Black Swan- Blown Away

Rating: 9/10 (30 December 2010)

If there's one thing I could say about Black Swan, it would be that it is definitely not overrated. Obviously, the movie is supposed to win a gazillion academy awards and such, but in all honesty, it deserves every single one.
With such a great cast, how could one go wrong? Natalie Portman has truly outdone herself in this one, her character escalating from a mere nervous perfectionist to a textbook case schizophrenic. I found the analogy of the transformation the white swan and the black swan to Nina's transformation very interesting. The hallucination scenes were skillfully done and felt real every time. I also felt that the beautifully rendered Tchaikovsky music contributed greatly to the tone of the music.
We have all heard about how dark, disturbing, and depressing this movie is, but when I came and saw it I found that it was also strikingly beautiful. The visuals were simply amazing- I especially loved the dance at the very beginning of the movie. The lighting was great and so was the camera work. The story was also beautiful in a kind of heartbreaking way, as I find destruction to have its own kind of beauty. Nina's journey to the top and her fall were fascinating and beautiful.
The only complaint that I have about this movie was that it was constantly intense, all of the time. There was no lull in the action for the audience to catch its breath. Still, Nina's character was developed very well even while all of these events were going on.
I loved it so much I feel like everybody should go see it, but of course it contains profanity, blood and gore, sex scenes, and intense hallucinations, so of course it's not everybody's cup of tea. However, if you can stomach all of these things, you must see it!