A New Low for Aronofsky ...

Rating: 1/10 (1 June 2011)

Is it possible for a filmmaker to make a good movie followed by a exceptional movie followed by a poor movie followed by a very good movie followed by an complete dud which earns the lead actress an Oscar? It is if the filmmaker is Darren Aronofsky.
Black Swan is so bad it could be "funny bad" - but it's such a weak attempt by a good director that it seems sad to laugh a it. The movie has little to offer. The story is slow and unclear. The characters are shallow and not one is the least bit likable, so even if it were possible to understand what is happening - which it isn't - why would anyone care?
The usually good Vincent Cassel presents us with a lifeless cliché of a character – little more than a cardboard cutout with movable lips. Same for Barbara Hersey. Mila Kunis gives a passable performance – a stand-out relative to the others. Natalie Portman recycles the same three facial expressions for the entire film. Is that all it takes to win an Oscar?
The viewer can't know if events in the film are real or imagined. That's not a problem if the events can be understood in terms of the characters' inner lives. That can't happen in Black Swan, so the events become arbitrary and meaningless nonsense. The feel of the whole thing is phony – slick, artsy, and without substance.
The film is badly paced and visually unattractive. The music is relentlessly bombastic and headache-inducing, and the dancing is terrible. The film is boring and lacks humor. With the exception of a very brief segment which depicts a drug-induced experience Black Swan is completely devoid of anything resembling art.
I never quit on a film. I consider it a badge of honor to have endured the worst of the worst. I must have asked myself "How much longer?" a record number of times during Black Swan, even though the film is only 108 minutes long. It seemed like 308 minutes.