1. Imagery:

1. Color and clothing

The metaphor of color is the most commonly used and obvious.

White, pink: White Swan, Nina. Black: Black Swan, Mother, Lily, Beth. Gray: The only male protagonist - Thomas, the artistic director of the dance company.

White: Nina’s pillow is patterned in black and white. In the multiple overlooking shots of waking up from a dream, her head is placed right in the center of the entangled black arabesque pattern; her snow-white scarf is in a white pattern. The downy shape is not only a symbol of the white swan's feathers, but also resembles the soft feathers all over the newborn bird's body. (This kind of fluffy clothing symbolizes purity. We also saw it in "A Single Man" not long ago: Kenny, the angel of salvation played by Nicholas Hoult, wore such a soft white sweater.)

Pink: Nina's room is almost entirely decorated in pink; on the first morning, the breakfast served by her mother was fruit cut in half, and Nina murmured like a little girl: "Pink, how beautiful!"

Nina's cell phone appears many times, and you can see that when the word "MOM" appears on her cell phone screen, the background color is pink.

When Nina was sitting alone in the corridor practicing arm movements, her scarf was light pink.

After she was chosen as the "Swan Queen", the fluffy scarf, a symbol of the fledgling's shedding of feathers, disappeared.

——However, when Nina was tempted by Thomas and then thrown away, she once sat in front of the mirror and cried. At that time, the plush scarf appeared again, which should be a metaphor for her hesitation and misery at this time, and she returned to the state of a shrinking baby bird.

Gray: After she had frequent hallucinations, the top she wore during dance practice changed from white to gray; her home clothes also turned gray - gray seeped into Nina's pink world.

In the bar, Lily gave Nina a black sexy vest. Nina put it on over her white clothes. One night after taking hallucinogenic drugs, Nina's sweater turned completely dark gray.

In Nina's "white period", her shoes were gray cotton snow boots that were blunt, non-aggressive and unambitious. In contrast to her were "Black Swan" Lily's gorgeous boots. Black leather boots.

2. Swan

The swan is a complex and strange image. It can represent purity, but it can also be the embodiment of sensuality: Zeus, the god of gods, is the king of Sparta Tyndareus. Enchanted by the beauty of his wife Leda, he turned into a swan and had sex with her. The snow-white body of the swan, the long and charming neck, the soft feathers, and the plump and voluptuous body can also be regarded as the ultimate combination of female sexual characteristics.

Another symbolic meaning of the swan is the poetic and aesthetic incarnation of the artist. Saint-Sa?ns' "The Death of the Swan" and the proverb "Swan Song" both use this meaning.

The image of swans is everywhere in this film. The music of "Swan Lake" runs throughout the film, making the whole film like a musical. In addition, there is Nina's mobile phone ringtone, which has the rhythm of "Swan Lake". and music boxes for ballerinas, etc.

I think the most important swan image appears when Nina is lying in the bathtub (50 minutes). The viewer can see a small box on the right side of the camera, with a white swan pattern built using color dot inlays on the box. In the company of this swan, Nina masturbates in the bathtub - only her face with her eyes closed and moaning in the camera lens, and the swan figure. This is actually a visual scene of the story "Leda and the Swan". Nina even cast a charming glance towards the swan figure! But in the end, Nina is awakened by blood dripping into the water.

Many women in the film have black swan qualities.

The first black swan is, of course, Lily.

The second black swan is Beth.

The third black swan is Nina’s “other self”.

It should be noted that the black swan is not a complete symbol of evil. It represents desire, struggle, not being cowardly, and not hiding or suppressing all desires. The only principle of Black Swan is the principle of pursuing pleasure.

(At 27 minutes, a dance teacher in black teaches Nina how to play the black swan. The camera stares at the old woman’s exposed shoulder blades for a long time, and the butterfly bones slide awkwardly under the aging and shrunken skin. It’s an old swan that can no longer fly)

3. Nails and scratches:

After Nina had the dream of being captured by the Dark Lord, she discovered the shoulder blade for the first time. There were scars everywhere, and she dodged and made excuses to cover up, not wanting her mother to pay too much attention; later, scratches appeared frequently; her toenails were broken and bloody; at the dinner party where Thomas grandly introduced the Swan Queen, Nina I noticed blood marks starting to appear on my fingernails. She hid in the bathroom and tried to peel off the detached skin at the nail groove. What was heart-stopping was that she tore off a long strip of bloody epidermis, but when she gasped and washed away the blood under the water, she found the wound disappeared; later, Nina's mother pulled her to the bathroom and trimmed her nails with a sullen face.

Fingernails are the weapon used by the "black swan" to struggle out of its cocoon. The mother's movements represent brutal "disarmament" and repression. Various appearances imply that the other self in Nina's body is becoming more and more urgent to break out of the cocoon and break away from this clean, serious, lifeless body.

From a virgin to a woman, there is a ritual of pain and bleeding. The ubiquitous blood stains symbolize Nina's gradual awakening of sexual consciousness, and her spiritual leap from virginity to womanhood.

——In other words, Nina is not a virgin. She had been forced to face this problem by Thomas. However, when he asked "Do you like Huan?", what appeared on Nina's face was not the memory of beautiful things, but the disgust of having to bring back ugly memories. If she has not experienced the pleasure of pleasure, she is still a virgin from a spiritual point of view.

Nina attempts to masturbate in the bathtub. NOTE: Masturbation requires the use of hands. She was frightened by the appearance of her own face suspended in the water. When she surfaced, she found that her fingers were bleeding - the hands she used to masturbate. In other words, what "soothes" her is the "black swan" in her heart.

When she was cutting her nails in front of the bathroom mirror, it was Nina who was trying to cut off the "nails", and the one who laughed evilly in the mirror and told her to cut her skin and bleed was the one who was desperate to break it. The shell of self.

4. Lily:

Lily has a black tattoo on her shoulder blade. At first glance, it looks like spread wings with teeth and claws. If you look closely, you can tell that the pattern is two. The flowers blooming side by side symbolize the juxtaposition of good and evil.

On the evening when Lily appeared, Nina ran into herself face to face for the first time on her way home, all dressed in black and with long hair. This is the first time the "black swan" in her subconscious appears, suggesting that Nina is actually very envious of the charming Lily.

Lily took Nina to the bar to have fun. After returning from the bar, Nina's most serious hallucination appeared.

Looking carefully at this video, we can see that the director did not have to wait until the next morning to hint at Lily's non-existence: when Nina entered the door with a smile, her figure appeared in the multi-faceted mirror, She was split into countless "Ninas", implying that she was in a split state at this time; her mother appeared without saying hello to "Lily" (at first glance, it may be regarded as mother's dissatisfaction with Lily or deliberate neglect, but after returning If you look at it, you will know that Nina was the only one who entered the door from beginning to end); and there is a more obvious hint here (1 hour and 06 minutes): Lily's image flashed behind Nina's figure in the mirror, and she smiled charmingly. Quietly walking away, this means that Lily was split from Nina's mind. Later, Nina "pulled Lily" and ran back to her bedroom. When she closed the door to her mother, she could clearly see a gray coat with pink trim hanging on the door - gray was already the main color, and the pink faded. On the edge.

The mother shouted: "You're not my Nina again!" At this moment, Nina is indeed no longer her mother's daughter. She belongs to herself and surrenders to desire.

When "Lily" and Nina have sex in a same-sex manner, due to the unique posture, both the viewer and Nina can see Lily's weird twisting shoulder blades, as well as the tattoos on the shoulder blades: from Bingdi The flowers become fluttering wings - the black swan appears again.

At this time, two kinds of string music - the sinister cello and the slender and melancholy violin, are intertwined. What sets off Nina's face is no longer a pillow with black and white patterns, but an ambiguous and gorgeous flesh-pink pillow, decorated with colorful circular patterns, symbolizing successful intercourse - light pink symbolizes an innocent girl, and flesh-red represents sensuality. symbol. "Lily's" face was always buried between Nina's legs, and only a tearing sound of "breaking cocoon" could be heard. When Nina woke up from her orgasm, she discovered that the face of "Lily" was hers.

This was the first time she saw herself in Lily.

When Nina ended the rehearsal on the last day, she found Thomas and Lily having fun in the dark corner of the stage. However, in a trance, that wanton and cheerful face was her own, and it was her own body. The person is not Thomas but the Dark Lord in the play. The happiness with Thomas is what Nina longs for in her heart, and being ravaged by the Dark Lord is the materialization of her true spiritual state. It is worth noting that the background symphony of this section is mixed with a strange, bird-like "gurgling" sound, which should be the sound of the "black swan" in Nina's heart eager to burst out of her body. When Nina was frightened and ran away, there was the sound of birds spreading their wings.

5. Mother:

The mother, always dressed in black, has the long face of an ascetic, and her old hands are like bird's claws on her daughter's pink arms. She was a dancer in the company and still has connections. She can control Nina's actions and performance in the company.

My mother’s hobby is to sit in her house and draw. She depicts her appearance when she was young and Nina’s face—the woman in the portrait has a mole on her cheek.

Her past can be traced: she was once brilliant, but because she was obsessed with love, she gave birth to an illegitimate daughter and her dancing career was ruined. Therefore, she believed that sensuality and sex were destructive, and forced her daughter to stay in the ignorance of a teenager. among. He has an abnormal desire to control and love his daughter.

(Jellinek's "The Piano Teacher" also exaggerates this kind of abnormal mother-daughter relationship.)

6. Three passages between Nina and Thomas:

A. Nina, who was waiting for Thomas outside his door, took off her meticulous bun for the first time (the bun symbolizes abstinence and strict self-discipline), and was not used to the bright red rouge on her lips (the lipstick came from Beth). , raised his hand to wipe it involuntarily. At this moment, she was conflicted: in order to get what she dreamed of, she had to make a last-ditch effort to activate the gendered charm that she had ignored for a long time - she was actually aware that she was beautiful, but she always disdained to show it off and use it. This is the mentality of some middle school girls when gender differences emerge: trying to tighten their swollen breasts and feeling ashamed of their sexual characteristics.

When she faced Thomas, she was like a child who had made a mistake facing the teacher holding her bad report card. Nina, who was ready to cry at any moment, was not even a "woman" at this time. When she came to fight for the role, it was as if she was begging the teacher to give her a chance to take a make-up exam, always muttering: "I can do it, I worked hard last night." She still didn't dare to show off her most primitive weapon. When Thomas praised her for being "beautiful and elegant", Nina's face did not show relief or a little joy. Her eyes even became more anxious and she ducked away in panic.

Under his pressure, Nina said the word "perfect" for the first time (most dancers are perfectionists, and the confusing "perfect" often makes them fall into an obsessive state) . Thomas pulled her slender chin and kissed her fiercely. If it had been the woman next to her, she would have immediately flirted with her, flirted with her, and had sex with her. However, someone as ignorant as Nina actually bit her boss. It can be said that Thomas has already made up his mind to help Nina become a white swan. All the twists and turns are just a process of deliberately forging her. Or it can be said that in Nina's bite, Thomas saw her side that is not weak and even a little fierce. , so I believe she can still be made.

At some point, Gray Thomas’s behavior may lead people to misunderstand that he is a boss who wants to hide the rules from Nina. In fact, he is definitely not evil-minded. He sees that this girl is like pure gold. I hope that through the polishing of love, she can rise to a higher level.

The charm of all art in its highest form is actually simulated sexual pleasure. Therefore, artists who do not understand love and sex will never reach the highest level. They need to first grasp and appreciate the fragrance and sweetness of the fruits in the garden before they can imitate them on stage, leading the audience to immerse themselves in a similar wonderful state.

B. After coming out of Thomas' office, Nina sat cross-legged in the corner (she always sat alone in the corner, which is a sign of a timid little girl), and tied up her hair again. It means that she regrets her "debauchery" just now and wants to quickly return to the shell of pure and stoic which makes her feel safe.

(At the 45-minute mark in the film, Nina takes apart her bun for the first time while practicing dance. When she spins, her long hair floats in the air and creates graceful curves, which symbolizes the "black swan" in her heart. The charm is revealed. )

C. Thomas’s understanding is: the dancer should exude sexual charm and make the audience fall in love with you.

He personally danced with Nina, skillfully wiping the woman's sensitive areas with his palms, and successfully aroused Nina's ecstasy. The background string music gradually strengthened, dangerous and full of temptation. The dark practice room was like the garden of Adam and Eve. Thomas repeatedly said "open your mouth", and Nina gradually became emotional. She raised her hand to caress Thomas's head and neck, and talked with him. Lips and tongues intertwined. This is the critical moment when her sexual consciousness is completely awakened.

(This man means so well. After Nina received a roar of applause, he whispered: "Did you hear that? They love you.")

D. On the eve of the premiere, Nina cried to Thomas on the stairs. He looked up at her, seeing the tears on her sad little face - it was he who had lifted her to a high place where she could not bear the cold.

7. Subway

The subway is a wonderful place. The noisy, dark, small and crowded space, the countless strangers who had to stay close to each other, the glass doors and windows with silhouettes of people reflected in the darkness, the shrill whistling wind, the carriage was like a huge iron box full of nightmares.

The first time Nina put on lipstick, it was in the reflection of the subway glass window.

Thomas once asked Nina's male backup dancer: "Do you want to have fun with her?" - At this time, Nina had no sexual attraction at all. When Nina's sexual consciousness awakens, an old man in the subway makes lewd moves towards her. It is worth noting that there are many empty seats in the empty carriage - this scene has appeared many times in the subway, but this time the carriage was almost empty. It was empty, and the director was hinting that Nina could change her seat, but she neither showed a strange expression nor changed her seat, she just turned her face away calmly - she actually didn't hate it, she was even secretly happy that she had such original attraction. force.

8. Sculpture:

After the banquet, Nina was waiting for Thomas in the hall. There was a strange statue in the center of the hall. As Nina stares at the prison statue, music plays somberly, reminding the viewer to pay attention. The statue is like a demon in a nightmare, attracting the confused girl to approach step by step: the facial features are blurred and painted pale, the arms are broken and missing, only two wings are raised high, the legs are tightly together, and the body is shaped like the cross of Jesus. The posture is upright and the lower body has male sexual characteristics.

The meaning of this sculpture: If you want wings, you must abandon your arms and wait for suffering.

——The male sexual characteristics of the lower body have unclear meaning. Or a metaphor for "fitting together"?

9. Beth:

Nina stole a lipstick in the dressing room that was messed up by Beth. This means that she actually secretly hopes to have the same charming feminine magic as Beth; Beth's knife symbolizes her aggression - which is what the White Swan subconsciously hopes for.

What she worries about: Beth's today is her tomorrow, losing her dancer's legs and losing her appearance. So in the hallucination, Beth/herself is seen frantically thrusting a knife into her face.

10. The Night Before

Here is a quote from Zweig:

“Her inner passion has not yet awakened, her true, deep self Not yet formed, only after being inspired by fanatical passion can he truly transform and reveal his curled wings.

Just like a athlete taking a deep breath before sprinting with all her strength, her life is accumulating strength in the dormant period of stagnation, like a sleeping volcano that once erupts, it will shake the earth. "("Rose of Scotland-The Severed Queen Stuart")

On the eve of the premiere, Nina's pressure reached its peak and she almost collapsed, and the visions in her eyes became more and more bloody: She visited Beth When she saw herself, her appearance was crazily ruined (symbolizing the fear of old age); the portrait turned into Munch's screamer (the mother's captivity almost became a demon); the scratched area on her shoulder blade burst into black. (The black swan can't wait to break away from the white swan's body. But this paragraph is too similar to "The Fly Man"), her eyes become blood red (the image of blood), her legs are broken and turned into bird legs, and they are covered with doors. Injuring her mother's hand (hand, hand again), she finally fainted.

After she woke up from the coma, her mother's right hand never appeared in the shot, making the audience wonder: whether it was last night. Is the horror all a fantasy? When Nina squeezed her mother's injured hand in order to get back the door latch, it became clear that the dispute last night had actually happened.

Why did her mother, who expected Nina to achieve success, act uncharacteristically and lock the door? She was not allowed to participate in the show? - She was jealous. She never became the Swan Queen, but Nina did it. At this time, Nina was no longer her "Sweet girl", but more successful than her. Reflecting her frustrated and lonely dancer

11. The Death of Black Swan

Everything became much simpler at the last moment. Nina was worried about her dance partner. It fell from her hand - was the scene she saw between Lily and her male dancer "conspirating" to assassinate her really a fantasy? Judging from the subsequent plot, it must have been her imagination. When Nina returned to the dressing room, the "Black Swan" was waiting for her. . Nina pushed her against the mirror, and the mirror shattered. The white swan killed the "Black Swan" with a fragment of the mirror. The mirror no longer existed, and the mirror image disappeared.

This scene is also quite exquisite: Boman dragged the dead black swan into the bathroom, panting unsteadily and trembling all over, but the music gradually strengthened her mind (confused). She had murmured "My music" at that time, and the dancer's heart was subconsciously dependent on music), and her eyes turned blood red again - the black swan was not dead, on the contrary, it completely captured Nina's soul and body.

The dance after Nina transforms into a black swan has a rapid music rhythm, which is often accompanied by the sound of flapping wings and breathing and murmuring. The latter sound is a metaphor for joy, and some people describe the joy of joy as " "Fly", such as Laosan ("Hawthorn Love").

You can see the male dance partner in black casting his stunning and obsessed eyes on her face, responding to Thomas's question in front of her (Would you like to be with her...?). The music paused, and Nina returned to the background, her expression still looking like she was indulging in the afterglow of the joy.

In the last solo dance, she (in imagination). I saw the feathers of swans sprouting from both arms. In the bright light, the black wings grew wildly in response to the music, spinning and waving, becoming more and more harmonious, more selfless, more and more noisy, more and more wanton, more and more. It's getting more and more beautiful. In the last scene, the huge swan shadow and the head-up dancer complement each other. The charm of the heart, soul, body, desire, and desire are all fulfilled in the most free and unhindered way at this moment.

After the dance was completed, the black swan disappeared—a sign that Nina’s pupils returned to clarity—and the dancer turned back into a white swan amidst the tide of applause. In other words, the black swan was only born for this most brilliant passage, and the solo dance just now was the "death of the swan".

But the white swan is no longer the white swan of the past: Nina returned to the side curtain amidst applause. Thomas, excited and happy, was waiting for her in the crowd. She bullied him and kissed him hard, standing there. The ballerina kissed him on her toes, carrying the faint sound of the wind, like a ferocious attack, like a swan swooping down from the clouds, as domineering as when he kissed her. But, is she still haunted by evil spirits? The gentle waves of music rise like waves: No. The black swan has indeed died and will not be resurrected; the white swan absorbs the black swan's bravery, emotion and generosity, and is reborn in Nirvana.

After the kiss ended, Thomas, who was usually calm, couldn't help but smile infatuatedly, his eyes wandering around slightly shyly but proudly. This scene corresponds to what he said in the practice room: "Next time, you come to seduce me." The apprentice left the apprenticeship, and was replaced by the master who was intoxicated and unable to extricate himself. The way he looked at Nina was as if he was looking at a perfect work of art that he had successfully polished.

However, the suspense remains unresolved: there is a dead black swan in the dressing room. Nina used a pink towel to cover the pool of blood oozing from the crack of the door, but was surprised to see Lily pushing the door open to congratulate her. The suspense string was tightened to the tightest degree - who died? The mirror was indeed shattered all over the floor, but there was no blood under the door... The string music was always pressing in the air in a sinister and urgent manner. Nina was stunned, slowly lowered her head, and took out the broken mirror from the wound on her lower abdomen. fragments. The truth comes out.

Boman's facial expressions in this section are rich and profound, including suddenness, panic, sadness, despair, regret, bewilderment, pain-bearing, perseverance... The highly layered performance fully supports this final scene. climactic plot. Finally, she sobbed and sat down in front of the mirror, wiping away her tears with a powder puff. Her muscles were passively pulled, and she forcibly turned her expression into a smile. The black swan has died on the stage, and the white swan will also die on the stage.

In the last leap, Nina, who was all white, finally returned to the pure white world (white sponge cushion) with the wounds of the black swan.

"Perfect. I got perfection."

After experiencing the double torture of spirit and body, the black swan and the white swan merged into one in the entanglement, creating a perfect situation , all find peace.

Of course, why can’t the audience see the blood stains? Why didn't everyone see the blood on the white dress immediately when they gathered around? No need to delve into it.

12. Qingyi:

"Qing" means black. The story of "Black Swan" is very similar to Bi Feiyu's "Tsing Yi". The cold Xiao Yanqiu (Nina), the youthful Chunlai (Lily), and even the "late" part of the last performance are so similar. Xiao Yanqiu's self-dance in the snow is also accompanied by blood.

2. Drama and Life

There is no doubt that "Black Swan" is an Oscar-level film. The meticulous sound effects and subtle sounds are almost like wordless commentary, making the film fuller and adding to the fantasy and enchantment. The picture repeatedly focuses on Nina's delicate bun, thin shoulder blades, and swan-like elegant slender neck, making people truly feel that she is a professional ballet dancer. Nina was always confused, her brows were furrowed, and her timid expression was too much to add, and too little to subtract. A slight flaw is that when the "Black Swan" is on the body, there is a lack of magic power. Fortunately, Black Swan's scary and coquettish makeup provides help, and the appearance of the eyes widening is still awe-inspiring.

The shocking thing is that she is still so young, and sooner or later the Oscar will be hers - but maybe not this time.

Vincent Cassel, the "goddess' man", looks ordinary at first glance, but after a few more glances, he feels that he is elegant and charming, and he secretly sighs that Monica has a real eye for choosing the person to sleep with. Remarkable. Vincent's face has just the right amount of sensuality, and there is a flash of charm from time to time, which is consistent with his status among women; his special feature is that his eyes are a little open (Qian Zhongshu said: he will be slightly lovesick), and he feels like " The god Pan in "Pan's Labyrinth" - the half-goat, half-human god, happens to be a symbol of desire.

Mila "Lily" Kunis, seen her "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" and "Date Night." She is indeed a beauty that can make people forget about the heroine! The evil beauty of Black Swan is the right choice for the spokesperson - but do you have to have smoky eyes to complement the heroine? In "The Devil Wears Prada", Emily Blunt's smoky eye career became brighter after her first smoky eye look. I hope Mila Niu can prove this "smoky eye law" again.

Winona doesn’t have many scenes, but she’s quite outstanding. In fact, if there had not been a theft incident that year, it would not have been impossible for her to play the role of "White Swan". However, the black swan in her heart destroyed her. The white feathers were stained, and she could no longer fly. Now she could only watch the young Boman carrying the wind straight up, feeling uneasy.

I don’t know what the situation inside and outside the play is like?

The sharp-tongued, mean and frivolous Veronica in the dance troupe is also impressive with her fleshy face and thick lips. In a small group of women, there must be a person like this.

What is even more touching is that Natalie Portman met the film’s choreographer and dancer Benjamin Pillami during the filming, fell in love and got engaged, and now she has announced that she is pregnant.

Could it be that Portman and Benjamin are really like Nina and Thomas, their love grows when their ears rub against each other and their bodies intertwine? In the play, Nina awakens her sexual consciousness due to the movie "Swan Lake", and off-screen, Boman gets a love marriage and a fetus because of "Black Swan". Play is like life, life is like play, that's what it means.