The final third of this film should be reported to PETA, as it killed this Black Swan.

Rating: 4/10 (25 April 2011)

I wasn't expecting to learn so much when I bought tix to see Black Swan of course the fact that Portman and Mila Kunis were allegedly to shed their tutus and perform some mutual stretching exercises wasn't a large deterrent.
All the same I learned quite a lot:
1. I learned that Natalie Portman does indeed give a brave performance as Nina Sayers, the central figure in the film. A different kind of brave deluded brave?
2. I learned that if symbolic imagery is coated on with a paint sprayer descriptions like subtle, nuanced and suggestive no longer apply. Let's just say I draw the line at webbed toes.
3. CGI can enhance visuals and assist in realising a director's "vision", but in the wrong hands or used unnecessarily it can detract and distract. Black Swan ultimately suffers death through CGI.
4. I learned that there are certain actors who simply have a hammy style that lends itself to hammy, clichéd, "wannabe important and meaningful but really is just overwrought schlock" films. Winona Ryder, Barbara Hershey and Vincent Cassel are among them.
5. I learned that thanks to two scenes – really one in particular – Black Swan Redband or Black Swan Portman-Kunis will be a google/videos staple for decades to come, especially in the male 15 – 40 demographic
6. I learned that mysteriously "leaking" such info has probably guaranteed that this dreck will make a profit and get more punters through the gate.
It worked for me.
But alas this fuzzy grey quacker never got the chance to become the fabulous and beautiful swan. It remained an ugly duckling.
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Nina Sayers is an annual aspirant for leading roles in her prestigious ballet troupe, and this season the group's director Thomas (pronounced Toe-Muss, cause it's cooler) has decided to take on Swan Lake.
Nina has been married for a very long time; to ballet. She lives with her mother, an ex-dancer who retired once falling pregnant with Nina, she now lives vicariously through her already stressed out daughter.
Now maybe it's the pressure that comes along with striving, training and desiring just a little too much for years on end at the elite level;
* maybe it's the bleeding toes, sprained ankles and aching muscles from countless hours of practise;
* maybe it's the creepy director who continuously takes verbal potshots at Nina openly doubting her abilities, yet every five minutes tries to slime his way into her tutu;
* maybe it's the clingy stage-Mom living needfully through her fragile daughter
* Or maybe, just maybe at 40 odd kilos, with your tiny stomach screaming for sustenance as the dancing burns still more calories the body doesn't have to spare – and with 30 other tiny anxious aspirants desperately staring mental daggers and wanting each other to fall at the wrong moment
Whatever the reason, Nina is a little wound up.
Even landing the plumb lead role only leads to more nifty footwork at home when her Mother (Barbara Hershey) takes a polite "no thanks" to an impromptu celebration around 37 steps too far. The arduous training sessions, repetition and commitment needed to fully inhabit the role of the Swan Queen only exacerbate the pressure cooker environment, and Nina lacks genuine support when she most needs it.
Enter Lily, the new anti-Nina who has just arrived from elsewhere to replace Thomas' previous ingénue and former troupe centrepiece Beth (Winona Ryder working to pay off shoplifting fines), who has been "retired" somewhat against her will at the sinfully old age of 30ish. Lily isn't concerned about perfection, she doesn't dwell on minor missteps and failures, she drinks, smokes, swears and jokes around.
All of these being definite Nina-no-nos. It seems like fate that these two will continue to cross paths a million pasty, pimpled Youtube users demand it!
Cassel is intense and demanding as Toe-Muss but toes a fine line of believability and menace. You can never tell exactly what Mother's real motivation is for her daughter's career, does she want to be a friend, mentor, coach or counsellor? And of course Lily the anti-Nina hangs around doing everything that Nina never dared do, but perhaps always wanted to.
With all this going on it shouldn't be surprising that Nina starts seeing things out of the corner of her eye.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()
The first hour of Black Swan builds well. I am obviously no ballet aficionado (more a Step Up 2 tha Streetz guy) but I never got bored with the practise and rehearsals – and there is quite a bit.
The last 40 minutes though let things get out of hand.
In the civilised world it is OK not to like or understand ballet, but if you casually dismiss it publicly it is somehow just an admission of a lack of refinement on your part, that you just "don't get it".
The last 40 minutes started ominously with some baffling CGI and some "did I see that?" moments, then continued to become more and more ridiculous until I was basically just chuckling away to myself in the seat.
The last 40 minutes of Black Swan are some of the clumsiest and just plain worst that I have seen in years. When at the culmination of a performance the ballet audience applaud in wonderment I felt like applauding too
but I was doing so out of sarcasm.
Final Rating – 4.5 / 10. My One-Third rule applies here: if more than 1/3 of any film sucks the entire film sucks by association.