Darren Aronofsky • talk about "Black Swan"
Original Address: http://screencrave.com/2010-12-01/interview-with-darren-aronofsky-for-black- swan/
*Translation: Mi Li
** As the film reviews cannot post the picture, students who need to see the picture please click on the original to watch it~:)
Dec 01, 2010-By Justine Ciarrocchi
Q: Some people say that you have planned this movie for almost ten years, and You chose Natalie (Natalie Portman) to play the role of Nina from the beginning.
Darren Aronofsky (hereafter referred to as Darren): Yes, I have become a fan of Natalie's "This Killer Is Not So Cold". Her agent is an old friend in my university, so to some extent I am a bit insider. We met at the Howard Johnson's Hotel in Times Square. That cup of coffee is really terrible! We talked about my initial thoughts on the film. At that time, I had a concept of the entire film frame. So we talked a little and started making the movie, but this movie is really difficult, because it is very challenging to go deep into the world of ballet. Many times you say, "Hey, I want to make a movie in your circle", all the doors are opened for you, and you can shoot as you want. But the world of ballet does not welcome us so much. So it took us a long time to gather all the necessary materials and information together. Natalie has always said over the years, "I am getting older and will become unsuitable for acting as a dancer. You'd better hurry up." So I finally finished the script of the film a year ago.
Q: Do you regard "Black Swan" as a sister chapter of "Wrestling King"?
Darren: I don't think it's any different-everyone has a different view of movies. If someone really thinks that way, then they are related. I have always said that whether you are a fifty-year-old wrestler or a 20-year-old ambitious ballerina, things are the same. If they face their true self and show their innermost side, the audience will naturally move them. This is one of the functions of movies.
Q: This film highlights the director's influence on the actors-the dancers obey him wholeheartedly without any doubt. Vincent (Vincent Castle) skillfully manipulates his actors to achieve the effect he wants. As a director, can you connect you guys?
Darren: I hope I can have such a powerful manipulative power like the characters in this movie, but I think I am really a bit too straightforward. I think I have scared away many superstars. Natalie Portman is the first superstar in my career as a director. Others were asking, "How do you want to shoot? How long? How much does it cost?" Then they left. So I lost a lot of movie stars along the way. I think a director with more control will be like this, "Oh, it won't be difficult. Join in, it will be fun!" I think I'm too frank and straightforward.
Q: So is it difficult to find an actor who is willing to "adapt" to you? I think a movie like this requires a lot of physical/psychological pressure.
Darren: All the actors are very professional. I have worked with some non-professional actors, which is completely useless. This is a movie performance, and when the camera starts to work, you must be fully engaged. What I mean is, if this is a scene with intense conflict, you have to keep the enthusiasm for the performance between shooting. Everyone can do it, but when you say "stop"-the shooting stops. Even when "beginning" was said, there was still a camera, lights, and extras. It is impossible for us to believe that these do not exist. This is why they are so good-they can make you believe that these cameras are not there, but when you stop, someone adjusts your microphone and someone touches up your makeup. I don’t know—I’m not trying to scare non-professional actors. In fact, I just want to scare away non-professional actors! Because it's really a headache. Like, please, what are you doing? It doesn't look like it at all! Oh, you are really sad. Get back to your car. See you in an hour.
Q: All your films contain very special film techniques.
Darren: I think it has something to do with the story to be told in the movie. This is very interesting, many times you only noticed it when it was published because you only started to notice it at that time. Panoramic photography and handheld photography are used in "Wrestling King", and it is a big adventure to apply them to this ballet movie-because I have never seen a suspense film using this kind of handheld camera position, I also I don't know if this works. We thought, "Fuck him, just do it. No one has ever done it before." I really like those moving shots.
Q: You also try to deviate from the traditional genre film.
Darren: I'm really not a certain type of person. This is my best attempt at genre films. I really don’t know, or I really don’t know how to make genre films. I don’t think the audience needs these exact types anymore. The audience is already very knowledgeable and the film is interesting, so it's OK. This is what I have always wanted to achieve, and it is also different from the needs of audiences who have been bombarded by various media. A very, very different experience. So this is what we are after-a movie that makes you interesting and memorable.
Q: Finally, some people say that "Black Swan" is likely to hurt the "dance world" because it shows the cruel reality on the road to success?
Darren: I have read the report. This is unfortunate because the feedback we get from other dancers is very different. I think a lot of dancers put their heart down and finally have a ballet movie to treat ballet as a serious art form rather than just a place where love stories happen. If you appreciate these ballets seriously, you will find many of them very dark and "gothic", such as "Sleeping Beauty", "Romeo and Juliet" and of course "Swan Lake". This movie could have been called "Swan Lake", which is really like an adaptation, but it does show the challenges and darkness that a ballet dancer needs to face. Of course, it also shows the otherworldly art and its ultimate beauty.
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