Darkness at the Soul of BLACK SWAN

Rating: 9/10 (25 February 2011)

Director Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler, Requiem for a Dream) has done some offbeat films but has always elicited strong performances from his leads. Perhaps his greatest achievement is getting an Oscar worthy performance from Natalie Portman in Black Swan, a film that does an impressive job of depicting a psychological downward spiral of a competitive ballerina in the role of a lifetime.
Nina Sayers (Portman) works hard at her craft and gets the coveted starring role in Swan Lake. Doted on by her mother (Barbara Hershey in an unusual role) and pushed to extremes by her ballet director, Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel), she begins to feel threatened and becomes delusional and loses touch with reality. A new arrival, Lily (Mila Kunis), understudies her and becomes not only her friend and night scene companion, but also her main competitor and threat. Is she undermining her on purpose or is Nina just imagining it all? As opening night approached, the visions become even more disturbing to the point that Nina is at the brink of her sanity and the curtain opens on the most important moment of her life.
Portman projects a complex series of conflicting emotions including anxiety, jealousy, and even guilt as if she does not deserve the lead. Guided by Aronofsky, she soars as she has never done before. Not only does she perform a substantial amount of physically demanding ballet, but we see things through her eyes and feel her pains. Does she really commit the horrible acts she thinks she may have done or is it all in her warped mind? It's not a pleasant journey. There is extremely disturbing use of mirror images that reflect Nina's face and become Lily in the next instant in jarring and unexpected fashion. Is Nina seeing Lily or is it a reflection of her own self? A moment that shows the various pieces of wall art at her home coming alive in nightmarish figures is truly unnerving.
Kunis as Lily brings enough menace to her role. Winona Ryder has a supporting role of a retiring, vindictive ballerina, Beth MacIntyre, who ends up in the hospital. A scene where Nina worships Beth is reminiscent of Anne Baxter and Bette Davis in the dressing room scene of All About Eve. Beth is bitter and even self abusive which kind of foreshadows what awaits Nina. Cassell is effective as the ballet director whose sexism and unusual methods are suspect but never his quest for the absolute best for his production. Hershey registers as an overly concerned, controlling mom.
The film does a good job of showing the mental and physical toll that rehearsal and practice take on a performer, and to make matters worse, the angst exhibits itself seemingly on Nina's body in distorted and grotesque manifestations. The physical mutations would probably amuse and please the likes of David Cronenberg and David Lynch. As Leroy demands more than what she shows in technique, she knows she has to give everything in her soul and more to satisfy the ballet's demands. There is an interesting dichotomy showing two sides of a ballerina's psyche with the repressed, uptight Nina whose frigidity is counterpointed by the free spirited and sensual Lily. Lily evens brings out her sexuality and inner yearning that seems all too real, or is it a dream? Something that is never mentioned or shown is if Nina is a virgin or ever had a real boyfriend. Then there is the duality within Nina of White and Black Swans in which the dark side must emerge if she is to fully inhabit the lead role.
Much of the film recalls other memorable films that bend reality like The Fight Club or Affliction, and Nina's descent into madness has striking similarities to Roman Polanski's classic Repulsion whose woman descends into psychological delusions and paranoia.
Aronofsky's use of camera work is startling as it works in concert with Portman's performance, and when you see the change in her eyes near the end, it is stunning. The film employs lots of hand-held shots with cinematographer Matthew Libatique to visualize a subjective viewpoint for Nina. The score by Clint Mansell is well done with a touch of foreboding. Both of them are Aronofsky veterans. The final scene as Nina readies to perform the last act as she morphs into the Black Swan to complete her transformation is haunting. The final shot is unforgettable. Some viewers may be turned off by its repellent imagery but others will be astonished by a powerful depiction of madness at any price.