Black Swan: A 'Perfect Blue' tribute or rip off?

In Black Swan, the protagonist Nina is a prima ballerina who has bagged the role of the 'Black Swan' in Tchaikovsky's ballet "Swan Lake." But her success is impeded by Lily (Mila Kunis), a sexually free and vivacious girl, who, despite her imperfect technique, makes herself a threat to Nina's role. Also present is Nina's strict mother who has repressed her, resulting in Nina being a naive girl with suppressed desires. But here on, Nina starts blurring the lines between reality and imagination and gets lost within her real and reel self.

In Perfect Blue (Pāfekuto Burū (パーフェクトブルー) , the protagonist Mima is a pop-singer now embarking on the beginning of an acting career. Her fans doubt her success and choice of film: a sexually-charged crime thriller in which Mima will portray a rape victim. As the film prorgresses, Mima garners a stalker and startes losing grip on reality. Deaths and raids occur and as the film expertly weaves the blurred realities, we’re never entirely sure what is real and what isn’t, and what Mima might be doing in real life and as part of the film, and how much the violence in the film is part of Mima’s delusions or may actually be happening.

Let's drop the blase report that both have protagonists whose names are separated by a single letter: Nina and Mima. But both characters work in the high-stress entertainment industry in one form or another, they both feel extreme pressure, and they both suffer from hallucinations, and they both are convinced they committed a murder. Things get interesting when one realizes that the director of Black Swan , Aronofsky bought the remake rights of Perfect Blue because he wanted to recreate the following scenes.

The cinematography shows striking similarity - cracked mirrors with threats on them, the repetition of paintings, reflections, bright lights and crowds.

Of course, one might say that Black Swan is not a remake of Pāfekuto Burū (パーフェクトブルー) but a live-action which acts as a tribute to the 1997 film while holding on to elements of its own. Director Aronofsky watched the movie while filming Requirem For A Dream and was said to be immediately besotted with it.

Whether or not it is a rip-off, tribute or remake will always be open to debate but that being said, both films deal with sense of insecurity that surround these women. They're both trying their best to be on top but are riddled with problems and their own selves holding them down. This results in them creating a seperate "doppelganger" or manifestation of themselves who is perfect in everything that they do. For Mima, it is an imaginary second Mima, and for Nina is the carefree Lily.

And if you're a movie buff looking for a good film to watch, I'd say watch them both for they both have their own charm.