I have never had more people ask me what I thought about any movie more than Black Swan. You don’t have to be a ballet aficionado to appreciate this film and the fine performances in it. On the other hand, if you don’t like Director Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler, Requiem of a Dream, Pi) or psychological thrillers with a fair amount of violence and sex, you might not love this film. But if you are looking for originality, exceptional performances, and a movie that will haunt you for days, see Black Swan.
Black Swan (Natalie Portman, Victor Cassel, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder) – I think I just saw the Best Picture of 2010. It is unique, creative, haunting, sexy, scary, mind-blowing, painful and unnerving. Since Julie wouldn’t see it because of the violence or gore she has heard about, I am sure that Black Swan will be among the very top contenders. Natalie Portman will certainly get an Oscar nomination, and she deserves it. Other actors ought to, also.
Portman plays Nina Sayers, a top ballet dancer who seeks to break out of the “chorus” and get her big shot as the lead in Swan Lake. (Portman did all of her own dancing in the film, losing 20 pounds she never had in the process). Nina is the ultimate perfectionist, nurtured and dominated by her mother (an aging Barbara Hershey). Nina lives and breathes ballet … and not in a good way. Her mother alludes to her scratching herself “again,” and we see scratches on her back that get worse the closer she gets to her big day. Meanwhile, Thomas Leroy, the brilliant and demanding director of the ballet company (played brilliantly by French actor Victor Cassel of two of the Oceans films and Derailed), knows that Nina’s time has come but he worries that she won’t be able to soar and free herself to play the flawed, cruel, dark “black swan”; he has no doubt she can handle the “white swan.”
If the script and characters stopped here, you might have a fine film but not a psychological thriller. That element is provided by the addition of Lily, a new dancer with the company, who is either a fun-loving free spirit (the polar opposite of Nina) or the devil incarnate, out to get Nina and take her lead role. Played by versatile Mila Kunis, the Russian-born actress who came to the U.S. at age seven and who has played in everything from reefer comedies like Forgetting Sarah Marshall to indies like Extract and comedies like Date Night. She is an almost perfect choice here since her dark good looks make her the perfect metaphor for the black swan.
Mix these characters together, and you could have a mess. Enter the touch of Director Darren Aronofsky, the young director you either love or hate. Aronofsky directed Oscar-nominated The Wrestler (featuring Mickey Rourke’s Oscar-nominated performance) and Requiem for a Dream (for which Ellen Burstyn got an Oscar nod). Here, he uses some of his classic cinematographic techniques – whirling, hand-held camera shots (from a Snorricam, a device that is rigged to the body of the actor), quick cuts, and pounding music (even Tchaikovsky) – to duplicate and punctuate Nina’s plight. With Aronofsky, you either go with the flow or tune out. I dare you to tune Black Swan out. Aronofsky knows how to depict drug addiction and perhaps mental illness, using a former prima ballerina (played by Winona Ryder) as his surrogate.
This film is about the quest for perfection, the mind games to which perfectionists are susceptible, and the lengths to which athletes, performers and their entourage go to master their craft. Don’t miss it.