Nightmarish, horrifying, and ultimately Spectacular!

Rating: Null/10 (19 December 2010)

I had recently gathered interest in seeing Black Swan because the reviews made it out to be very original and bizarre, and that combination is something I always look for. Turns out the reviews were right.
I have only seen two other films by Darren Aronofsky- The Fountain and The Wrestler. While The Fountain was a good film, it was heavily flawed but it did try something unique and was a visual experience. The Wrestler was the complete opposite. It turned out to be a better film than The Fountain but it had a much more conventional storyline with great characters and his direction was very simple and realistic. Here, we have a film that combines elements of both those films.
Black Swan is very much as much of a horror film as the genre tends to look for. Actually, it is much more horrifying than I would expect all of the award groups to be noticing, which is why I am surprised by the awards it has garnered. It is a film of mystifying beauty. If you are looking for subtle direction and writing, look elsewhere. Aronofsky thrives on the over-the-top theatrical style with loud, classical music. He gives the film a nightmarish feeling of mystery and dread while still focusing on Nina. Natalie Portman goes all out in this one, creating a character who seems like much of what we have seen before but whose dedication to the project might be her flaw. I do not want to give much away, so I will stop there. I am surprised by how far Mila Kunis has come, the girl from That 70s Show. Her role is small, but I cannot imagine anyone else in the role and am glad Aronofsky took a risk with her.
Black Swan is certainly not a film for everyone, and let's appreciate it even more for that. It is certainly Aronofsky's only near-masterpiece thus far (and by near I mean that it is a hard film to truly grasp on first viewing, so more viewings are in store). Also that ending is masterful and compares with The Wrestler in that respect.