The performance of a lifetime by Natalie Portman...

Rating: 10/10 (10 February 2011)

There is a lot to enjoy in Black Swan.
The supporting cast, particularly Vincent Cassel and Mila Kunis are terrific. Both give memorable performances and play key roles in the development of the story.
Darren Arenofsky ensures lively and creative direction. The ballet sequences are well choreographed, thrusting us right in to the heart of the action.
Arenofsky also places a strict emphasis on characterisation, tone and theme. It is these three elements which give the film its superbly dark, tense and claustrophobic feel.
But the star of the show is undoubtedly Natalie Portman, as lead ballerina Nina Sayers. There are two main reasons for this:
First - Natalie Portman's physical performance. I have heard that Portman underwent 10 months of intensive ballet training for the role. To my 'untrained eye', she expertly captured the beauty and poise of an authentic ballerina. Her competence in this most difficult and uncompromising of art forms is an impressive achievement in itself.
Second - Natalie Portman's outstanding character performance. I felt Portman captured every nuance of Nina Sayers' personality to perfection. A young woman's journey through joy, despair, doubt, confusion, jealousy, vulnerability, passion and lust are laid bare for us all to experience. I left the cinema really feeling like I knew Nina Sayers personally.
Natalie Portman's performance was undoubtedly the finest I have seen by an actress in a leading role, to date.
For that reason, I recommend this unique and compelling film to anyone.
10/10.