Black Swan

Rating: 9/10 (16 March 2011)

I watched twice this film in three days, after the second view, it still fascinates me so much, which makes it easily crack into my top 3 list of 2010.
The film is the twin of Darren's last feature THE WRESTLER (2008), the quasi-identical path of a person pursues perfection in his/her life which requests huge sacrifice which he/she doesn't expect until the last moment of the finale. The tour-de-force performance by Natalie Portman is so magnetic insofar as to keep audience stick to their seats for the entire show and when the curtain falls, hailing her as the best performance of the year! I don't want to exaggerate how wonderful she is in interpreting two opposed role with perfect precision. Numerous BEST ACTRESS AWARDS cannot be wrong. The supporting cast is excellent as well, and Mila Kunis stands out distinctively as the imaginary black swan and the scintilla between her and Natalie slowly gives off as the film goes on until the peak moment. Also Barbara Hershey returns with a mighty and slightly creepy role as Natalie's control-freak mother and Vincent and Winona use great effort to become existential in their own ways.
Another important merit of the film is its Darren's mastery as a director, the shaky-cum- close DV style captures every inch of the emotional turbulence of our swan queen and conveys to us a vividly on-the-scene wallop. Plus who could resist the elegant ballet choreography? The final showdown on the stage is done marvelously without any letup.
The film is glutted with many nail-broken, blood-leaking, skin coming-off scenes, and by all means it is not an easy film suitable for everyone, but I recommend to anyone who would like to experience some mind-blowing brainwashing, this film will not fail you.