Almost perfection

Rating: 9/10 (23 February 2011)

When I first told my university friends that I wanted to watch Black Swan, I was responded to by being called 'gay'. Despite this, I went to the cinema to watch it with old school friends, as was not disappointed despite all the hype this film has been given. It turned out that some of the scenes in the movie make it quite far removed from being a 'gay' movie. In short, the movie is a very well made psychological journey, similar to that of Fight Club, although it somehow manages to avoid becoming a cliché, notably for me by not adding a cheesy flashback reel at the end to show 'what really happened'. It is also worth adding that the film never attempts to hide the fact that a lot of the events, or at least what we are allowed to perceive, all happens in the head of Nina Sayers, the protagonist.
To add a very brief synopsis of the story, an eager and hardworking, but innocent, ballet dancer lands the role of the white swan and black swan in a new version of Swan Lake. During the film, Nina is taken along a psychological trip where the pressures of being 'perfect' for the role often distorts what is really happening through very creepy hallucinations, where she eventually completes a change of character and 'becomes' the black swan. Although the makers deny that this is a comment on the world of ballet, I think it is clear for all to see that the primary purpose of the film was to do this.
It is very worth pointing out that Natalie Portman's performance in this film was mesmerising on so many levels. Firstly, the traditional acting element of her performance is done with a great level of skill. She starts the film with a really innocent and vulnerable look in her eyes, and ends it being the evil black swan, all of which can be read directly from her face. Praise for this level of subtle acting is important and must be credited greatly. Then there's the dancing. Not being a ballet expert myself (in fact I have only ever seen a short segment of a ballet live in my life), it is hard for me to give a detailed comment, except what I could see through my ignorance. To paraphrase one ballet expert, Portman pretends to be a dancer very well. Naturally, she was never going to pick up the technique that people spend their lives learning and get it completely right, but she does a very good job at it. If I had not known that she only spent a year learning, I would be happy to accept that Portman had been dancing for her entire life if I was told. For me, the overall level of acting in this movie, traditional and dancing combined, this is truly one of the better performances I have seen in film.
Some of the feedback from the world of ballet was that the film was an inaccurate portrayal of the world of ballet, to which the film makers responded in agreement, as mentioned earlier. However, I think the world of ballet would try their hardest to disguise the truth if it was the case, so I encourage people to draw their own conclusions. I would argue that Black Swan has actually helped the industry, since my friends and I, and probably I high percentage of people that watch the movie, are now keen to watch Swan Lake to see it in its real form.
This is the type of movie that I would be happy to give a 10/10, although this would devalue the true greats. As a result, Black Swan gets one less.