It wasn't THAT good.

Rating: 4/10 (15 March 2011)

I have to say I slightly enjoyed the movie but I think this was due in part to Tchaikovsky, and also due to my ability to fast forward through scenes of Portman's face and pointless gore. This movie was just ridiculous. I watched it on recommendation from my boyfriend who said "It's just awesome, oh my god, so awesome. The ending will blow your mind!" Well I guess the lesbian sex scene was why he felt that way, but what do you expect from a guy?
I found myself laughing through most of it - most especially the part where she pulls feathers out of her back in horror! Oh no! That was the cheesiest thing I have ever seen. And then to top it off, her legs snap back into an avian orientation. Thats some symbolism people. Then she has an E trip which was just an absurd part of the movie which I fast forwarded. Also, if you have half a brain, you can figure out the ending about 10 minutes in. My mind wasn't blown. It's still quite intact.
As a psychiatric nurse, I deal with schizophrenics constantly. The portrayal of the illness is accurate enough, though I'm not sure how Natalie Portman developed it in a day - the trigger being obtaining the role of the swan I guess. I raise my eyebrow. The weird people chasing her around reminded me of Perfect Blue - a Satoshi Kon movie which is slightly similar but much better. I don't know, I feel that many critically acclaimed American films are cheap knock off's of old Japanese masterpieces *hem hem* Avatar. I really don't understand why people liked this so much. I guess it's one of those movies people watch to seem pretentious by saying they liked it.
Redeeming qualities of this movie are: The dance director was great, the art direction was great, the music was beautiful. Tchaikovsky, man.
IF YOU HAVE A PHOBIA ABOUT FINGERNAIL MUTILATION AS I DO - be cautious. I warned you. It's nasty.