Film's Successes and Failures

Rating: 9/10 (28 December 2010)

The heightening elevation of Nina's madness was extraordinarily well-done--until it reached a certain point that contained a tinge of ludicrousness. Of course, there was a climax, but the utter gruesomeness of some parts was overdone, and some other parts were much more meaningful than its neanderthal, bloody counterparts. In the end, the hallucinations were squashed together to the point where it culminated into no longer a elegant, deep climax, but a low-grade horror movie that sought to scare rather than provoke. Of course, I get it, it displays the accumulating madness of poor Ms. Portman, but really, the scenes between hallucinations and real life were so disproportional that there was a lack of contrast--something that would have greatly added to the movie. It would have relayed her afflictions to her actual actions. It is not to say, however, this was never done.
Moreover, I would like to discuss Ms. Portman's performance. I genuinely liked it at first--that furrowed brow and the incessant worry presented on her face. Until it became permanent. And more permanent. If she didn't get lasting wrinkles from this movie, I'd be surprised.
She was innocent and uptight at first--but her dark side never really showed. Well, it did for five seconds at the end (she gave a devilish, sultry smirk to Cassel), but it quickly degraded back into her muddled, "Oh god I need to pee" look. For those who say her acting was superb and reflected her transformation from a white swan to black, I disagree. All I noticed was greater brow-furrowing toward the end of the movie. Not only that, the supposed "excellence" of her acting should be mainly attributed to the circumstances she was in. It was the idea, the commendable concept of some hallucinations and actions that led people to perceive her sprouting, obsessive insanity--not her acting.
As the bad news are over, I would like to applaud the rest of the film and actors. Ms. Portman was not horrific, but it was bland to a certain degree, especially when comparing her to Mr. Cassel, Ms. Kunis, Ms. Ryder, and Ms. Hershey--most notably Mr. Cassel, who played the slavish, slimy coach extraordinarily well. Ms. Ryder played a deranged lunatic in fits of jealousy wonderfully. Ms. Hershey conveyed a distraught mother excellently and Ms. Kunis played a seductive succubus artfully as well.
The very idea, the bulk, the plot of the film was ingenious and the cinematography was sublime. The gritty feeling of the camera gave the film a cunningly dark undertone, which was what I especially enjoyed. Overall spectacular film.