Simply Stunning!!!!!!

Rating: 10/10 (30 January 2011)

Most notable for films such as The Wrestler, Pi and Requiem for a Dream, Director Darren Aronofsky, has delivered a powerful film that leads you down the rabbit hole of madness. This fanciful drama pushes the boundaries of normalcy, desire and the destructive pursuit of perfection; leaving you questioning your definition of insanity.
Black Swan was released in 2010. It stars Oscar nominated actress Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis (That 70's Show) and Vincent Cassel (Ocean's Thirteen). The story follows a Ballerina named Nina (Portman) who has won the lead role in a performance of Swan Lake. Nina is the personification of the Swan Queen; Princess Odette but she lacks the passion and intensity of Odile, the evil sorcerers' daughter. Thomas (Cassel), the director of the performance, see's that Nina can perform both roles and pushes her to let herself go; by any means that he sees fit. He keeps his eye on another dancer in the company, Lily (Kunis). She is everything that Nina is not. She's seductive, impulsive and dangerous to Nina's ambitious yet fearfully controlled life. Consumed by the idea of perfection Nina slowly begins to unravel and descends into an abyss of insecurity and uncertainty.
Aronofsky, has used his trademark directing skills to make you feel like you are apart of the film. Whether it is his use of sounds being heard but not seen on the screen or shooting scenes in fast motion, the direction was executed exquisitely. Visually breathtaking! The score was tearfully beautiful yet unnerving all at the same time. The music undeniably enhanced all the emotion and suspense created by all the talent that went into this film. Every performance in this film, in my opinion, is flawless. Every emotion that I can think of was invoked by this film. Each character was believable and intriguing. I was pleasantly surprised at Mila Kunis's performance. Only having seen her in "That 70's Show" my expectations were not very high. She was amazing and I look forward to seeing her in future films.
The only thing that I'm going to say that is negative is my own personal pet peeve. I felt that in the first half of the movie, the plot was playing out a little too slowly for my taste. With that being said, I would still give two tremendous thumbs up for this film. It's a must see and deserves any and all nominations it receives.