Darth Vader's Wife Visits Her Own Dark Side

Rating: 8/10 (4 January 2011)

Back Swan is not a movie for the kids & for those who want simple action & adventure. It is not even as scary as the trailers of it. Black Swan has the trappings of the beauty of ballet as a frame work for a dark story of complex proportions. It is not for the kids either as it is a very mature themed movie.
There is no doubt this is Natalie Portman's film. The entire focus of the film is on Nina Sayers. She is replacing Beth Macintyre (Winona Ryder) as the star of Swan Lake in A new production by Thomas LeRoy (Vincent Cassel). Beth is the person who has been the great star but is now gone. Nina is the new choice to replace her. Beth is obviously very unhappy.
Beth accuses Nina of giving Thomas special favors to win the role. While this is not the case as the audience is well aware, Beth's accusations turn out to be more of a warning to the darkness she is heading into. Nina's emotions towards Beth are played out through the first 2/3rds of the film. About 1/3 of the way into the movie Lily (Mila Kunis) shows up & gets immediate attention as Nina's rival & then a part of her fantasy as well.
Veteran actress Barbara Hershey plays Nina's mom(Erica), whose main role is helping Nina & trying to keep her reined in so she does not get into trouble. For half the film, she is able to do this. As Nina passes into her own very personal madness, she breaks away from her mom. Between Lily, & Thomas LeRoy, plus Nina's warped reality, the film builds up to the only possible climax at Nina's performance of a lifetime.
This is powerful drama and while Portman looks a little too thin at times, her acting is right on. The supporting players are there but only for their interaction with Nina. The film is very focused which is it's strength. The eye candy of Portman (almost 30) and Kunis (28) reminds me that it is great that these actresses in their prime get a film in which women pretty much dominate the screen.