A good film which man not be for everyone,

Rating: 8/10 (11 January 2011)

BLACK SWAN Nina is a ballerina in a New York City ballet company who lives with her obsessive former ballerina mother. The company will begin it's new season with Swan Lake, a ballet which requires a dancer who can play both the White Swan with innocence and grace, and the Black Swan which represents guile and sensuality. Nina fits the White Swan role perfectly but Lily, her competition is the personification of the Black Swan. As Nina attempts to fill both roles she begins to get more in touch with her dark side and assume the persona of each.
The film keeps you thinking throughout. The harsh reality of the extreme physical nature of professional dancing is well presented and Black Swan dips into the emotional nightmare it can become. Despite this aspect of the film it never begs sympathy of the audience but the dancers merely go about their business of pushing the body to it's limits. Whilst this is not specifically a dance film, and is not an adaptation of Swan Lake, there are enough truly graceful scenes to be enjoyed by those who appreciate the artform.
The cast are for the most part faultless, Natalie Portman is vulnerable when she is required to be and demonic when called upon, Barbara Hershey is quite brilliant as the overbearing and rather quite scary mother whilst Mila Kunis is pleasantly surprising in her role. So well did she fit into the role of Lila that at no point in the film did i think of Meg Griffin. There are some brief moments which could be considered of the horror/genre but the film never really edges into that arena. Instead the first half of the film is spent on character and plot development, we are drawn quite far into the film before things begin to take a turn. This i felt showed patience on the part of the director and a trust that the audience would stay with it. Despite such a long build up the film does not drag for a combination of plot, events and dance keep you interested and involved.
Black Swan is a compelling film, it needs thought and attention, unsurprisingly it is not for everyone. I enjoyed it.
8/10