Abstract

In the article there are described methods and functions of swan motif used in films Picnic at Hanging Rock by Peter Weir and Black Swan by Darren Aronofsky. In the work of Australian director very important on that matter are the following: the main character (Miranda), pictorial intertexts, plot structure and some of the formal elements. In Black Swan various connections between the film and Peter Tchaikovsky’s ballet Swan Lake are crucial. In the article there is also presented initiation process of both film characters, which is important for the swan motif. It is an area of comparison of these relatively different works as well. Last part of the article discusses elements of kitsch in the mentioned motif (because of considerable amount of it in low standard art) and tries to prove that methods of exploiting the swan motif by both Peter Weir and Darren Aronofsky are far from kitsch.