Hannah and Her Sisters

Many families have that perfect one that the rest of the family balances around.  Here, that is Hannah (Mia Farrow), the successful actress turned happy stay-at-home mom.  When her husband, Elliot (Michael Caine) falls in love with her sister, Lee (Barbara Hershey), things begin to shift.  The relationship between Elliot and Lee is awkward and must be kept hidden, neither one can stand the thought of hurting Hannah, who has been nothing but gracious.  Then there is Mickey (Woody Allen), Hannah’s hypochondriac ex husband, who finds himself confronting some big fears after a medical scare.  Eventually, he starts seeing Hannah’s other sister, Holly (Dianne Wiest), who is trying to become an actress or writer or whatever she decides to focus on at the moment.  All these affairs, dramas and big thoughts rise and fall over two years between Thanksgivings.

The film is broken into chapters where one character narrates at times with their inner thoughts.  We understand each character’s motivations and feelings more this way, since much of what they are thinking are things that cannot be said.  With Elliot, we hear his love for Lee.  With Lee, she wonders why Elliot flirts with her and if his marriage is alright.  With Mickey, his philosophical wonders and worries on life and death.

Caine gives his first Oscar winning performance as Elliot.  He portrays Elliot’s love for Lee somewhere too earnest to be considered simple lust.  The way he can fun for blocks just to “accidentally” run into Lee is endearing.  When his biggest move is to give her books and specific poems to read, it’s charming in an awkward way.  Unfortunately, Caine decided not to attend the Academy Awards that year, afraid that he would just lose a fourth time.  Also, those giant glasses and wavy hair of the mid eighties were not his best look.

Most interesting to me was Woody Allen’s character, Mickey, who does some of the most honest and entertaining soul searching I’ve ever seen on film.  After his brain tumor scare, he begins to see things half empty and realizes that one day he will be in a emanate death situation.  He begins seeking out different religious and philosophical ideas, even telling his Jewish parents that he’s considering converting to Catholicism.  Through Mickey’s worrying and pondering of the unknown, we get a good little parable about simply enjoying life and letting yourself be part of the experience.  Explaining these ideas during a Marx Brother’s film is a real stroke of genius.

The story is not set up like most films, but more like a novel exploring these people in little episodes of their lives as they intermingle.  Though there are some great laughs, it is not a comedy.  There is too much unsatisfied longing and heavy pondering about the uncertainties in life for that.  Nonetheless, Hannah and Her Sisters is a satisfying film with passionate, fleshed out characters that we can relate to, hurt with and celebrate their little moments in life.  When Elliot confesses his love for Lee, we are shocked alongside Lee, but feel proud of Elliot.  How liberating it must be to just go for it, we become a little jealous of his unabashed bravery.  With only one guaranteed go around in this life, might as well take some chances on happiness.

“For all my education, accomplishments and so-called wisdom, I can’t fathom my own heart.”

Black Swan

Back in January, I was that twenty-something woman seeing Black Swan alone.  I never carry a purse, that day I had on a superhero t-shirt and my grey converse shoes.  The eight other people in the theater, all women, may have made some assumptions, especially if they knew some of the gory details of the plot already.  Two rows ahead of me were four women approaching their golden years.  Two of them giggled to each other at Nina’s first attempt to…follow her director’s advice.  Later, during Nina’s more intense bedroom experience, those four silhouettes didn’t dare move a muscle.  After the credits had cut off and the lights had turned on, one of them seemed startled, noticing me as I was putting on my jacket.  I guess I can be a movie theater ninja.  Politely acknowledging, we asked each other’s opinions on the film.  All five of us agreed that it was daring, creepy, beautiful and that Natalie Portman was going to win an Oscar.

Nina (Portman) is a young, talented ballerina in a New York dance company who has just been selected for the lead in Swan Lake.  It’s the role of a lifetime and with the honor comes the pressure to embody both innocence and sensuality.

Her director, Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel), knows the Black Swan half of the ballet will be a challenge for Nina, she is already a perfect fit for the White Swan.  From his unprofessional advances he senses a dark side deep within that Nina must channel to effectively dance the Black Swan. Nina’s mother, Erica (Barbara Hershey), is an ex ballerina who treats her grown daughter like a child.  There is a pressure in her home life for Nina to preserve her innocent, childlike self.  Her room (with no lock) looks like it was decorated by a nanny for an eight year old.  We can sense that Nina fears her mother and hates the rule she poses over her life, yet she remains powerless.

When Nina believes that a new dancer, Lily (Mila Kunis), is trying to steal her role, the pressure starts to drive Nina mad.  Her mind manifests disturbing images and we are not always sure what is real and what is only in Nina’s mind.  The rivalry turns into a twisted friendship that transforms Nina and helps her find her inner Black Swan.

Natalie Portman gives one of the best performances we have seen from any actor in years.  First off, there’s the physical stress of ballet, which she does with natural poise and beautiful grace.  Then there’s the meek and shy side of Nina that is being pulled between seeking her mother’s approval and being a perfect ballet dancer.  Portman portrays these characteristics of Nina masterfully.  Those weak smiles, the shy eyes, the way she looks so fragile says more than cheap dialogue ever could.  Finally there is the transformation, the dark side that Nina lets free.  To bring such a great contrast of character within the same character is not easily done, but Portman makes it feel like a natural unleashing without losing anything distinctly Nina within the performance.

When recommending Black Swan to others, I realize that some more conservative viewers have a comfort threshold about sexuality that this film ventures far beyond.  Thing is, while these scenes are quite daring, they are also essential fuel in making this film a startling, creepy psychological thriller.  This is not your typical Hollywood fantasy for teenage boys, but a much darker idea deeply rooted in feminism and the pressures young women can face.  The issues here are not too far fetched, our society loves to build young women up, give them the unreasonable expectation to be both pure and passionate, then watch them crash and burn the under pressure.

I could gush for hours about Black Swan.  The movie full of ballet, beauty, blood, madness all rolled into strong feminist ideas was amazing.  It’s the only film in my adult life that made me instinctively cover my eyes at a few moments.  It gave me that extremely creepy feeling of paranoia that I only get after watching Psycho alone in the dark.  I checked the trunk of my car before I left the theater parking lot, came home and poured myself a strong drink.  I love it when a movie does these things to me.

“I just want to be perfect.”

If The Academy is looking to award the most daring and artful film, the Oscar for Best Picture will go to Black Swan.