What a performance!!

Rating: 8/10 (8 March 2011)

I haven't seen any other film by Darren Aronofsky so maybe I didn't know exactly what to expect. Still my expectations were very high, having heard much praise for it. I was not the least disappointed but also very impressed.
If one thinks this is a movie about ballet well it's not. The story starts out with kind of straight forward events but it soon starts getting more and more deep and unpredictable. I'm soon at full focus, the film really grips one to attention. I feel I for a long time had little idea what twists the plot would take. What is impressive at the same time is that even tough is gets deeper I never lose any track of the ongoing story. There are some plot points that I feel I have seen done before but this is no problem. Totally original plots are long getting rare. Natalie Portman has been the subject of much of the praise for Black Swan and it's definitely not without reason because she is just great. At first she plays the kind of innocent girl like she often does and does well but as the story gets more scatter-brained her performance turns into her part of her life. But it's not just she who shines in Black Swan, they all make close to outstanding acting. Vincent Cassel is brilliantly disturbing interesting character. Barbara Hershey brilliantly creates the mother which the viewer feels both sentimental for and frustrated at. Mila Kunis I did not expect as much from but she is great and I feel actually competes with Portman for the spotlight here. The depth and focus of the story lies in the psychological aspects that are really tough and at times almost to the level of disturbing. The story is both gripping and smartly told, I feel one should and most likely wants to see this more that once. Might get hold of exactly how everything was and one might as well notice thing you didn't grasp at first. And then is the dialogue which is likewise well done. Both because the actors deliver it so well but it in itself is great, impressive writing. Black Swan is a great movie both on the inside and on the outside. The story brilliantly tries to mess with your head and the visual design and acting is a pleasure to watch. The music perfectly fits to give the right tone of the film. After the film was over I wanted to analyse it with others. The story is deep and interesting that one might even feel the need to kind of resolve how some things were. Sometimes I can get annoyed at movies that leave things to the viewers interpretation. At times the writer can seem lazy. Here this is not a bad thing as in here I feel this is the feeling Darren Aronofsky wants to give. The plot is exciting and maybe even provoking but never frustratingly so.
Black Swan is one of the best movies of 2010. A thrilling psychological thriller.