Black Swan, Directed by Darren Aronofsky

Jon — Fri, 27 May 2011 18:34:02 +0000

Black Swan may be a British film but its director Darren Aronofsky gives the film an almost melodramatic art-house feel that it is so far from the usual Hollywood style films that it deserves a mention here.

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The film covers the darker world of ballet, the world of espionage, envy, fear of failure and psychological torture of being pushed into ever increasing stressful situations.

The characters in Black Swan are like they came straight from a Brothers Grimm nursery tale with stereotypically witch like evil mother, the foreboding boss and the insane diva (excellently played by Winona Ryder).

Natalie Portman really steals the show, and rightfully so as it was hers to steal. The film ends in a climatic sequence of mind blowing events.

This film is certainly more a psychological horror than a ballet version of West Side Story.

Pan’s Labyrinth, a Modern Fairytale, Wins the 2008 BBC4 World Cinema award

Jon — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 21:37:40 +0000

Guillermo Del Toro Collection

Pan’s Labyrinth (Spanish title: Laberinto del fauno, El), is a gothic fairy tale set against the post civil war repression in Spain. Guillermo del Toro, the Mexican director, collected the award from Catherine Deneuve at the award ceremony the BFI Southbank in London. On collecting his award, Guillermo del Toro said:

“I am very humbled by the competition and the nominations so I am very happy to have won this award. I am extremely thankful because world cinema seems to be not only about geography of the world out there, but about charting the world within us. Very often people think that the only way to tell the truth is through reality. So I find, by my own experience, irreality is sometimes a better tool to tell the truth.”

Other nominations for the World Cinema Best film were:

The Lives Of Others – Directed by Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck
The Science Of Sleep – Directed by Michel Gondry
Climates – Director Nuri Bilge Ceylan and his actress wife Ebru Ceylan star as the couple at odds, chasing an impossible dream that is way out of their reach.
Syndromes And A Century – Directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul

All these films are currently available at our store, so buy them now!

Special Offer: Guillermo Del Toro Collection (Pan’s Labyrinth, Cronos, The Devil’s Backbone) [2006]
Directed by Guillermo del Toro

World Cinema Store » Awards

Black Swan, Directed by Darren Aronofsky

Pan’s Labyrinth, a Modern Fairytale, Wins the 2008 BBC4 World Cinema award