Finally, ballerinas have their "Fight Club"

Rating: 8/10 (28 December 2010)

All I can say is, Darren Aronofskyyou've done it again. And what he's done is manage to guide the audience of "Black Swan" down a rabbithole of self-realization and graphic, symbolic obviousness. I've been watching his works since "Pi," but it seems he's transformed his goals to answer one question, "How can I completely confuse an audience while making them want more at the same time?" Even his self-released commentary for "The Fountain" was shrouded with vague mystery, attempting to describe the process of filming the movie without giving away the full story, yet hinting at clues throughout the film. If the audience is Watson to Aronofsky's Sherlock Holmes, Watson would've turned in his 2-week-notice by now. Getting back to the film, the cinematography was brilliantly stark and remarkable, even though most scenes were shot during ballet practice with no scenery. When there was scenery -- the devilish artwork, the club scenes, the dressing-up of Natalie Portman's character's room – it was like visiting another world. Portman's acting really shines through along with Mila Kunis as they perfected several months of vigorous dance-training and dieting to achieve these character's mindsets, and that's before adding all of the psychological damage Portman's character goes through in this film. Clint Mansell makes a return to do the scoring in the film, which is traditionally-based around the ballet themes but with a modern, low-key twist. Cheers to the Chemical Brothers for making a fantastic track during the club scene, by the way. I do think the addition of the Kronos Quartet would have been an awesome choice to fit into a ballet recital, but one can't have everything, I suppose. Overall, the film will keep you enthralled to figure out what's really going on with these characters in the same way "Fight Club" held so many's attentions during that film, but it's up to the viewer to decide what her outcome really is.