Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan was simply probably the most acclaimed films of the 2010s, being the uncommon movie in his filmography to realize huge field workplace and Oscar success (with Natalie Portman deservedly profitable Greatest Actress for her fearless flip). It’s the sort of movie that’s each onerous to observe and near-impossible to look away from, using a tremendous line between being melodramatic however not overwhelmingly so and disturbing and unsettling but additionally partaking. To this date, it stays one in all this technology’s defining movies in regards to the lengths one goes to for his or her artwork on the value of their sanity.

Nonetheless, many cinephiles have seen various similarities between Black Swan and anime legend Satoshi Kon’s 1997 basic, Good Blue. Each movies give attention to a younger girl (in Black Swan, a ballet dancer; in Good Blue, a pop starlet) spiraling into insanity as they search to reinvent themselves and use their crafts to get in contact with their darker selves. Taking affect is a standard follow for even one of the best filmmakers in the present day, however is there any foundation for the assumption that Black Swan truly ripped off Good Blue?

Darren Aronofsky Has Paid Homage to Good Blue Earlier than

Black Swan

Launch Date

December 3, 2010

Runtime

110

Black Swan is not the one movie wherein Darren Aronofsky paid tribute to Satoshi Kon’s masterpiece. Most notably, there is a scene in Requiem for a Dream wherein Jennifer Connelly’s character, Marion, sits in a fetal place within the bathtub, having began prostituting herself to gas her heroin dependancy. A shot from underwater captures her submerged face beneath the floor as she screams.

As many have seen, this sequence is nearly a shot-for-shot remake of the same scene from Good Blue. Aronofsky is the primary one that will acknowledge the similarities between these two scenes. As he detailed in a French documentary about Satoshi Kon, Satoshi Kon: The Illusionist, he intentionally paid homage to the sequence as a result of he felt it was an efficient approach to seize Marion’s emotional mindset.

Extra intriguing is that earlier than making Requiem for a Dream, Aronofsky had reportedly tried to purchase the rights to Good Blue, as he needed to direct a live-action remake. Moreover, he had met with Satoshi Kon within the early 2000s, hoping to debate plans for the remake. Alas, the deal by no means went by way of, and Aronofsky as an alternative centered his consideration on Requiem.

Insiders have famous conflicting experiences in regards to the assembly between the 2; some have indicated that Kon was flattered by Aronofsky’s clear love of his work, whereas others say his emotions in the direction of his homage to Good Blue have been lower than amicable. Nonetheless, in an interview from 2007, Kon mentioned the “homage” in Requiem for a Dream.

Since Kon died of pancreatic most cancers in 2010, we’ll by no means know for positive what the 2 considered one another. Nevertheless it’s clear that Kon’s work was a major affect on Aronofsky, even this early in his profession, and this admiration particularly got here to the forefront a decade later when Black Swan was launched.

Are Good Blue and Black Swan Actually That Related?

Black Swan’s battle revolves round star ballerina Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman in arguably one of the best efficiency of her profession), who auditions for the twin lead position in a manufacturing of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. Whereas the director believes she’s an ideal match for the sleek and harmless White Swan, he’s skeptical of her means to tug off the darker and extra sensual Black Swan, believing competing dancer Lily (Mila Kunis) to be a greater match and this newfound competitors drives Nina to perfection and finally results in her descending into insanity.

Good Blue focuses on a younger Japanese pop starlet, Mima (notably two letter adjustments aside from Nina), who retires from music to pursue an appearing profession, and as she begins taking over extra sexual and adult-oriented roles, she too begins descending into insanity. Certainly, the similarities between these two plots are putting, not less than on the floor. However beneath the floor, the movies diverge significantly.

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Aronofsky has denied taking affect from Good Blue; as he mentioned in a 2010 Q&A, “There are similarities between the movies, but it surely wasn’t influenced by it. It actually got here out of Swan Lake the Ballet, we needed to dramatize the ballet, that’s why it’s sort of up right here and down there, as a result of ballet is massive and small in numerous methods.” Whereas it’s admittedly onerous to imagine that Black Swan wasn’t in any respect influenced by Good Blue, there are sufficient plot variations between the 2 that his claims largely maintain water.

Black Swan is laser-focused on Nina’s quest for perfection, to the purpose the place the movie feels advised nearly fully from her subjective perspective. Good Blue has a key subplot that enables us a extra goal perspective of the story, specializing in a super-fan of Mima’s, Me-Mania (so unhinged he makes Eminem’s Stan look positively sane), as he murders crew members of Mima’s new present to pressure her to return to pop stardom. Most crucially, Mima’s story ends fortunately, along with her efficiently making the transition to a extra mature appearing profession, whereas the Black Swan ending sees Nina die in her quest to be good.

Nonetheless, probably the most putting variations are within the movie’s thematic issues. With Good Blue, Kon was fascinated with exploring themes of fantasy versus actuality, the picture Mima presents to the world as a pop star, and the way that conflicts along with her true id. The battle arises when her followers, like Me-Mania and her mentor Rumi, refuse to just accept Mima transitioning right into a extra sexually-driven persona. Particularly in Rumi’s case, since she aged out of pop stardom years earlier than and lived her fantasies vicariously by way of Mima, she snapped when this fantasy might now not maintain itself.

Black Swan, then again, is sort of fully centered on exploring the obsessive lengths an artist goes to if it means reaching perfection. The conflicts Nina goes by way of are nearly fully inner; the one outward resistance she faces in making an attempt to play the Black Swan is skepticism that she will be able to pull it off. Even her rival Lily, whom Nina sees as an arch-enemy, appears to be much less overtly antagonistic than she seems. Thus, the movie takes on a way more tragic ingredient than Good Blue, as Nina’s work to push herself to her limits is almost fully self-inflicted and finally ends up driving her to insanity and loss of life.

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Is Black Swan a Good Blue Homage or Rip-Off?

As beforehand talked about, utterly authentic inspiration in filmmaking is tough to return by, and even one of the best artists draw upon a number of sources and inspirations to create one thing new. We imagine that is what Darren Aronofsky did with Black Swan; whereas his love of Satoshi Kon’s work is well-documented, he efficiently avoids feeling too near his affect.

Whereas there are shocking plot similarities, the truth that Aronofsky’s movie had completely different thematic pursuits and a a lot darker and tragic angle on the identical topic ought to inform us that Black Swan is extra an homage and companion piece to Good Blue than a rip-off. However clearly, probably the most vital factor the 2 movies share in widespread is that they’re improbable and ought to be celebrated for his or her accomplishments on their very own phrases. Black Swan is streaming on Max, whereas Good Blue is out there to stream on AMC+ or hire on iTunes, Prime Video, and Google Play.