Black Swan vs Perfect Blue

A comparison between Black Swan and Perfect Blue

Before starting this project, I had never heard of either of the above films. Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan, released in 2010, is about the production of Swan Lake. The movie follows Nina, a dancer, at the New York Ballet City Company as she is cast in the titular role of the black swan in the company’s production of Swan Lake. Satoshi Kon’s Perfect Blue (1999) centres around the main character, Mima, as she transitions from a Japanese pop idol to an actress. In doing so, she sheds her innocent image to favour a more mature audience. This begins her descent into madness as she tries to cope with all the changes in her life. She fractures into multiple personalities, developing hallucinations and paranoia. This blog post will compare Black Swan and Perfect Blue as there has been much online debate regarding whether Black Swan’s director, Darren Aronofsky, copied/plagiarized Perfect Blue. I am therefore going to compare the themes of each film, the characters and the plot/storyline. According to the website Dazed, “Maruyama [the producer of Perfect Blue] confirmed that the late anime auteur met with filmmaker Darren Aronofsky, who wanted to adapt the film as a live-action remake. Those plans never came to fruition” Dazed Digital, (2017)

Themes

The main theme is mental illness and health. Both characters follow a similar pattern of decline in their mental health, starting off with minor hallucinations and then gradually progressing to the point where the audience can no l

onger discern what is real. This is done very differently in each film. In Black Swan, Nina’s mother is very controlling and smothering. This theme is continued throughout the movie and contributed to the main character’s mental decline. In Perfect Blue, however, Mima is left to fend for herself, which emphasises a sense of loneliness. This could be one explanation for her hallucinations. However, she could have been hallucinating that she is alone.

Characters

Black Swan’s main character is called Nina, whereas Perfect Blue’s main character is called Mima. In Black Swan, Nina develops self-destructive and unhealthy coping strategies as a way to take back control of her own life. In Perfect Blue, Mima takes back control by switching from a Japanese pop idol to an actress. Mima’s agent, Rumi, in Perfect Blue, takes on the role of motherly figure to her. But in contrast to Black Swan, she is not smothering.

Perfect Blue’s main character’s mental decline happens a lot quicker. The way the scenes are quick and cut together leaves the audience just as disorientated as the character. In a similar fashion, in Black Swan, the audience is experiencing the hallucinations as though they are the character, this technique however is not grounded in as much reality as Perfect Blue. In Black Swan the hallucinations feel unrealistic because turning into a bird is something which is not possible, especially at the end, where Nina literally becomes the Black Swan with the use of CG feathers. The audience is experiencing this from her point of view, although you know that this is not physically possible; the illustration is broken and you see it from an outsider's perspective.

Story/Plot

Both films deal with the pressures and challenges of being within the creative/entertainment industry. Black Swan deals with the pressures of being a ballerina, whereas Perfect Blue deals with Japanese pop idol culture and the pressures of being an actor. Both productions also explore male and female power dynamics. In Perfect Blue, the main character has a stalker figure, which is a reflection of what often happens in Japanese pop idol culture.

Perfect Blue is a lot more violent than Black Swan. But that could be considered to come with the territory of anime, as these productions tends to be more violent than live action. Even though Black Swan is live action, its violence is less visually realistic. For example, in Perfect Blue there is a series of murders. In the 3^rd Act, Mima physically and quite violently attacks her agent and at this point, she discovers that she is the killer who is committing the murders.

In conclusion, both films are comparatively very similar. It is evident that Black Swan has been influenced by Perfect Blue. Both are really good and are equal in quality. I really like this quote from “rather than creating an outright retelling of the same story, Aronofsky has taken the elements from Perfect Blue that translate so well and crafted his own story around them. He has literally remade the film…. I’d say it’s a remake, but neither film is necessarily better than the other.” This captures my thoughts on both films. Dave, (2013)

Reference List

Dazed Digital (2017) Darren Aronofsky wanted to remake Perfect Blue Available at: https://www.dazeddigital.com/film-tv/article/37923/1/darren-aronofsky-wanted-to-remake-perfect-blue (Accessed 10th January 2020)

Dave (2013) Black Swan vs. Perfect Blue (2010, 1998) Available at: https://daveandhiscriticisms.wordpress.com/2013/03/07/black-swan-vs-perfect-blue-2010-1998/ (Accessed 10th January 2020)