To feel quite traumatised after watching Black Swan?

[lougle]

I don't use the word lightly, either. I don't do well with psychological thriller type movies and that sort of thing.

I thought I was going to be watching dancing with a power struggle. Not blood, hallucinations and the rest.

[livinginwonderland]

I didn't think it was particularly good or scary.

[stepawayfromthescreen]

anyone seen The Mothman Prophecies with Richard Gere?
It really affected me, very scary.

[AlexReidsLonelyBraincell]

Skeleton Key completely messed with my head, I had thought it was going to be 'chiller-lite' but it was actually very good.

Black Swan is simply referred to in this house as the two hours of our lives we will never get back.
I have a soft spot for Natalie Portman though after seeing her dressed as an elephant with Elmo on Sesame Street, she was brilliant, really game for a laugh.

[anonacfr]

Mothman Prophecies was indeed v chilling. I think the bleakness of it made it extra creepy. I thought the Skeleton Key was a shite film up till the end and then the twist really freaked me out.

[CoteDAzur]

Skeleton Key properly scared me. For weeks, I was scared of the dark and found it hard to go to sleep.

Mothman Prophecies was interesting but not scary. Neither was Black Swan. (And I don't know why we are talking about scary films now)

[lougle]

Keep going though, it's giving me a great swerve list. I am such a light-weight with films.

[congresstart]

I thought it was tiresome, time in my life I can never get back.

Natalie Portman's Anne Boleyn was fucking awful aswell.

[morethanpotatoprints]

My dd is 9 and dances. My friend bought this for her, thinking it would be a lovely story for a little girl.

[flipchart]

The only good thing about seeing Black Swan was that me and mate went on Orange Wednesday and went in the middle of the morning when tickets cost £3. So with splitting the deal it cost £1.50 to see it. Which was still too much!

[bootsycollins]

I absolutely love Black Swan, it got my total attention. I don't think you should ever take others film choices to heart, if you want to see a film just do it, could be shite, could be the best film you've ever seen but you'll never know if you don't try.

[amigababy]

dd is a ballet dancer and saw it when she was 15, she loved it, all the high drama and "insight " into the world of ballet. As you would when you're 15, I was happy she liked it as she doesn't "get " many films.

I was a bit myself but I was seeing it through different eyes

[anonacfr]

See I was looking forward to some insight in the world of ballet. All there was was a mad choreographer who kept telling her to masturbate.
After half an hour it got rather tiresome.

[CoteDAzur]

He wasn't mad

[expatinscotland]

I was traumatised by how tedious and stupid it was.

[WhiteShakette]

Oh, it was woeful. I saw it with a friend who is a retired ballet dancer, and she was nearly weeping with laughter and horrified disbelief throughout. They must have had dance consultants as well as stand-ins, so why was it so demented and wrong? My dancer friend said you'd never think perfectly nice, normal people became professional dancers, and as for the choreographer whose idea of preparing a new Odette/Odile for the role is to encourage her to go home and masturbate....!!!

[LadyBryan]

Skeleton Key is one of my favourite ever films. Along with Insidious!

The King's Speech is wonderful. Nothing with Helena Bonham Carter in could be a yawn fest

[Artyjools]

I haven't seen Black Swan. I thought it was a girlie dance film LOL.

The Mothman Prophesies - I loved it, but I always have to watch films like this on my own as DH refuses. However, he did go with me to the cinema to watch Seven, with Brad Pitt. That is the most disturbing film I have ever seen. The cinema emptied in absolute silence. I think everyone was wondering why the hell they'd stayed to the end.

[valiumredhead]

Amigababy- I would have loved it at 15 too!

[expatinscotland]

The Company is a better dance film. Neve Campbell was also a real dancer.

[expatinscotland]

I remember watching Dirty Dancer on VHS and my dad sae Patrick Swayze and remarked, 'Of course he can do that. That guy is a ballerina.' We laughed, 'how do you know?' He'd seen him perform! LOL.

[anonacfr]

Funny that now I watch Dirty Dancing and keep thinking 'she's 16 and you're 28 you pervert'! No wonder the dad is freaked out.

Re Black Swan the choreographer was OTT-ly one-dimensionally crazy. He was ridiculous.

[middleclassdystopia]

It's not supposed to be a 'dirty dancing' style of film.

It's about the break down of a mind damaged by narcissistic mothering and abuse.

She is never loved unconditionally by her mother so strives for perfection, reflected in her portrayal of the white swan. But her 'bad side' i.e. her damaged side is never far from the surface i.e. The Black Swan.

By seperating the two, for she cannot accept the imperfect side of herself as a conditionally loved child, a schism in her mind develops.

This leads to psychosis, depression and break down. There is a lot of fresh evidence now that personality disorder and mental illness are environmental rather than purely biological and I like that films like this explore the concept.

The ballet world, is a good way to explore the theme of feminism in psychiatry as well. Women are much more likely to self harm and turn their anger in on themselves. Why is this?

Is Natalie Portman's character crazy, or reacting normally to a stifling mother and a world obsessed with outer appearance?

Fascinating

[cornyblend37]

I enjoyed black swan and was also fascinated (but freaked out) by the relationship with her mother. Very disturbing.

[cornyblend37]

The Road (film) I didn't think was great.The book is great though - but so sad at the end. I don't think the film is as tense.