Lit review and Black Swan

After a slow start to the day it's been a fairly good Friday. I didn't yet really go through the material for my lit review, but I did go through all the suitable books that I currently have in my possesion. Out of four books I already found over ten articles by different authors that should be useful for my IS. Of course, I still have to find academic material about film adaptations and specifically about adaptation theory. It helps that I know there are several books about that at the library on campus, so I simply have to go there to find the info I need.

Unfortunately, quite soon after I got started with the search for academic sources, I lost most of my motivation and concentration. To be honest, it felt quite odd - suddenly getting frustrated with what I was doing and starting to look around my room for something else to do. I ended up cleaning up my desk.

Even though the lit review part of the plan for this weekend did not progress as much as it should have, the 250-project did get going again. In the evening my good friend and I watched Darren Aronofsky's brilliant psychological thriller Black Swan [currently 59 on the list].

This was already the second time I've seen the film. On the first time I was completely captivated by the story and was drawn so deeply into the film that the couple sudden scares in the film startled me. This time I was still mesmerised by the film but paid more specific attention to the main character's development from a timid and overly disciplined naive girl into a trecherous and obsessive seductress.

The character has been written brilliantly and Natalie Portman's portrayal of Nina is magnificent. The actress can convey both the insecure fragility of the young dancer when she is the White Swan as well as the lurking possessive behaviour and the engulfing sensuality of her slowly surfacing dark side as she becomes the Black Swan. In addition to her awe-inspiring acting, Portman is also a beautiful dancer.

I have read from several sources that Black Swan is somewhat like a companion film to Aronofsky's last film, The Wrestler (2008) [currently 158 on the list]. I have not yet watched the wrestling film myself but I am planning on ending the night by rectifying the situation. I certainly hope that I will enjoy that film as much as I enjoyed the dark ballet experience.