Aronofsky's finest

Rating: 10/10 (24 May 2013)

Every time that I see 'Black Swan' again, I succumb to its beautifully dark and sinister spell some more. I cannot pick any fault with it, and every aspect - be it technical or narrative-based, doesn't only make me fall in love with Darren Aronofsky's masterpiece a little bit more, but it makes me fall in love with cinema a lot more (I didn't think it was possible).
Because a masterpiece, a cinematic tour de force and a pure example of engaging storytelling is exactly what 'Black Swan' is. Much of the plaudits note Natalie Portman's excellent performance as the highlight of the piece, and rightly so - she hits all of the right beats and captures all of the torture felt by her ballet star 'Nina Sayers', whose decaying mental state is worsened by ballet rival 'Lily' (an exceptional Mila Kunis), one of the most overbearing parent characters in film history (a sinisterly creepy Barbara Hershey) and her somewhat sex obsessed director, 'Thomas' (a captivating Vincent Cassel in his best performance in an English-spoken film).
But as mentioned, Portman is the star of the show, in a career defining performance - a role that she will probably never match, let alone top. She is perfect in every sense, and imperfect at all of the right moments. Portman firmly established herself as one of the best actresses in the world by showing her dedication by learning ballet and becoming a pro by training with Kunis non- stop for 6 months prior to filming.
'Black Swan' exists as a film students dream, a perfect text to analyse for an essay; be it how each of the characters mirrors a role from 'Swan Lake' with psychology battering effect or the exquisite way that the film is edited, making it so you notice something new every single time that you watch it, as faces change, inanimate objects move and senses are assaulted.
Matthew Libatique's cinematography is also a stand-out motivation to watch the film, even if the story doesn't appeal. His long duration tracking shots following 'Nina' walk around bleak locations are only bettered by how the dancing is framed. As someone who has never been interested in ballet, I was completely transfixed by the dances and how the camera moved flawlessly to track the perfect movements for long takes at a time.
The music combines with the visuals fascinatingly as well, with music from the 'Swan Lake' production being used as a repetitive motif to astonishingly wonderful and uneasy effect, never making the audience feel comfortable. The music is one of the main reasons that the final act of the film stays with me; the editing of the sound is powerful, rising and rising and rising as the shocking climax descends into more and more chaos - all with that beautiful and frightening music thundering around you.
The time that I saw 'Black Swan' in the cinema was one of most memorable cinema experiences of my life. It was full of old women who were clearly there expecting a nice film about ballet, only to filter out bit by bit as the crazed narrative unravelled. Other notable members of the audience included men being dragged by their better halves, looking catastrophically bored at the beginning and increasingly becoming more and more hooked as the film went on (I'm almost entirely sure that the infamous lesbian sex scene had nothing to do with it).
But the fact that a film like this reached such a wide audience is a testament in itself. It has no easy answers, each viewing will potentially give you a different interpretation and the closer you watch the more rewarding the experience will be. Definitely not the ingredients for a mainstream success, but genius like this cannot be rightly ignored by anyone.