Black Swan: A Beautiful and Frightening Bird

Rating: 10/10 (25 December 2010)

Personally, I wasn't a huge fan of Darren Aronofsky's previous film, "The Wrestler." So, I was at first hesitant to see Aronofsky's latest film, "Black Swan." But as soon as the praise started tumbling in, I decided that I HAD to see it. So far, I'd call "Black Swan" the best movie of the year.
The film is about Nina Sayers, a young ballerina living with her mother Erica, a former ballerina herself. Nina strives to be the best in her New York ballet company. Her director, Thomas Leroy, announces his production of Swan Lake(a classic ballet), and since legendary Beth McIntyre is retiring, Nina is given the role of the Swan Queen(aka The White Swan). However, she must also portray the Swan Queen's evil twin, The Black Swan. As of now, Thomas knows that the Swan Queen will be no problem for Nina, but she struggles immensely with the Black Swan. In comes competition by the name of Lily, a woman who is strong, carefree, and very sexually expressive. As Nina strives for perfection, she experiences pain, sexuality, paranoia, and obsession that slowly drives her to the edge.
Now, here is a story that could have been riddled with clichés. But no. The script, written by Mark Hyman, Andres Heinz, and John McLoughlin, is extremely well-written and filled with surprises. At times, we aren't sure if what we see through Nina's eyes is true. Of course, her slow loss of sanity is visible. But is Lily really out to get Nina? Is Thomas really exploiting his dancers sexually?
"Black Swan" is definitely a horror film, and that may be hard for other people to view it as such. Nina's descent is nightmarish and truly horrific. When I watched the film, I recalled the styles of early Roman Polanski(i.e. "Repulsion" and "Rosemary's Baby"), David Cronenberg(i.e. "Shivers" and "The Fly"), and even Dario Argento("Suspiria"). Nina's paranoia is like that of Catherine Deneuve, and her bodily horror certainly brings to mind that of the early Cronenberg films. Several horror fans will think of "Suspiria" right away when they watch "Black Swan," knowing that Argento's film is also about ballet. But Aronofsky's film is also beautiful and lavish, like Argento's style.
The character of Nina fascinates me. In our eyes, she is a frightened little girl in a woman's body. She is afraid to express any sexuality, mostly because of her controlling mother. She wants to be perfect, and reach higher than those of her cutthroat partners. Perfection and pressure leads to her madness, and it is heartbreaking as well as shocking.
Of course, the script and the direction are key to the film's effect, but it is the cast that, to me, makes the movie. Natalie Portman's performance as Nina is absolutely stunning. Portman has done many roles that never allow her to grow as an actress. "Black Swan" shows that she can do anything, and she has grown into her own. Thomas is played by Vincent Cassel, and he gives a very memorable performance. Barbara Hershey is also outstanding as Erica. It is told to us that Erica gave up ballet to have Nina. Nina has grown a bit, and Erica is afraid to see that. So when she sees her daughter struggle for perfection, she represses her a lot of the time. Hershey captures that to a T. You will also see a nice performance from Winona Ryder as Beth. For the time she has on screen, Ryder is quite good. But the big surprise here is Mila Kunis as Lily. Known more for crude and light-hearted fare(TV's "That 70's Show" and "Family Guy," and the hit film "Forgetting Sarah Marshall), you would never expect Kunis in a role like this. She is not the voice of little Meg Griffin anymore. She is an actress, and her performance here equals that of Portman.
Director Aronofsky has given us what could be his most ambitious and beautiful film yet. He has worked with a flawless script to form a truly amazing film. "Black Swan," in itself, is an intense drama about the pressure and struggles of the ballet art. However, it is definitely, and maybe not to some people, a psychological horror film, and a great one at that. If anybody deserves the Best Actress Oscar this year more than anyone, it's Natalie Portman. "I just want to be perfect," says Nina. Poor Nina's pressure makes her suffer, but the movie sure doesn't. "Black Swan" IS perfect.