You would think that the only similarity between the gritty redemption tale of “The Wrestler” and the supernatural ballet world thriller “Black Swan” is that they’re both directed by Darren Aronofsky. But MTV caught up with the director who revealed that not only do the parallels run much deeper, both films were sprung from an original script idea that he later broke into two films.
“At one point, way before I made ‘The Wrestler,’ I was actually developing a project that was about a love affair between a ballet dancer and a wrestler, and then it kind of split off into two movies,” Aronofsky said, adding “I realized pretty quickly that taking two worlds like wrestling and ballet was much too much for one movie.”
And being birthed from the same kernel of an idea, Aronofsky expects audiences to see parallels between the two films. “I’ve always considered the two films companion pieces,” he said. “They are really connected and people will see the connections. It’s funny, because wrestling some consider the lowest art — if they would even call it art — and ballet some people consider the highest art. But what was amazing to me was how similar the performers in both of these worlds are. They both make incredible use of their bodies to express themselves.”
But if its been a while since you watched “The Wrestler,” you could Netflix the film to get re-acquainted or, failing that, perhaps your local arthouse will be compelled to follow up on Aronofksy’s dream of both films on a double bill. “….I guess my dream is that some art theater will play the films as a double feature some day.” C’mon arthouse programmers, get on this.
“Black Swan” which centers on the relationship between a veteran ballet dancer (Natalie Portman) and a rival, played by Mila Kunis who may or may not be a figment of the dancer’s imagination co-stars Winona Ryder, Vincent Cassel, Sebastian Stan and Barbara Hershey. You can watch the knockout trailer here. The film will hit TIFF and make its way to theaters on December 1st. Piledrivers not included.