[Movie Review] Black Swan vs. The Fighter

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This post is long overdue. I watched both movies back in December but never had the time to actually sit down and write the review. Given that the Oscar season is coming up and both movies are very likely to be nominated for a slew of awards, I would hate to delay this review any further.

The reason why I decided to review the two movies together is not just because both movies are critically acclaimed or because I watched them in the same week, but because the two movie share so many cinematic similarities. Both movies try to explore the issue of individual growth (although one is more traumatic, while the other is slightly more uplifting). Both movies present a simple idea (loss of innocence vs. familial struggles) against the backdrop of a dark and complex world (that of ballerinas vs. that of boxers). Both movies have FANTASTIC cast who gave some of the most authentic and haunting performances this year (Natalie Portman, Barbara Hershey, Christian Bale, Melissa Leo and Amy Adams). But that is also where the similarities between the two movies end. While both movies are unquestionably amazing, The Fighter is a greater cinematic achievement than Black Swan. In fact, Black Swan pales in comparison to The Fighter.

Black Swan is like a dish made with the best ingredients, but when put together, their flavors clash and the dish becomes an unbearable failure. The ballerina world proves too complex for the writers to fully grasp, while Portman’s performance proves too overwhelming for the director to comfortably contain. It is a classic example of a movie that crumbles under its own weight. There were ample opportunities in the movie where a thought could have been planted in the audience’s mind or a string could have been struck in the audience’s heart. But such opportunities were never seized by the writers or the director, and the movie turned out to be devoid of either profound erudition or genuine emotion. Marketed as a psychological thriller, the movie finds itself uncomfortably stuck between a cheesy horror flick and a cerebral art film, thanks to the unnecessary use of sex and gore that helps to produce a constant adrenaline rush in the audience, which, while exhilarating, is always ephemeral and ultimately meaningless.

In comparison, The Fighter is a dish made with carefully selected ingredients, which are not only excellent on their own but when put together, produce a whole that is – pardon the cliché – greater than the sum of its parts. It’s a theatrical explosion, a cinematic gestalt. The actors and actresses, the director and the writers, together breathe life into the movie. The interactions between the characters are organic. The direction is skilled but subtle. The writing is cerebral but also heart-felt. While everybody tries too hard in Black Swan, everything seems effortless in The Fighter. The audience can’t help being taken on an emotional roller-coster ride with the cast, going from depressing lows to celebratory highs.

The excellence and success of a movie should be gauged not solely on what happens inside the theater, but also what happens outside, not solely on what happens during the movie, but also what happens afterwards. A good movie arouses, but a great movie lingers. Unfortunately for Black Swan, the arousing performance never left that cold and cloudy lake.

I give Black Swan

I give The Fighter