A Masterpiece of Light and Dance

Rating: 10/10 (21 August 2019)

This film is one of those rare times that the public actually appreciated a true work of art, an inventive story, a brilliant performance, and a story told in a way which only cinema is capable of accomplishing.
It feels weird to call Aronofsky a tortured soul because he is a wealthy director of films and has dated hollywood elites repeatedly. Maybe that is part of being a tortured artist? Nothing can resolve the tension you feel inside.
Certainly this is the through line of his career. "Pi," "The Wrestler," "The Fountain," "Noah," and "Mother!," all carry within them themes of creation and destruction going hand in hand. "Black Swan" is similar in this respect but most similar to "The Fountain," and "Mother!" in the way it explores this theme.
It is similar to "The Fountain," mainly because of how Aronofsky uses light. Light usually represents life, creation, or artistic expression, not just in Aronofsky but in most filmmaker's work. However, this source of light usually casts a shadow, darkness, and death of some sort. They go hand in hand.
In Aronofsky however, while they still go hand in hand, often times it is the darkness which spawns the light. In "Black Swan," This dynamic is shown in that for all her perfection and poise, Nina, played by Natalie Portman (Garden State, Annihilation) who was awarded Best Actress for her role, is uninspiring, hollow, and a disappointment to her company's director Thomas Leroy, played by Vincent Cassel, (Eastern Promises, Ocean's 13).
Once she engages with her darker side however, the art flows from her in a whirl of destructive lashing out at her mother, her director, and even the other dancers. In the end, they accept this as her dalliance in the dark has allowed her a brilliant display of beauty previously inaccessible to her. All of this plays out on a dark stage, spotlight desperately trying to keep up.
"Black Swan" is similar to "Mother!" in the relationship of Nina to her Director and Lily, the young ingenue who seems to both admire and despise her. Here, the death that leads to creation is submission and shame. In order to find the parts of herself that she must tap into and unleash, Nina must accept and even internalize the criticisms she receives, even those she disagrees with. She must allow herself to be consumed in order to give birth to a new Nina, who can be what the old Nina could not.
I know that many may find Aronofsky's way of expressing these things to be too rough, featuring sexual acts may consider taboo and abuse from those in power over her, but for me, I find Aronofsky to be ironically, one of the most redemptive directors working today. His obsession with death turning into life is core to many faiths, and to my own personal beliefs.
In "Black Swan," he has outdone himself, partnering with Natalie Portman to achieve one of the most beautiful portrayals of dance, light, and creativity I have ever seen.