A series of clichés that left me annoyed

Rating: 3/10 (14 February 2011)

I doubted whether I'd like this movie, as I'm a dancer myself, and never can quite get into the story when the actors are not dancers themselves (you can tell when it switches from actor to real dancer and vice-versa and that's all you notice in the end). However, I was nicely surprised on this occasion, as I thought Natalie Portman was REALLY believable as a dancer (and I guess the director made a point of blurring the effects from real dancer to Portman, which is a nice change to many other films depicting ballet).
So, after 5-10 min of the film starting, I thought, actually, I'm going to enjoy this very much!! But no, it wasn't to be... The oppressive mother, the frigid 'white' swan that is Portman and the eating disorder: all these are great clichés that just simply aren't the norm. Once people realise that ballerinas are simply great athletes but do not live in world of their own, they may appreciate the art form a lot more(dancers have a life outside the studio, otherwise, they would indeed not survive -was that the aim of the film? to tell us it's a harsh, harsh life to be a dancer? I must have missed the point then).
I thought there are several faults in that film that makes it cringe-worthy to watch: the pushy mother-who-was-once-a-ballerina-but-never-quite-made-it so makes her daughter's life a misery? Really?; The frigid dancer who cannot get into the role of the black swan -I mean, come on, how hard is it to embrace your dark side? If you're a dancer, at this level, you know how to change your personality from the age of 10!!; the cliché of the artistic director sleeping with all of the female dancers, and the bullying that is permitted at rehearsals? I mean again, come on!! We don't live in the 19th Century!! Those practices are no longer permitted and it's like nobody cares what TRULY happens in a dance studio (it would have been a LOT better if they had consulted real professionals). Some aspects however were actually quite well represented (the preparation of dance shoes, like burning the ribbons, almost daily sewing of elastics, ribbons, etc and training that is constant).
Overall though, it made me feel like I'd rather attend a company rehearsal (more boring in that all you see is dancers repeat the same steps) than watch this film again. I went on the recommendation of a friend, who said he was 'mesmerised' by the role and the film left him shiver with pleasure. I think we probably don't have the same taste in films, and he's definitely not 'au fait' with what dancers are about anymore... I would certainly not recommend it to my friends, dancers or not.
Shame, because I wanted to like it, and to be fair to Portman, she does quite a good job as a dancer (in fact, I'm quite in awe about what she achieved after only a year of practice).