Portman prevents Swan from diving

Rating: 6/10 (11 January 2011)

Darren Aronofsky's signature hallucinogenic style dealing with the individual in crisis is well in evidence in this take on a prima ballerina going bonkers in pursuit of perfection. But there's more frosting than substance and Black Swan lurches from Polanski to Halloween franchise in order to make its case.
Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) is the hardest working hoofer in the ballet company over at Lincoln Center. A technical marvel she lacks the killer instinct to play the heavy but is never the less chosen to take on the dual role of the white and black swan in the Tchaikovsky ballet. In rehearsal white is going well, black isn't. Her autocratic and always horny director tries to get her to "loosen up" with him or a Frisco company import, Lily who also is understudying her. Feeling the pressure (including that of a suffocating mother) Nina begins to descend into a paranoid abyss as the big dance approaches.
Aronofsky usually deals with a heavy hand, balancing it with bravura camera work that climbs inside his troubled leads (Ellen Burstyn in Invitation to a Dream, Mickey Rourke in the Wrestler), forcing the audience to see the world through their eyes with ample amounts of subjective angles. He gets the same results here with Ms. Portman whose serene physical beauty is undermined by her struggle with a polarizing combination of innocence and ambition. But visually Swan flounders as the director with an embarrassment of possibilities to go Gothic horror zaps the films rhythm with repetitive and unnecessary supporting character re- enforcement. Andrew Libatiques camera work is a bit sloppy and erratic as he chases Nina around the stage duplicating dance moves without really achieving full extension. His resting compositions are at times shapeless and unfocused and while it may be arguable to say it does so to reflect Nina's emotional state its rumpled look extends beyond her character.
The Black Swan tips its hand early but overall it is a decent suspense/horror film about the destructive nature of striving for perfection; something that Portman's performance flirts with from start to finish.