This review may contain spoilers:

Rating: Null/10 (23 April 2012)

The film Black Swan shows that the mind has a special aptitude for greatness; however, once pushed to the limit, it can also become vulnerable and pose countless problems. Everyone is exposed to instability, especially if our environment or our life experiences becomes a factor. Our minds are beautiful but complex. Natalie Portman behaves as an unstable young girl, 'Nina Sayers', who is longing for acceptance by her aggressive artistic director 'Thomas Leroy', played by Vincent Cassel; in this twisted story of determination and fate.
Nina's surprising transformation and boldness immediately captures a once uncertain Thomas' attention; and she lands the main role as the white and black swan. Trying to manage the two personalities proved to be a difficult situation, as she plunged into character. Nina quickly spindled out of control in a challenge that was evidently too much for her to control. The Black Swan is strikingly similar to 'A beautiful mind' in many ways. John Nash a very talented and brilliant mathematician played by Russell Crow, shows how the mind can and will shift if strained and overworked. Both movies show the artistry in humans; however, it also shows the vulnerability of the human mind.
The environment choice used was contributive in setting the mood of this movie. The lighting in the movie was always dark and the rooms always felt small. Viewers felt a feeling of entrapment in the small apartment, and routed for Nina's freedom. There are several motifs that contribute to the theme of this film, particularly visual motifs. In the film Nina hallucinates quite frequently. This allowed the viewers to understand what she felt. One motif in particular, is when Nina imagined that she had sex with her team mate Lilly, who she almost lost her role to. She confronted Lilly in a rage, wondering why she left without waking her. At that time she recognized that she had imagined the entire scene.
Another visual motif was when she hallucinated about stabbing Lilly to death, and then hiding her body. In reality she had stabbed her self. Nina died as a result.
No one in direct connection with Nina was prepared for her untimely death. Although her mother knew that she was not feeling well. This came as a big surprise for everyone. This film shows that at any given time the human mind can become clouded, no matter the person's persons intelligence or perseverance.