Bitch Swan

24 hours after the credits rolled, and, my God, does 'Black Swan' ever stay with you. (But with such a cavalcade of baroque beauty on display—the titular performance sequence alone is master class—that was to be expected.)



During dinner the other night with friends, one of whom is a movie critic who reviewed the very film in question last week, we talked Darren Aronofsky's filmography; his delirous directorial style that skews heavily toward uncomfortable narrative zones (remember the final scenes of 'Requiem for a Dream'?) but manages to hold viewers' attention rapt, dangerously close to grand-guignol excess.



Another wonderful thing about Aronofsky is that he gives juicy parts, big and small, to terrific, underused actors, including a personal fave of mine who gave a bitch-goddess star turn if there ever was one.



Welcome back, Roxy Carmichael.