Black Swan

Film: Black Swan
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Country: USA

Aronofsky's new picture has been one of the most hyped films of the year. After his hip indie-nerd films Pi and Requiem For A Dream it's impossible for Aronofsky to escape hype, and with Black Swan, he seems to be making a deliberate attempt to top himself. The main idea of the film is that an edgy ballet troupe is showing a re-imagining of Swan Lake, and need to find a dancer who can play both the 'White swan' character and the 'Black swan' character. The main character Nina, played by Natalie Portman, is an uptight perfectionist who is perfect for the white swan character, but lacks the looseness, spontaneity, and seductiveness to play the black swan. There's another dancer, played by Mila Kunis, who is the embodiment of the black swan. After Nina is cast in the ballet, she stumbles trying to master the black swan character, and becomes afraid the other girl is trying to steal her part.

Superficially the concept seems like a risk with a hip audience, but it's really not. The film contains a laundry list of 'Things found in hip movies'. Hallucinations, sexual aggression as freedom (The leader of the troupe sleeps with the dancers and instructs Nina to masturbate to get herself in the 'black swan' mindset), an overbearing mother who wants to keep her innocent, a lesbian scene, identity confusion. With Aronofsky's hip audience, all his creative decisions are very safe. The style is also, at times, derivative of classic arthouse. The psychological themes are ripped from Bergman, and the portrayal of Nina's delusions comes straight from Polanski's 'Repulsion'.

What makes Black Swan a good film is the performance of Natalie Portman. She carries all aspects of her very complex character with intensity and manages to separate out and portray all her different psychological states. The production value of the film is also very high: It's very well shot and well edited. The movie was made so well, I'm willing to forgive all the arthouse cliches it jams down your throat and call it a good movie.

Style: 9
Substance: 4
Overall: 7.5
Accessibility: 6