Obsession for Perfection and Madness

Rating: 7/10 (8 May 2011)

In New York, the twenty-eight year-old Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) is a dedicated and perfectionist ballerina of the ballet company that lives with her controller mother and former ballerina Erica Sayers (Barbara Hershey). The director Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) decides to renovate the company for the next season that will open with the Swan Lake with a new face and retires the prima ballerina Beth MacIntyre (Winona Ryder). Nina is his first option to perform The Swan Queen, perfect for the role of the White Swan, but too restrained to perform the Black Swan. Nina feels threatened by the newcomer Lily (Mila Kunis), who can perfectly perform the Black Swan, and is stressed with the situation. When Nina has a nervous breakdown, she gets in contact with her dark side and has constant nightmarish daydreams.
"Black Swan" is a beautiful but predictable film of Darren Aronofsky, with a cinematography that gives a nightmarish environment to the story that is too dark for a drama and too dramatic for a horror movie. Natalie Portman has a great performance but her character is too naive and with lack of confidence for a New Yorker indicated to be the prima ballerina of a ballet company. The theme is a variation of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with the case of split personality but the film does not justify the hype around it. My vote is seven.
Title (Brazil): "Cisne Negro" ("Black Swan")