Darren Aronofsky's prickly tale of the cut-throat world of ballet

Rating: 10/10 (24 January 2011)

Black Swan is Darren Aronofsky's take on the ballet world with Natalie Portman as Nina a young and talented ballerina given the opportunity to be principal ballerina after it is deemed that the previous principal a bit part from Winona Ryder is beyond her best years. Nina is a perfectionist taking onto her small shoulders the responsibility of achieving all that her over bearing mother (played by an excellently neurotic Hershey) could not achieve. Their relationship is tense and strained at best akin to the relationship between Carrie and her mother in the Stephen King classic without the sharp flying objects. Nina finally is able to realise her dream when she lands the part of the Swan Queen in what the ballet director Thomas (Vincent Cassell) describes as a new take on the traditional Swan Lake. If only she can shake off the repression and guilt bestowed upon her by her mother. Thomas tries to use unorthodox methods of enhancing Nina's performance in an attempt to release the looser side of her nature to come to the fore to play the black swan as well as the twin Swan Queen.
However strange things are afoot and when unconventional ballerina Lily (Kunis) joins the company it is clear that Nina must still compete for her role. Lily seems to bring out Nina's darker more rebellious nature and despite Nina's initial misgivings she lets her hair down on a drink and drug fuelled night out with Lily. Nina begins to succumb to the stifling pressure from her mother coupled with the added weight of achieving the perfection she feels she has to attain to be the best.
Aronofsky has produced a masterpiece the themes of duality are played out to excellent effect with Nina trying to cope with the two opposites she has to portray in the play, the elegant and graceful Swan Queen is starkly contrasted with the dark and dangerous Black Swan. The cast is excellent with Portman giving an outstanding performance of a young woman coming to terms with her independence and burgeoning sexuality which has been heavily repressed due to her mother's controlling nature. Portman and Kunis both trained for months to get into shape to portray the incredibly fit and nubile ballerinas and this adds kudos and realism to this mesmerising picture. Aronofsky has managed to create the backstage atmosphere of a ballet company with his heightened competition bringing out the most despicable in its company members. This is most definitely a candidate for best picture and best actress.