Not Oscar Worthy

Rating: 8/10 (23 November 2011)

Darren Aronofsky is a fantastic story teller to be sure. Black Swan just falls a little short. The schizophrenia it discovers is awesome but brooding. It's too much in your face. Easily figured out.
Natalie Portman is a dancer with a disturbing childhood and an insane mother. It's all about her genesis into madness to play the Black Swan. The director her ballet company knows she's damaged and masterfully uses her fears or so it seems. After you watch it, does he?
Winona Ryder is the "old" dancer the director used up for a performance. Or, did he? Everything Portman's character experiences is from her world. She's fragile with a damaged psyche. Her mother lives vicariously through her daughter's life and is a control freak.
Ballet is no evil as portrayed. It's a character study of one becoming the Black Swan and not knowing the difference or never knowing much of anything in the first place.
Portman is brilliant. Her range of emotions is stunning. Mila Kunis is a dancer the director brought in to challenge Portman's psyche, or did he? Was Portman's mum evil? Is the director one who moves his stars into madness? Lot more to figure out.
My only problem was the ending. No closure. It's dark, which I love. I wanted to see a good Swan to the evil Swan. Such juxtaposition would have given the movie perfection and still would've challenged my psyche.
Portman deserves the Oscar. But, Chris Nolan would've made this film perfect.