Nice Images but Never Takes Full Flight

Rating: 5/10 (18 January 2011)

I get it. I really do. Beautifully filmed and imagined, with excellent performances from Portman and Cassel, with the latter continuing to build on an impressive series of character roles. I get the duality, the struggle with one's-self, the domineering mother and even the psycho-sexual elements. But. And there are so many buts when thinking about this film. It was predictable, it was uninspired, it was clichéd.
The visuals, the score, the direction ooze considerable quality - yet are let down badly - by a poor and clichéd script. The scene where Nina's mother said, "The career I gave up to have you!" (it should have been me) had me wincing then chuckling; and the ageing Beth taking a swipe at the up and coming Nina by screaming "Whore!" (and worse!) had me rolling my eyes; and the final insult to our intelligence comes at the end when Cassel does indeed call Nina his "princess" (as predicted by Lily), had me checking to see if I was watching something on the True Movies channel. It even forced the stereotype of the 'diet stressed dancer' – in the scene where her mother buys a cake to celebrate her becoming the Swan Queen we hear Nina say that its too big a piece her mother has just cut - when of course it isn't. I could go on but I won't. A very poor effort indeed.
And it wasn't a new story. I felt as if I had seen it all before, in several different films and in several different genres. The end was predictable - the first 20 minutes of the film saw to that.
This film was 'clever' in many ways, but it was disappointing in many more. I am a big fan of the director, and appreciate all his technical cleverness and his interpretation. This is the type of film where the audience will either love it and consider it incredible, or see past the lovely images and ideas, and be unmoved by it. I am one of the latter.