Runaway Tragedy

Rating: 8/10 (24 January 2011)

Exhilarating! That says a lot about a movie about ballet, about done to death ballet, and about a tortured mind of an introvert girl.
I suppose when I do get to see a ballet, I would have much greater appreciation of the hard-work and dedication to their craft that goes behind the scenes.
As for rest of the movie, it is brilliantly made. It keeps you on the edge of your seat, because the character of Natalie Portman is a good person, so it is our natural inclination to wish a positive and happy outcome for her. However, since she is descending into madness, the suspense arises from the fact, whether she would hurt herself, or would she make it, and resolution of this fact is what gets your full attention.
Since she is called upon to perform a role that is complete opposite of her entire being, and the fact that only if she successfully transforms herself from a completely noble Swan Queen, to her diametrically opposite character of completely evil Swan swine, can she successfully make it, the audience is almost drawn into rooting for her to embrace darkness, so the real her can succeed.
There can be endless discussion of what went behind her psyche and caused complete breakdown, but it is safe to say, there were plethora of reasons. A Mom who is living through her vicariously, and to whom she doesn't want to disappoint, a Mom who has unintentionally sheltered her, and her normal development as a woman has not taken place, her limited world of home and studio, her lack of any real friends, her lack of sexual maturity, her fear of failure, her self-imposed trauma of achieving perfection, and lack of any helpful or consoling voices.
The Director of the ballet clearly lays out what Swan lake is about, and how it ends in suicide of heartbroken innocence, and it is clear to everyone, that this ballet would have no different ending. You go in expecting tragedy, sadness and self-destructive behavior, and still the actual suffering and pain shown in the movie, far exceeds your expectation. As an audience member, you feel helpless, as there is not even slightest hope of positive outcome.
The most beautiful and exhilarating sequence is when Portman's character is actually transcends her pure nature, and is able to touch the darkness. She makes it clear to her Director that whether she is late or not, and whether she is feeling good or bad, it is her role, and she will do it, unless he wants another controversy on his hand, like the retiring ballet dancer, character of Winona Ryder, who he knows jumped in front of a car on purpose. This is sort of a blackmail and it actually gives hope to people rooting for her, as you believe now she can successfully play the role of black swan.
The filming of the actual scene of black swan for the first show is just beautiful and brilliant. They show how she transforms, growing one feather at a time, and how her eyes dilate and become read, her snake like movement of her head, the force of negativity she exudes, is all brilliant. Then of course we find out, that our choice are either dead heroine or a fallen heroine, who has committed a murderer. It is better that she did not become a deranged murderer and the hurt she inflicted, was on herself.
Since this is a runaway tragedy, one wonders what can we salvage from this movie? I suppose that a moment of peace that she felt, right before her demise, knowing she reached perfection in her craft, to which she devoted her life, is something positive that one can latch to. Yes it is grasping at the straws, but the only way her tortured mind was going to find any peace, this might be her happy ending.