From Black Swan to Jackie, these are Natalie Portman's best indie films.
Israeli-American actress Natalie Portman has a rich acting career, knowing her from her performances in Star Wars, Jackie, or Black Swan. She began acting at the age of 12 and quickly developed from the screen to the Broadway stage, but her major breakthrough was in Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace. Her career took off, and although she was a young man when she first entered the industry, she paved a unique path for herself. After starring in V is For Vendetta and The Other Boleyn Girl, honors and nominations began to accumulate, eventually earning Portman an Oscar for Black Swan.
One of her main mainstream roles was in the Thor movies, and in 2022 she played Jane Foster again in Thor: Love and Thunder. While Portman has had a plethora of appearances in blockbusters and two Broadway shows, some of her best productions have been in independent films she starred in. It is in this kind of work that Portman can show her depth as an actress, giving her the opportunity to shine in provocative roles. This is Portman's list of the best independent films.
5 Anywhere But Here
Portman initially almost turned down her role in Anywhere But Here, as it was a sex scene that didn't fit her age, but, after the script was rewritten, she wanted to join the cast herself, and she officially joined the project. Portman plays Ann, the teenage daughter of Adele (Susan Sarandon), who moves them to Beverly Hills. Adele wants her daughter to be a Hollywood actress, but that's not what Ann wants. As Adele's career and personal life continue to evolve, Ann dreams of nothing but fleeing the family when tragedy unfolds. Everywhere but here, there is a story about adulthood, which is made up of a chemical reaction between the two heroines. As an early foreword to films like Lady Bird (except Anywhere), Portman's fans are worth a look.
4 Paris, I love you
Paris, je t'aime is an anthology film with Joel and Ethan Cohen, Alfonso Curon and Isabelle Coxte among the 22 directors. In two hours, there are a total of 18 short films that tell the collective story of Paris as a city, although the location of each short film is technically different - although it is set inside Paris. Portman starred in a short film directed by Tom Tikwar that tells the story of a blind man who thinks his girlfriend has broken up with him. The whole plot is about him reflecting on their relationship and how everything ended up going down. In Paris, je t'aime captures the heart and soul of Paris, although most of its directors are not French or Parisian.
3 The Darjeeling Limited
Before the French Express or the Grand Budapest, there was Wes Anderson's The Darjeeling Limited. Owen Wilson, Adrian Brody and Jason Schwartzman were separated brothers whose father died a year before the film's events. They agreed to meet in India after a period of separation, and they met at Darjeeling Ltd. across the Himalayas. As the train sailed to some of the most remote parts of the country, one of the brothers confessed, which made the relationship between the brothers even more tense. Still, The Darjeeling Limited is a story about the brothers' psychological journey and a story about the physical journey of the whole of India, a country where none of them are natives.
2 Jackie
2016's Jackie, directed by Pablo Larrion, aims to subvert expectations of who can tell a tragic story. Portman, who played Jacqueline Kennedy in the days after her husband's assassination, provided a quiet portrait of the grief and trauma of a real person. For many, Kennedy's experience after her husband's death is unthinkable, but Jackie brings these moments to life, though it does connect her to the life and death of the masculine figure in her life, rather than treating her as an independent but interconnected being. The film was based on a magazine in 1963 by Kennedy. This scene is also integrated into the film itself.
1 Black Swan
Black Swan was one of Portman's best performances of his career to date, and it was this role that earned her an Oscar for Best Actress. Director Darren Aronofsky was so fascinated by Dostoevsky's concept of Double and Double Angel that he saw Mira Kunis and Natalie Portman as rivals for playing white swans and black swans. Nina (Portman), who plays the White Swan, knows she's initially a good fit for the role, but as she slowly succumbs to the pressures of competition and mental health, she starts to go crazy. One thing is certain: Without Portman's incredible performance, it probably wouldn't have performed as well on screen.