Most Hollywood films are White Swan movies, or White Elephant movies, to use the critic Manny Farber’s term. “Black Swan” is a Black Swan movie. It’s crazy. It’s unpredictable. It’s a blast from the id. You aren’t quite sure how to take it. It’s in the vein of Buñuel and Ken Russell and David Lynch and Paul Verhoeven and David Cronenberg. Is any of it supposed to be taken literally? Is it camp? Is it trying to be camp? Does Darren Aronofsky really mean anything he’s saying to us or showing us? What the fuck just happened? Why is Winona Ryder stabbing herself in the face? Are the feathers figurative or real? More! More! More films like this! I would rather see 10 more movies as “imperfect” as “Black Swan” than sit through “The King’s Speech” again, and if I had my way, this movie would win best picture, if only to smack the entire industry across the face and say, “Look at this wild, personal movie. Marvel at it. It makes no rational sense. It is expressionist nightmare madness. It came straight from the filmmaker’s gut. It’s as mysterious and personal as a dream. And it made a ton of money! Audiences responded! Not everything has to be conventional. Take some risks, for God’s sake!
