Natalie Portman's Best Performance

Rating: 9/10 (2 August 2011)

I've sort of fallen away from Darren Aronofsky over the past few years. I loved both PI and REQUIEM FOR A DREAM, but the unenthusiastic reviews for THE FOUNTAIN kept me from running out to see it and I've still not gotten around to THE WRESTLER. I probably wouldn't have even bothered with BLACK SWAN due to my complete disinterest in all things ballet-related except all the critical buzz caught my attention. And it doesn't hurt that Natalie Portman is probably my favorite actress working in Hollywood at the moment. The film focuses on Nina Sayers (Portman), a dedicated ballerina who aspires to perfection in her craft at the constant encouragement of her mother (Barbara Hershey), a former ballerina past her prime who never reached the spotlight. When her ballet troupe is to set to begin rehearsals for Swan Lake, Nina is determined to acquire the starring role of the Swan Queen/Black Swan but her instructor (Vincent Cassel) finds her too controlled. Enter Lily: a wild child from San Francisco who urges Nina to unleash her wild side. Soon, Nina's psyche begins to crack under the pressure of her obsession with the role and her delving into the passionate mind of the Black Swan.
I love a good film that deals with a person's descent into madness and if there's one thing Aronofsky appears to understand, it's madness. From the beginning, we see small signs that all is not right in the mind of Portman's Nina. Her mother is an obviously overbearing sort, living her ballet dreams vicariously through the successes of her daughter. Her mother's blatant mental abuse has taken a toll on Nina and it's made apparent when she nearly loses her chance to tackle the dual role of the Swan Queen/Black Swan in her company's rendition of Swan Lake. Thomas Leroy, director of the ballet company, feels Nina is perfect in technique but lacks the passion and ability to let loose for the role of the Black Swan. As Nina succumbs to Leroy's sexual tensions and the arrival of party-girl Lily, we watch as Nina suffers worse and worse hallucinations as well as bizarre transformations as Nina slowly embodies the Black Swan.
I think what I found most appealing about this film was Natalie Portman. She's definitely a strong actress (see V FOR VENDETTA) but here we see her as a tortured individual whose grip on reality is slipping. She nails it here and, while I can't say for certain because I hadn't seen any of the other Best Actress nominees, she seems to me deserving of the Oscar she won (or at least worthy of the nomination). Mila Kunis takes an interesting turn. I'm so accustomed to seeing her in goofy comedies (FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL) that it was interesting to see her take on more of a "bad girl" image and prove that serious drama is in her realm of talent. I am also to see that Aronofsky maintains the unique style of his filmmaking I loved in his early films and it's given me motivation to check out the few I've missed. BLACK SWAN is a taut thriller in my opinion, despite what nay-saying I've heard from friends and those online. It's a tense film and the final act in which Nina's mind finally crumbles in the Swan Lake performance is one of the best sequences I'd watched all year.