Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Who is the Real ‘Black Swan’?
Wall Street Journal ^ | March 28, 2011 | Christopher John Farley

Posted on 03/28/2011 2:58:06 PM PDT by La Enchiladita

click here to read article


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-62 next last
To: OldDeckHand
In the run-up to awards season, and epecially the Oscars, there was a concerted PR campaign that claimed Portman did almost all her own dancing. It seems that was a lie.

Yes, but not an unprecedented one. There was some kind of stink that Jennifer Beals didn't do her own dancing in Flashdance either. The ballerina's "people" should have made her aware that something like that would happen. I am sure that something like that really is hard to take when you did all the real dancing in a movie, and it was probably quite difficult, with all the takes, etc. But that is the nature of films. Stuntmen have died for a $10,000 gig, while the star made millions and went on to bed the leading lady. It's just the way things are and she should have definitely studied the precedent cases.

41 posted on 03/28/2011 3:55:48 PM PDT by Yaelle
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: La Enchiladita

The producers of Flashdance did the same thing back in 1983. They used a body double to do the dancing scenes and didn't reveal it until after the movie debuted. No big deal, really. Jennifer Beals still did the acting.

42 posted on 03/28/2011 4:05:25 PM PDT by arasina (So there.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Yaelle

I’m sure it required a strict regimen of diet and exercise just for Portman to look enough like a dancer so that you could plausibly believe she was the same character as the ballerina double.


43 posted on 03/28/2011 4:12:17 PM PDT by dr_lew
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: OldDeckHand

Maybe


44 posted on 03/28/2011 4:17:32 PM PDT by Terry Mross (Those Who Worship Him will all bow down and say "Yes, we can!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: hecht
They credit their stunt doubles. This is a case of not crediting the Lane, and marketing Portman’s “ dancing skills” to get an Oscar.

Good point. Part of Portman's promotion for the Oscar was the fact she did the dancing, as well. I've only seen two of Portman's movies.The Professional where she was very good and one of the Star Wars movies- where she was absolutely horrendous. She's certainly a politically correct nominee for the Obama Age- very liberal but not outspoken.
45 posted on 03/28/2011 4:35:16 PM PDT by Krankor (And he's oh, so good, And he's oh, so fine, And he's oh, so healthy, In his body and his mind)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: La Enchiladita; blackdog; TigerClaws; hecht; laweeks; Sacajaweau; x; FrdmLvr; Bullish; Gargantua; ..
Forgive me, but why on EARTH is Portman getting paid all that money, just to use a double for the dancing? I assumed as much, but why not pay the double a slice of those millions to pay the ones who are actually doing the WORK?
46 posted on 03/29/2011 10:42:24 AM PDT by Niuhuru (The Internet is the digital AIDS; adapting and successfully destroying the MSM host.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: OldDeckHand

“n the run-up to awards season, and epecially the Oscars, there was a concerted PR campaign that claimed Portman did almost all her own dancing. It seems that was a lie”

They did; they spent ad after ad and article after article mentioning Portman’s past in classic dance.


47 posted on 03/29/2011 10:44:52 AM PDT by Niuhuru (The Internet is the digital AIDS; adapting and successfully destroying the MSM host.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: Niuhuru

Are you new to cinema?

Do you understand that acting is not real? Those actors were not really cowboys, Indians, generals, pianists, dancers, writers, boxers. I am so sorry to shock you with this.

You need to sit down with your Mom and have a little talk about the Tooth Fairy soon too...


48 posted on 03/29/2011 11:01:58 AM PDT by Yaelle
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 46 | View Replies]

To: Niuhuru
It's called negotiation of terms of contract. If the dancer didn't ask for a slice of the tail end or negotiate a better deal, who's fault is that? Certainly not Portman's!

Perhaps the dancer will start by getting a better agent? Maybe the one Portman uses?

49 posted on 03/29/2011 11:20:36 AM PDT by blackdog (The mystery of government is not how Washington works but how to make it stop)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 46 | View Replies]

To: Yaelle
Doubles have been used forever. I don't even look for them in the credits.

This movie is just another with doubles. Dancing consumed how many minutes of the 108 minute flick???

If it was Juliet Prowse or someone like that, I'd be concerned if there was a dance double.

50 posted on 03/29/2011 11:20:40 AM PDT by Sacajaweau
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 48 | View Replies]

To: Niuhuru
A crazy psychopath in tights is just that. It takes Portman to sell the film.

End of discussion!

51 posted on 03/29/2011 11:21:56 AM PDT by blackdog (The mystery of government is not how Washington works but how to make it stop)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 46 | View Replies]

To: Yaelle

LOL! Of course I know they aren’t hwo they really portrya themselves to be, but a little more effort would be preferable.


52 posted on 03/29/2011 11:27:01 AM PDT by Niuhuru (The Internet is the digital AIDS; adapting and successfully destroying the MSM host.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 48 | View Replies]

To: La Enchiladita

Am I the only one who is suspicious because this “controversy” happens to show up at exactly the time the movie is being released on DVD?


53 posted on 03/29/2011 11:39:33 AM PDT by jjotto ("Ya could look it up!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: jjotto

Hubby picked up a copy for me this morning - just before I saw this thread. :)


54 posted on 03/29/2011 11:42:22 AM PDT by Quilla
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 53 | View Replies]

To: blackdog
A crazy psychopath in tights is just that.

Heck, I could'a done the job then...

55 posted on 03/29/2011 11:50:36 AM PDT by Tijeras_Slim
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 51 | View Replies]

To: Billthedrill
I was pretty shot down to learn that Burt Reynolds didn't do the driving in Smokey And The Bandit. En pointe or otherwise.

LOL!!

56 posted on 03/29/2011 11:59:29 AM PDT by La Enchiladita (Remember, Reflect, Renew: 2011, 10 years since 9/11. Never Forget.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 39 | View Replies]

To: Niuhuru

Lol! Well, Johnny depp does put a lot
of effort into his makeup. (actually he is a good actor too...)


57 posted on 03/29/2011 12:00:08 PM PDT by Yaelle
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 52 | View Replies]

To: OldDeckHand
Second thought - What is this movie about. I still don't know.

I like you even more after reading this, and the rest of your "review." I wouldn't go see this pretentious posing either unless I was hijacked into it.

58 posted on 03/29/2011 12:05:30 PM PDT by La Enchiladita (Remember, Reflect, Renew: 2011, 10 years since 9/11. Never Forget.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: Niuhuru

I don’t disagree with that.

It is time that dancers got their due. It is not often they are in movies anyway. They spend their life, even their early years to gain the mastery necessary to even be able to do what they do.

I wonder if Sarah Lane was told that they would be putting the face of the actress over her own? She doesn’t say, but I wonder if she is speaking out now, if she was led to believe it wouldn’t be a complete rip off of her skills.


59 posted on 03/29/2011 4:07:15 PM PDT by TruthConquers ( Delendae sunt publicae scholae)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 46 | View Replies]

To: TruthConquers; Yaelle

It’s disconcerting because before, actors and actressses used to do quite a bit, dancing, singing, acrobatics, some good stunts, and other such things. Now they just show up and look pretty and someone else does the work, with their faces offscreen. If someone is getting paid ten to twenty million dollars, they better be putting in ten to twenty million dollars worth of work and talent into their work and performance. If, say, Natalie had been paid and confirmed for a movie that would begin production in a year, she would have enough time, wiht her vaunted dance background, to get some genuine ballet moves in and do them well enough so that a double would only be used in a minimal way, not for nearly everything. If the paid double is doing the bulk of the dancing, the dancer should get half the check and a prominent mention in interviews and the trailer and be credited for it near the top of the credits and prominently displayed.

Lana spent a bulk of her life mastering the technique and Natalie only really posed. No one deserves that big of a paycheck for just posing and for the money studios invest in their entertainers, these people have no business not putting in the BEST POSSIBLE performance and they should be paid according to their skills, not looks. If Portman doesn’t haev the skill of a dancer, she should get paid accordingly and the bulk should go to the double.


60 posted on 03/29/2011 5:24:00 PM PDT by Niuhuru (The Internet is the digital AIDS; adapting and successfully destroying the MSM host.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 59 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-62 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson