Black Swan

Rating: 10/10 (23 March 2017)

I have a very hit and miss relationship with Darren Aronofsky's films. I couldn't stand Requiem for a Dream but quite enjoyed The Wrestler. Pi was wonderful, and I remember disliking Black Swan when I first watched it shortly after its release. I am thankful that I watched Black Swan again because, after this second critical viewing, I experienced so much more technique fused with a narrative that I enjoyed. Black Swan follows Nina Sayers as she transforms herself into the perfect portrayal of the Swan Queen in Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake". As she becomes more consumed by the role, she begins to lose her grip on the line between perception and reality. Starring Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis, the 2010 film by Darren Aronofsky was a brilliant psychological exploration illustrating the depths someone will go to achieve another person's idea of perfection.
Always chasing her big break, Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) is a ballerina who is constantly practicing and working on her technique when she hears that Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) the artistic director of a New York City ballet company is casting Swan Lake. The director is one that Nina is desperate to impress as she joins the countless others vying for the lead of the production. At any other time, the lead would have gone to company favorite, Beth Macintyre, but now that she has been forced to retire, Thomas is looking for another star which heightens the intensity of the auditions. No one needs the role as much as Nina, who lives with her overly involved mother, a former ballerina who now lives vicariously through her daughter. Thomas recognizes Nina's ability and has no reservations that she can capture the essence of the beautiful and graceful white swan piece of the performance. It is the darkness needed to portray the black swan that Thomas believes Nina may not be able to capture. Thomas begins using manipulative measures in order to bring about a darkness he has never before seen in Nina. The manipulation of Thomas, and the internalized pressures Nina puts on herself to become someone else and replace Beth brings her to hallucinations and an inability to discern between what is actually going on and what is going on in her mind. Thomas also begins to pit her against another dancer, Lily (Mila Kunis) who he believes has no problem capturing the essence of the black swan. With that added element of competition and insecurity, Nina loses her grip on reality even further and begins to fall victim to the circumstances around her.
Darren Aronofsky's camera work especially the constant movement and out-of-focus shots were a genius way to illustrate the constant whirlwind of what was going on in Nina's psyche. The exploration of Nina losing more of her own individuality as she attempts to become another person was brilliantly executed by Aronofsky. As she spends more time with Lily and sees the ease with which she lives her life, she begins to convince herself that becoming more like Lily will be to her benefit. The more she actively tries to become another person, however, she loses her own uniqueness that initially inspired Thomas to select her for the lead in the first place. Another interesting aspect of Black Swan is the hallucinations the audience is allowed to experience from Nina's perspective. Just as Nina is unsure of which of her experiences are happening in her mind and which are taking place in actuality, the audience is also left to wonder what is actually happening. With an ending in which has been discussed since the film released, Black Swan is an exquisite turn in the filmography of director Darren Aronofsky.