Is it really THAT black?

Rating: 10/10 (30 December 2010)

Well, as a matter of fact it is. Pitch dark! I have always been fascinated by the black swans in the nature, but this "Black Swan" made me spend more than 90 minutes with my hand covering half of my face.
It amazes me when some people consider "Black Swan" to be almost a horror movie, when actually it is not. Disturbing - yes, but definitely not a horror movie. That's the reason why I admire Darren Aronofsky so much. As a viewer I like being slightly manipulated and that's what he does. From the very beginning. It's like you dive into the dark waters and do not reach the surface until the end titles show up. "Black Swan" is full of anxiety and pressure, but it doesn't fall on the shoulders as a heavy load.
There are lots of details to pay attention to. I couldn't help noticing all kinds of sounds in the background. Flutter of wings, sighs, uneven breathing and a strange sound of.. Well, I'd call it a sound of metamorphosis. And of course, that amazing sticky sound of a pointe touching the ground, which in this case is somewhat tragic. All of these sounds combined together makes you feel kind of watched by someone and you might want to look over your shoulder to check if there's no one behind you. You can not only hear the wings, you can see them - the statue in a hall, tattoo of black wings on the back of Lily (Mila Kunis), white swans in the bathroom at Nina's apartment (scene, where she takes a bath). Also, there are lots of mirrors. And, of course, there should be. There's no better way to show the reflection of a person - whether it is the physical reflection or the inner dark side reflection. And there's no need for "mirror, mirror on the wall..", because the mirror itself helps a viewer to distinguish the difference between reality and fiction. While watching the movie I couldn't escape the feeling that there's something wrong in every single shot. I was trying to catch something bright, but I couldn't, because from a first glance the only bright thing - Nina (Natalie Portman) - was turning into something darker than the dark itself.
Natalie Portman's character Nina is an ideal example of fragility (or so it may seem). She is petite, delicate, tender, reserved, somewhat tense and hard working ballet dancer, she speaks quietly and is a little stuck in a little girl's world. She never wears dark clothes (not even underwear) and lives in a white and pink room full of fluffy stuffed animals seated on chairs. The bright living space of hers should be like an oasis in a desert of anxiousness, but it isn't. Even the music box playing the music from "Swan Lake" is somewhat disturbing. I think it's the environment that set a strong base for her inner change long before she had to wake her sensual side up for the role of the Black Swan. Overprotective mother (well played by Barbara Hershey) is stuck in her memories of those early days when she was a ballet dancer, who gave up her career to give birth to Nina. Mother wants best for her child, but she doesn't realize that she pushes Nina into her own (mother's) life she could never have and takes away from her everything that a young beautiful and even a hard working woman should enjoy - her own life and privacy. I couldn't think of anyone else but Natalie Portman for this role. I was absolutely convinced by both dark and bright sides of her character. Those reflections of her character she saw on other people - now that's what I call the glance of darkness! Natalie Portman is spectacular to watch, because she's versatile, she can be anything. And she definitely has both white and black swans inside of her.
Besides the pressure at home, there's also pressure at work. Twice as difficult to take - Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) and Lily (Mila Kunis). Besides the fact that Vincent Cassel is a talented actor you can hardly forget, his facial features give him all the strength of the character he needs in this movie. Rough, tough and strict. Vincent's Thomas is intimidating, but at the same time - hard to resist. Also, there's Mila Kunis. As a matter of fact, I have never heard of her. Or seen. But her feline-like femme fatale performance made me an impression. Her character - Lily - embodies everything that Nina's not. Besides her casualness, femininity, wildness and freedom, she always wears black. Though these black wings she has tattooed on her back raises a question. Was it really necessary? I mean, it would be enough for me if Nina would have imagined them in couple of scenes, where, for example, Lily replaced Nina in a rehearsal. It would emphasize the competition Nina's afraid of. It's more than clear, how different those two girls are. Anyway, Mila Kunis made her Lily look very mysterious in a way that as a viewer you can't tell whether you can trust her. Is it Nina's mind playing tricks on her or is it Lily's rivalry game? You might ask yourself this question several times. I did.
That's exactly what made me cover my face for those 90 minutes - the understanding that there's no more twisted place than the abyss of human's mind.
10/10