a study in perfection and madness

Rating: 9/10 (29 January 2011)

'Black Swan' is about art and obsession, is about sanity and madness, it's about perfection and genius, all this described in the world which can be so mistakenly perceived of classical ballet. A world in which the spectator is supposed to get the feeling of fluidity and lack of gravity, of lightness and perfection of movement. However these are acquired by years and sometimes a lifetime of pain in which everything needs to be put aside for the seek of the unique moment of art on stage. Including ones own self.
The film starts as a very tightly told story of the art and rivalry in the ballet world. While it develops as a story that without becoming really boring seems to focus too much on the technical issues of the profession and the personal challenges of a young woman who needs to sacrifice all to get on the top, it plants in its first hour the elements of incertitude and build-up of the final segment. Aronofsky plays permanently with the viewers the game of mixing and swapping perceptions between objective and subjective reality. It is not easy viewing and this is on purpose. There is a lot of suffering on screen and most of it is not physical. In order to reach the peaks an artist needs to master the dark side of its art and personality. But when darkness is awaken can it still be kept under control? The balance between art and obsession, between perfection and madness is the ultimate theme of this film. Reaching the peaks of art may demand the descent into the abyss of insanity.
Unless a colossal misjudgment intervenes Natalie Portman will hold a statuette by the end of the Oscars night. She deals with an extremely complex role which demands a permanent balance between ingenuity and ambition, fragility and strength of character, loneliness and dedication to art. Of her partners I enjoyed mostly the performance of Vincent Cassel who provides to Portman the mirroring context of her ambition to reach the top of art.
When I was a young kid I used to love the animal numbers in circus. Then I read one of Jack London's novels which described the behind-the-scenes of animal training in circus. I never could watch such a show in the arena with the same eyes. I am afraid that folks who love ballet may go though the same risk after seeing 'Black Swan'. They may have seen also one of the most unusual and best films about ballet ever made.