There are 139 dance shots in the film—111 are Natalie Portman untouched. Twenty-eight are her dance double Sarah Lane. If you do the math, that's 80 percent Natalie Portman." To which Lane replied, "It's possible if you're counting the close-ups of her face as actual dancing shots.
Soon after the L.A.-based Kunis was cast in "Black Swan," the film's choreographer, Benjamin Millepied, contacted the Los Angeles Ballet's artistic directors and asked if they could provide Kunis with ballet training. Instead of taking on the task themselves, they recommended Blacker for the assignment.
The parts of Odile and Odette were originally danced by two separate dancers, but it has become customary for one ballerina to dance both parts to emphasise their similarities - and to highlight their differences. Pictured: Robert Helpmann and Margot Fonteyn, Sydney, 1943.
The main character, Nina, is played by Natalie Portman. Nina is a prima ballerina who has been dancing her whole life with dreams of becoming the perfect ballerina. The film is in first-person, allowing the audience to see into Nina's brain.
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Swan Lake – Entrée and Adage from the Black Swan pas de deux (The Royal Ballet)
What mental illness does Nina have in Black Swan?
There are simply too many psychological issues going on with Nina. She shows elements of an anxiety disorder with obsessive compulsive behaviors. She also manifests self-injurious behavior and some signs of an eating disorder.
Natalie Portman has transformed herself for many film roles, but nothing was as grueling as her Black Swan makeover. The actress shed an astonishing 20lbs from her already slight frame to play a ballerina in the 2011 film and admitted it put such a toll on her body that she thought she was going to die.
The night before she is set to perform, Nina becomes convinced that Lily is going to take her place. Her paranoia and mental strain cause her to hallucinate that she's physically turning into the role of Odile, the Black Swan, complete with red eyes and black feathers protruding from bird-like skin.
It is, though, far from being the whole truth. The “Black Swan” screenplay has surely been prompted by a number of dancers' memoirs — Gelsey Kirkland's 1986 best seller, “Dancing on My Grave,” is just the most famous — to convey its neurotic version of the internal life of ballet.
The final twist reveals that Nina had hallucinated Lily's death and instead stabbed herself in the abdomen. But given the artist she is, she continues performing the ballet's final act as a dying Odette, landing on a mattress with thunderous applause.
Odette was considered to be the best dancer of her generation before an accident caused her to become disabled. She would become a cleaner to the Opera house for the next ten years, at the same time she would work under Regine Le Haut.
There are 139 dance shots in the film. 111 are Natalie Portman untouched. 28 are her dance double Sarah Lane. If you do the math, that's 80% Natalie Portman.
Why is Swan Lake the most difficult ballet to dance?
Not only is the choreography technically challenging, but in order to create the effect of a flock of swans, the corps de ballet need to move in complete unison. A great deal of strength and stamina is required to perform the ethereal movements and intricate formations.
Kunis had never had any previous experience in ballet, but trained for three months in order to "fake it." Kunis acknowledges that she got "crazy thin," as Stern puts it, weighing about 95 pounds. "I didn't starve myself," Kunis, who's 5' 4," stresses. "I did do it in the healthiest way possible.
Did Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis lose weight for Black Swan?
Already lean, Kunis dropped 20 pounds in order to play Natalie Portman's ballerina frenemy in "Black Swan." At 95 pounds, Kunis says "I was muscles, like a little brick house, but skin and bones." Unfortunately, when she gained the weight back, Kunis says it ended up in completely different places.
Kunis engaged in cardio and Pilates, "train[ing] seven days a week, five hours, for five, six months total, and ... was put on a very strict diet of 1,200 calories a day."
But speaking as a psychiatrist, Lamberti said the film did not accurately depict schizophrenia, as has been widely speculated, but "does present a reasonable portrait of psychosis." "People tend to be scared of things they don't understand," he said.
Hi. Her character did, but she didn't. That said, it was still extremely awkward for both of them, and they have spoken about their discomfort while shooting the scene quite a few times.
Destruction of the body is the basis of all horror, but Black Swan's body horror serves a dual purpose by not only freaking out the viewer but also using symbolism to represent the decline of Nina's mental state. Though it isn't as overt as most other horror films, Black Swan is no less terrifying.
She is shown engaging in a co-dependent relationship with her smothering mother, who still treats Nina like a young girl. Nina's mother appears to be living vicariously through her daughter's accomplishments, reminding Nina that if it were not for her, she would not be successful.
NOT REAL: Therefore, Lilly and Nina did not have actual sex (we know this because after sex, Lilly said something to Nina about being a ‘Good girl’ and then tried to smother her.
How many calories did Mila Kunis eat for Black Swan?
Mila Kunis has confessed that her diet was restricted to 1,200 calories per day while filming Black Swan. The actress - who shrunk down to 95lbs for her role as a ballet dancer in the film - revealed that she was in "hell" during filming and only ate foods that fit in her hand, reports the Daily Star.
She still made it to America, and eventually had a small pandemic wedding with Mike. However, her married life made Natalie unhappy, which led to "stress eating." Natalie says she is on antidepressants, and gained 30 pounds following her arrival in the U.S.
How much dancing did Natalie Portman really do in Black Swan?
In a written statement, "Black Swan" director Darren Aronofsky said, "Here is the reality. I had my editor count shots. There are 139 dance shots in the film -- 111 are Natalie Portman untouched. Twenty-eight are her dance double Sarah Lane.
