Black Swan (2010) Fox Searchlight/Drama-Thriller RT: 108 minutes Rated R (strong sexual content, disturbing violent images, language, some drug use) Director: Darren Aronofsky Screenplay: Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz and John McLaughlin Music: Clint Mansell Cinematography: Matthew Libatique Release date: December 3, 2010 (US) Cast: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder, Benjamin Millepied, Ksenia Solo, Kristina Anapau, Janet Montgomery, Sebastian Stan, Toby Hemingway, Sergio Torrado, Mark Margolis, Tina Sloan. Box Office: $106.9M (US)/$329.3M (World)
Rating: ****
I always knew there was a dark side to ballet. Leave it to Darren Aronofsky to put it on display for the whole world to see. In his films, he takes viewers to the bleakest corners of humanity and shows them bad things in an uncompromising manner. He explored dark themes in Pi (math and its relation to the universe), Requiem for a Dream (drug addiction) and The Wrestler (the price of fame). In his mind-bending psychological thriller Black Swan, he looks at how an artist suffers for her work. She literally loses herself in her art.
Set in the highly competitive world of professional ballet, the story centers on ballerina Nina (Portman, V for Vendetta) and her efforts to play the lead roles in a new, visceral version of Swan Lake. Egotistical director Thomas (Cassel, Eastern Promises) knows she has what it takes to dance White Swan, but doubts her ability to dance Black Swan. He feels she’s too much of a perfectionist and too inhibited to lose herself completely in the role. It’s no wonder, she’s been sheltered her entire life by her overprotective mother, former dancer Erica (Hershey, Beaches), who still treats her like a little girl. They live together in a small apartment that sometimes feels more like a jail cell with Mom as warden.
Nina gets the coveted dual role which raises the ire of the company’s aging prima ballerina Beth (Ryder, Little Women) who’s being forced to retire. Actually, it’s more like she’s being thrown away and replaced with a newer model. She and Thomas used to be lovers; now she’s convinced Nina slept with him to get the part.
The weirdness starts with the appearance of Lily (Kunis, That 70s Show), a new member of the company who might or might not be trying to steal the lead role. According to Thomas, she possesses the uninhibited quality Nina lacks. She dances with feeling whereas Nina favors technique. She’s equally fascinated by and jealous of Lily. The two dancers, at once professional rivals and sisters in ballet slippers, form a friendship that’s as toxic as it is intoxicating for Nina who’s never been close to anyone but her mother. Along the way, the line between reality and fantasy begins to blur for Nina. The more she gets into the role of Black Swan; the more her dream life and waking life become as one.
Yes, Black Swan is one of those psychological thrillers that make you question reality and what you see happening on-screen. What’s real and what’s not? Could Lily be a figment of Nina’s fevered mind? It’s like a twisty, warped blend of 42nd Street, All About Eve and The Red Shoes by way of Jacob’s Ladder. It also brings to mind previous films by Aronofsky like Pi (madness brought on by an impossible quest for perfection) and The Wrestler (single-minded professionalism destroying one’s personal life). Whatever the case may be, I LOVE IT!
Portman deservedly won an Oscar for her mind-blowing performance in Black Swan. I knew she was destined for such an honor since I first saw her in 1994’s Leon the Professional. Forget what you saw in the Star Wars prequels; she’s the real deal. Her role in Aronofsky’s film asks a lot of her both psychologically and physically. Not only does she meet the challenge, she exceeds it without seeming excessive. Nina is obsessed with perfection to the point of being driven mad trying to attain it. She has spent her life trying to please those who can never be pleased- i.e. her mother, her director- at great cost. The virginal woman-child has no social life outside of work and home. Lily, wonderfully played by Kunis, represents sexual desire, but how can Nina free herself from the bounds of sexual repression enforced by her smothering mother? Their relationship, if you think about it, is a form of psychological incest.
In the role of Mom, Hershey delivers a perfectly calibrated performance. Her love for her daughter is real even if she’s a bit unbalanced herself. She’s dedicated her whole life to grooming her daughter to be the dancer she wanted to be. Cassel is completely convincing as the arrogant, autocratic director who pushes and pushes Nina to free herself from herself. Ryder is also good as the jealous former star of the dance company. This is where Nina could be in 10 years.
I love Black Swan. I love everything about it from the first-rate performances to Aronofsky’s brilliant direction to the flawless script by Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz and John McLaughlin. The dance choreography and music are beautiful and suitably intense. The cinematography by frequent Aronofsky collaborator Matthew Libatique is also incredible. He uses a hand-held camera to follow Portman, with her hair tied in a severe bun, to make it feel like we’re following behind her in her descent into insanity. It’s a trippy journey. There is NOTHING wrong with Black Swan. Aronofsky achieves the perfection sought by his disturbed protagonist. It’s dark, brilliant, crazy and I LOVE IT!
