The most "tense" but riveting Ballet I ever seen! (SPOILERS HERE)

Rating: 9/10 (16 January 2011)

If you are interested in seeing the underworld of ballet theater, Black Swan is the picture for you! It shows the raw exposed guts of ballet dancers who are determined to be the top dog in their world. The story is simple and very sad. Nina, the ballerina has made ballet her life's work. She lives and breathes ballet everyday by practicing endless hours to capture the golden ring of being the company's top ballerina. All the girls within the Ballet company compete with each other for the attention of the director though impressionistic dance and yes...sexual favors, but Nina believes that only hard work and determination can only get her what she wants.
Suddenly to her delight, she is picked to be the lead ballerina in Swan Lake. But darker roads are ahead. Nina does not foresee the challenge of playing a duel role as a good/bad girl. She is so much a perfectionist and a girl of high morals, it adds pressure. More and more pressure added are the endless demands of pleasing her director. and Nina'a over bearing mother, who always drives the nail of guilt that she had to give up her career to raise Nina. We never see Nina's father so we can assume he left the family. Then, we meet Lily, a new dancer who like the Black Swan is a highly erotic character who charms everyone with her free spirit. Nina, who has been in the pressure cooker trying to a perfect dancer always feels threatened to the point of paranoia gets pushed over the edge.
What impressed me about Black Swan is that it is a sad movie. I felt sorry for Nina because she was always driven to be perfect because I felt she was starving for acceptance. Her mother never gave it to her because her mother resented her for giving up her career. The Director of the company, whom Nina seem to have some repressed sexual feelings always asked more and more of her talent but treated her like she was a disgusting outcast when she couldn't live up to his demands.
Natilie Portman finely impressed me with her acting ability. In the past Natalie played a lot of "comic book" roles like V for Vendetta and Padma from Star Wars. The only past role that she played well under was Anne Bolelyn from "The Other Bolelyn Girl". Here, the character of Nina is a very meaty acting role that she handled with expertise of a acting diva. Good Luck with the Oscars, Ms Portman you got a TERRIFIC running to snatch the Best Actress!
I highly recommend the Black Swan to see. The downsized is that you must be prepared for some shocking skin peeling/transformation/ and graphic sexual scenes. Not for the faint hearted