either shouldn’t jump at
the chance to experience the game
for themselves. With this first chapter
clocking in at three hours, and with
four more chapters to go, 2011 is
shaping up to be the year of the time-
travelling DeLorean.
5/5