Film director Darren Aronofsky, whose latest movie “Black Swan” opened in Russia on Saturday, gained inspiration for the film from a visit to St. Petersburg, he said in a recent interview.Source
“Black Swan” is set in the New York ballet world and stars Natalie Portman as the perfectionist ballerina Nina. Cast in the lead role of a new production of “Swan Lake,” Nina is the ideal Odette, the innocent white swan princess, but is pushed by choreographer Thomas (played by Vincent Cassel) to develop her portrayal of Odette’s double Odile — the seductive black swan.
It is one thing to lose yourself in your art. Caught up in a web of intrigue involving a younger rival, Lily, who effortlessly embodies the black swan (Ukrainian-born actress Mila Kunis), Portman’s ballerina loses her mind.
“Mila’s Slavonic ancestry did influence us at the start,” Aronofsky said. “ We thought about her having an accent, since ballet is so international, but as we worked on the character we liked her coming from San Francisco better.”
The Brooklyn-born Aronofsky is keenly conscious of his Russian heritage.
“I feel a deep connection to Russia,” he said. “My grandparents came from Russia and so many of my family traditions are connected to the country.”
The director, whose previous films include “Requiem for a Dream” (2000), and “The Wrestler” (2008), said he had originally been attracted to ballet because of his connection to actors.
“When you are in front of the curtain, it’s all beauty and light. When you go backstage, you see the dancers are out of breath and sweaty — it’s anything but effortless. And you realize there is all this competition. As a director, that got me really excited.”
What were the major influences on the film? “More than any other film I’ve done, this one has been compared to other’s people work,” he said. “The biggest influence was Tchaikovsky’s ballet ‘Swan Lake.’ We tried to build the entire film from the fairy tale.”
Aronofsky visited St. Petersburg several years ago when he brought his last film, “The Wrestler,” which was nominated for two Oscars, to the city.
“I loved St. Petersburg when I visited with ‘The Wrestler;’ I can’t wait to get back,” he said. “I hope to bring ‘Black Swan’ to the city. When I was in St. Petersburg, I took in a production of ‘Swan Lake.’ The ballet was amazing, the dancers were staggeringly beautiful, and the musicians were tremendous. But I was stunned that the production had a happy ending. I’d never seen it before! And in Russia? Needless to say, my film’s ending isn’t as bright.”
Aronofsky is now working on his next project, a new adventure thriller titled “The Tiger.” The movie, based on John Vaillant’s book “The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival,” has been optioned by Focus Features, with Brad Pitt potentially taking a leading role.
The story tells the tale of poachers in the Primorye region in Russia’s Far East who are tracked and hunted by an “almost” supernaturally powerful Siberian tiger.
Between the graphic novel for The Fountain and, more recently, taking the director's chair on The Wolverine, not to mention his frequent talk on the subject, filmmaker Darren Aronofsky has always had a thing for comic books. Now he's got his new comic lined up, Noah, which will feature artwork from Pride of Baghdad artist Nico Henrichon.
The news comes from Bleeding Cool, which first reported on the upcoming comic back in January. The story focuses on the Biblical Noah, who under the Almighty's orders built himself a massive ship meant to house every species of animal in the world while the wicked ways of man were wiped from the face of the Earth by an apocalyptic flood. Though it seems that Aronofsky's tale will focus more on the events that occurred after the flood.
"Noah was the first person to plant vineyards and drink wine and get drunk," the filmmaker said in his earlier interview. "It’s there in the Bible – it was one of the first things he did when he reached land. There was some real survivor’s guilt going on there. He’s a dark, complicated character."
Aronofsky also hopes to bring the story to film, calling Noah's Ark "the second most famous ship since the Titanic." That's further out for now, what with The Wolverine in early production, but the comic seems to be gearing up with the addition of a talent like Henrichon.
Pride of Baghdad is a Brian K. Vaughan-penned graphic novel released in 2006. The story follows a pride of lions that escape from the Baghdad Zoo during the 2003 invasion of the Iraqi capital. The award-winning graphic novel has been praised for Henrichon's striking artwork, and he's now bringing those talents to Aronofsky's Noah.
Vincent Cassel, the smoking hot French choreographer from psycho-thriller "Black Swan", is reprising his role as the face of Yves Saint Laurent's best selling men's fragrance.From the New York Daily: Source
The actor is reteaming with his "Black Swan" director, Darren Aronofsky, for the second ad campaign for the perfume, La Nuit de L'Homme.
Though working with Aronofsky is the same on set as it is for commercials, Cassel admitted to WWD, there is a difference between portraying a character in a film and acting as a face of a fragrance.
"It is another role, but at the same time..when [people] see a movie, they think, 'Oh, it's a character.' When they see an ad, they say, 'Oh, it's him,'" he told the periodical. "But it's not."
The film for the ad, shot in Paris, revolves around Cassel playing the ultimate ladies' man attempting to seduce multiple women across the French city, all in one night.
The sexy ad campaign is set to air in parts of Europe starting at the end of March and a month or two later in the States.
