Merci, Aronofsky

Rating: 9/10 (12 January 2011)

Darren Aronofsky's films have remained among my favorites since I first saw "Pi" at the 1998 American Film Market, after its much-lauded success at the Sundance Film Festival the same year. What Mr. Aronofsky winds us into with "Black Swan" is a darkly-mirrored glimpse not only into the world of ballet, but the world of the artist in general. While extreme and demented, Nina's perceptions and experiences, both real and imagined, help the viewer to recognize and understand the triumphs and sacrifices involved in the pursuit of one's creative dignity and self-expression, at moments, at the cost of one's family, health and well-being-- even oneself. Perfection, or its striving, like all other endeavors, comes at a price. One must transform. Merci, Mr. Aronofsky, you've provided us with a legacy devoted to passion, creation and destruction, and the relationship for us with all of these. Were it not for virtues, we would be lost.