Black Swan (U.S.A, 2010) Review

Cast:

Director:

Darren Aronofsky

Writers:

Mark Heyman (screenplay), Andres Heinz (screenplay) (as Andrés Heinz) 

Stars:

 Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel

Movie: 
A nightmarish trip into the dark recesses of a fractured mind, ‘Black Swan’ is a glorious throwback to the sanity-shaking early cinematic masterworks of Roman Polanski (‘Rosemary’s Baby' & 'Repulsion'), combined with the hallucinogenic imagery of David Lynch.

Natalie Portman stars as Nina Sayer, a dancer with the New York City ballet company who lives with her controlling and possessive mother, Erica (Barbara Hershey), a former dancer whose career was cut short when she fell pregnant with Nina. Under the strict tutelage of Thomas (Vincent Cassel), ‘Nina’ wins the coveted lead role in his radical take on the classic ‘Swan Lake’. In this new version he boldly envisions the lead dancer playing the dual role of White, and Black Swans.

Along with the pressures of her performance, Nina must also contend with a number of human obstacles. The perfectionist Thomas, her mother's increasing control over her, and the sexually carefree Lily (Mila Kunis). Who under the guise of friendship might be planning to steal her big part for herself. Suffering from both exhaustion and stress with this arduous endeavour, Nina begins having terrible hallucinations, that push her very sanity, and body to its limits.

Having established himself as a filmmaker to watch with his early uncompromising films 'Pi' (1998), and the deeply troubling drug parable 'Requiem for a Dream’ (2000), it was his previous effort 'The Wrestler', that finally brought director Darren Aronofsky both critical and financial success. Utilising a raw handheld docu-style, he brought a hard edged realism to the life of the tormented Wrestler, here he deftly masters this technique, while also injecting it with the added ingredients of body horror, a clattering of bold colours, and ominous unnatural sounds.

Aronofsky and writers Mark Heyman/Andres Heinz, give viewers a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes of the strange, competitive world of ballet. Littered amongst the meat of the story, we are shown the mental and psychical riggers of toning and shaping one's body, into an acceptable vessel to compete in this demanding world. This is personified by the raw, fragile performance by Portman, that finally brought her a long overdue Oscar, after a number of iconic roles.

While I am sure many will scoff at the themes and motifs raised here, it remains a shockingly beautiful piece of cinema. Standing tall as both an uncompromising look at a profession that tasks mind and body, while also holding a transformative performance by its lead. 'Black Swan' is a startling shot psychological thriller, and a downright masterpiece of cinema. Highly recommended.

Rating:

If you're a fan of Japanese anime you can see a lot of parallels between this, and the amazing 'Perfect Blue'. I believe at some point Aronofsky purchased the remake rights to that film, so he could incorporate elements into 'Black Swan'. So not only do you get a startling 'body-horror' from one of the best directors working today, you also get a semi remake of a classic anime. Now how does that sound?