Cinema Atlas Connection

Darren Aronofsky screened Ingmar Bergman's Persona and John Cassavetes's A Woman Under the Influence for Natalie Portman before filming began — these are the films that showed him how to make a psychological breakdown feel bodily. Bergman's Persona is the direct model: an identity that dissolves under pressure, two women who begin to merge. The horror in Black Swan is Bergman horror — no monsters, just the face.