Intense, frothy melodrama saved from pretension by tight direction

Rating: 7/10 (30 January 2011)

My hat goes off to Natalie Portman for what was the most convincing and obviously committed portrayal of a professional ballerina and her inner life I've seen. Not that I know any professional ballerinas, but the best thing about Black Swan is that in spite of straying very close to the line where tortured artists look ridiculous on screen, it doesn't let up the cinematic feast for a minute, and so your disbelief is maintained. Reminiscent in a way of the Vincent van Gogh biopic Lust for Life, which on paper is as corny as heck, but still manages to convey his tragedy and inform everybody's (who's not an art historian) perception of that painter. Black Swan will inform everybody's perception of prima ballerinas for a long time. The Red Shoes trod similar ground (play on words intended), but far less accessibly than this. Black Swan works as a melodrama - meaning a drama where the characters are unexamined and stereotypical - because it is constantly exciting to look at, and the Steadicam work is reasonably restrained so those of us used to Jean Renoir films don't get nauseous. Nina's story seems to be an allegory of a woman discovering her own physical sexuality (I don't know if IMDb accepts the V word), and this aspect of the film is mercifully not overplayed, because then it would certainly be pretentious. Black Swan's sheer style manages to keep it enjoyable as a cinematic spectacle; it will not transfer well to DVD because the characters and story are pretty much out of the 'Fame' script vault.
Let me pick at it now: everyone in the cinema laughed when Nina dragged the body across the floor - I think it was the tutu that did it.
'My new production of Swan Lake', says Thomas. I know the film wasn't about the production itself, but Thomas' production looked pretty goldarned pedestrian to me.
The mother's teeth? Those will haunt me longer than Natalie Portman's arm-waving, I have to say. Don't take it too seriously, don't laugh out loud and let your girl/gayfriend wallow in what might have been. I just wish French and Saunders, the UK comedy duo, were still around to give us their take.