Black Swan

"Black Swan"
Starring: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder
Directed by: Darren Aronofsky
USA/2010
108 minutes

One can easily view Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan as a companion piece to the director's 2008 film The Wrestler. In the case of the former, Aronofsky gets to tell the same story, but with a completely different style and aesthetic all of his own. Aronofsky's films are comprised of addicts and obsessives. Math, drugs, the quest for immortality, wrestling, and now ballet. With Black Swan, the director has added another success to his resume, and in the process, has made a star out of Natalie Portman.

Nina Sayers (Portman) knows ballet and nothing else. Her room is decorated in pink and littered with stuffed animals as if she were still eight years old. She lives with her overbearing mother Erica (Hershey) in a small New York City apartment. The two have an understanding of Nina's drive and goals, but something is a little off. Nina seeks perfection in the cutthroat world of New York ballet, while her mother lives her life through her daughter. The dynamic of the two are one of the many that Black Swan displays.

As the film opens, the new ballet season is underway, and it's in Nina best interest to capture the attention of the artistic director Thomas Leroy, played by Vincent Cassel. Leroy's take on Swan Lake will be without prime ballerina Beth Macintyre, (Ryder) as he looks to cast someone new. Early on we can tell Nina has caught his eye, and why shouldn't she? She seems to be the best dancer in the company, but Leroy demands nuance, and sensuality. Nina is perfect in the role as the white swan, but the it's a duel role and Nina must inhibit the much darker black swan as well to get the role. Leroy is famous for demanding much and sleeping with his stars, something that Nina isn't used to. In one scene between the two, Leroy asks Nina to go home and touch herself. The genius of his character is that we aren't sure whether he's a full blown creep, or just pushing Nina off-balance in order for her to become something else, something organic and dangerous. Aronofsky informs the audience early that this film will be something different. Their is a sense of dread from the start, and we know that the young Nina will soon be put through the ringer to get the part.

The film plays out in a somewhat predictable and melodramatic manner, but the way that Aronofsky is able to sidestep the usual "backstage" cliches is welcoming. Lily, played by the up-and-coming, yet experienced Mila Kunis is sexy, loose, and everything that Nina is not. The dynamic between the two is everything you'd expect, but Kunis and Portman play off each other in an incredible manner. Their rivalry is not so much based out of competition, but in the notion that Lily is a different animal than Nina; a sexual being, a true woman.

The fabric of Black Swan examines duality, sexuality, competitiveness, and female identity. More than anything, Aronofsky is intrigued with the idea of a performer pushing their body to the brink of destruction. In The Wrestler, this idea of self mutilation was on full display as the protagonist Randy "The Ram" performed stubbornly past his prime as an athlete. Black Swan is different in terms of Nina being young, ambitious, and on her way to success. The two protagonists share common bonds; Nina seeks perfection, as Randy sought out fame and notoriety.

The film was shot by Matthew Libatique; his use of handheld is an interesting choice for a film with so much movement. In this case, the handheld works wonderfully to evoke the madness and absurdity throughout. Aronofsky has been clearly influenced by other films, and with Black Swan, he performs a high-wire act by effortless infusing different genres together. Aronofsky's framing is absolutely exquisite; the layers of detail tracing Nina's coming-of-age through drastic changes is successfully achieved here.  

Their are touches of Polanski, Cronenberg, Argento, and even Lynch. Nina's psyche is tested, and not since Ellen Burstyn in Requeim for a Dream has Aronofsky featured such a dominant and fractured female protagonist. The world of Black Swan is filled with dopplegangers, mirrors, and doubles, all figuring into Nina's struggle to transform herself. We're not sure what is real and what is fake in the film, we just marvel at the recklessness of Aronofsky and Portman, and their roles as artist and performer.

Grade: 4.5/5