A beautifully violent masterpiece in every single way, except for one!

Rating: 9/10 (24 July 2011)

Black Swan is the story of Nina trying to become the top performer in her ballet class. This film absolutely portrays what some people "feel" rather than act like in the pressure of the spotlight, but it does it in a horror movie kind of way and this is what makes it brilliant!
Black Swan caught me off guard. I kind of forgot what Darren Aronofsky's films were like. Boy was I in for a roller-coaster ride!
I gripped the edge of my seat every time the dancers tipped on their tip toes (sound funny right, but a good director can make anything possible). That's just the beginning. There will be a lot more reasons to hold on to your pillow.
Every scene is acted out perfectly by the actors, and Natalie is no different. Another reviewer said she usually has no trouble showing skin, but here she does the opposite and does it perfectly. I completely agree! Natalie certainly made this movie what it is!
The only flaw of the film, in my opinion, is the sexual scenes. I do agree that maybe this delves in to the nature of the film, and maybe a sheltered, schitzo character like Nina's would go through this in real life. But it was hard for me to accept when the rest of the film shows how chauvinistic men can be. Yet chauvinistic men would probably enjoy this scene. To me that's kind of hypocritical. THERE IS a way to shoot a sex scene without making it like a porn video. So I think this could have been done better.
Also this movie just isn't for anyone and I can't give a movie a 10 that is like that. Maybe if the sex scenes were toned down I would.
(Contrary to what some reviewers say, sheltered people like Nina are very common in all walks of life making this very believable!)