The darker side of ballet.

Rating: 8/10 (28 May 2011)

No way to get around it; a well choreographed mess. A stark melodrama about a very serious and ambitious New York City ballet dancer Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman)landing the dream position of a dancer's lifetime...that of the lead in "Swan Lake". The dance director Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel)has a delicate concept of the lead being a sharp balance between the white and black swan; and he knows his former prima ballerina Beth Macintyre (Winona Ryder)is too old for the part. Nina has proved to be solid, hard working and self absorbed in her own perfection. Can she even pull off being the "Swan Queen"? She is driven and manipulated by her mother Erica (Barbara Hershey); but even worse is her own neurotic vision of body image. A beautiful new dancer, Lily (Mila Kunis)joins the dance troupe and impresses Thomas and has Nina obsessing her as a major rival trying to take her new found prominence . Nina searches for absolute perfection and begins her battle with paranoia and delusion. She seems coerced in getting in touch with her darker side via a sexual relationship with Lily...imagined or not it builds self confidence with a deeper descent in mental collapse.
Kudos to director Darren Aronofsky for this psychological thriller. In spite of Kunis all but stealing the show; Portman dances away with the Academy Award. Also in the cast: Benjamin Millepied, Kristina Anapau, Ksenia Solo, Sergio Torrado and Mark Margolis. Rated R for the very sensual scenes between Portman and Kunis. (And I am not one to complain).