Incredibly Effective Sexual-Thriller

Rating: Null/10 (27 December 2010)

Black Swan (2010)
**** (out of 4)
Brilliant sexual-thriller about dancer Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) who must put up with her over demanding mother (Barbara Hershey) while at the same time preparing herself for the breakthrough role in Swan Lake. Slowly she begins to lose focus of what's going on due to the director (Vincent Cassel) of the show pushing her too hard and another girl (Mila Kunis) who might want to steal the part. BLACK SWAN, the latest film from Aronofsky, comes as a true tour-de-force and I really can't think of a better structured thriller in the past several decades. I'm sure had Hitchcock himself lived long enough to use the visual medium available today as well as the sexuality that you can get away with today then even he would have been impressed by the end result here. This is an extremely sexually charged movie yet it doesn't contain a single frame of nudity. Aronofsky has pulled off something rather remarkable because the film is like a big puzzle where if one small piece wasn't in the right place then everything around it would just crumble. A lot of credit must go to the director who wants against paints a visual nightmare but also the cast members who are downright eerie in how great they are. What really worked so well here is that you never quite know if what you're seeing is real or not. You enter one reality only to come out in a dream and then possibly continue to be in this dream for the rest of the picture. The way Aronofsky pulls this off is like watching a master working a piano because the director clearly has the audience in his hands and doesn't let them go.
As with his previous film THE WRESTLER, it's fair to say that this movie shows what countless others movies had in that it's about jealousy, fear and of course the hard work a professional must do in order to be perfect at their craft. What separates this film is the hellish vision from Aronofsky who uses all sorts of horror elements a lot better than the majority of films that actually try to call themselves a part of that genre. The torments that stalk Nina range from haunting visions to self-mutilation and the pain she feels is easily felt by the viewer. The director keeps the events in the film happening so fast that you can't help but feel like Nina as everything starts to spin out of control and Hell itself finally comes crashing down. The visual look of the film is superb as it ranges from some dark stuff like neo-realism to a beautiful ballet piece at the end. Portman delivers without question the greatest work of her career, which is saying quite a bit as she's always been very reliable no matter what she's doing. The obsession that her character struggles with is beautiful put to film by Portman and you can't help but feel as if you're watching a real dancer and of course someone who really is losing their mind. Hershey will certainly be seen by many as a villain but I loved the way the actress played it. She's not a cold-blooded snake of a villain but instead someone who tries to do good but by trying too hard they become bad. Kunis is so seduction in her part that she's the perfect opposite for Portman and you can't help but believe and feel the two's relationship as the movie goes along. Cassel also turns in a marvelous performance as does Winona Ryder in her small role as the former dancer who is on her way out. BLACK SWAN is a masterpiece of sexual tension and psychological fear. It's a hard film to describe and I'm sure you could show it to a hundred different people and they could all give you a different option of what the film is and what it was trying to do. The film is a real work of art and something that once again proves that Aronofsky is someone to keep an eye on.