Directed by Darren Aronofsky. Starring Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, and Vincent Cassel.
83rd Oscars - 5 Nominations: Best Picture, Actress (Natalie Portman), Directing, Editing, and Cinematography.
This is an impressive psychological thriller. You're thrown into a world where perfection is the name of the game. Nina (Portman), a ballerina who recently scored the lead part in a production of Swan Lake, must learn to embody both the White Swan (which aligns with her naive personality easily) and also the sensual and dark Black Swan. As Nina descend into madness, the film follows, and the audience's grip on reality fades. By the end, it is nearly impossible to know what to believe and what's in Nina's mind.
It's really unusual to have a film (or perhaps I just don't usually watch the type of film) that makes it so you have NO IDEA what to believe. When the madness of the main character is as much a truth as the true events in her life, I think the audience really gets inside the character's mind. In addition to Nina's madness, this is a film about paranoia and duality. Nina flickers from worrying about her understudy Lily (Kunis) to her mother to simply fearing herself and what is happening to her. It is this last fear which I think is the most fearsome "evil" of all, for if you can't trust in yourself, what do you have left? All in all, these are powerful thematic elements that, despite the fairly simple story, make for a complex and interesting film.
This film is also quite melodramatic -- which is an interesting label since the term comes from "music" + "drama." Of course, since the film is centered around Nina's profession as a ballerina, music is key because it brings her dance performances to life. The soundtrack is loosely based on Tchaikovsky's music, so much of it brings up classic ballet scores. However, the soundtrack was composed by Clint Mansell, who has worked with Darren Aronofsky before, on films like Requiem for a Dream (which I haven't seen). I guarantee you know the key piece of music from that film as it has been used it gazillions of trailers.
Black Swan is out of my usual filmgoing comfort zone, as with many Oscar films I viewed this year, and I can't really compare it to other psychological thrillers. I certainly found it suspenseful, misleading, and creepy (partly due to the CGI additions, as when Nina plucks a real black feather out of her skin). I'm not sure if it would have been as big of a hit this year if not for the Portman's dedication to actually honing her skills as a ballerina. Indeed, this is a role that I don't think any ol' actress could play. It takes the right kind of innocent demeanor and yet comfort on the screen (she's been in films since she was a child).
Just one note from the film history part of my brain: I think it's interesting that this film cannot escape the shadow of THE ballet film of all time, The Red Shoes (1948). This is a film that I have yet to see, but it is fascinating to me that one movie can come along and define an entire topic for over 50 years. Does ballet just lend itself toward one kind of story? Or did that film simply tell the story so well that no one else has tried until Black Swan? Interesting to ponder, particularly if you've seen both.
Overall, I think this film is most eerie because the echoing suggestions it makes that resonate with reality. It is so often said that one must be perfect to be the best, that one should get lost in what they love... but here is the dark side of those ideals. In a world of Olympics and award-winning dancers, actresses, and artists, there is a very scary danger of going too far. Yes, Nina wants to be perfect. But where does perfect end, and madness begin?
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