Being that I know absolutely nothing about ballet, except that the women are very skinny and that the men often wear tutus, I expected that The Black Swan would be some kind of wimpy art film that would bore me to death: Was I ever wrong.
Natalie Portman delivers a knock-down performance as the “Swan Queen” Nina Sayers that is part Judy Garland and part Betty Davis. She has taken the lead role away from Beth Mcintyre (Winona Ryder) and is about to find out that it is lonely at the top. Like a prize fighter defending his belt, Nina quickly finds out that everyone wants her job. Not only must she outperform her counterparts in what can only be described as a bruising, physical occupation; she must also deal with the oozing jealousy and deceit that reeks in this industry (at least according to this movie).
The fictional New York ballet company is directed by Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel), who displays a hard-nosed method of teaching to his underlings, which compliments what appears to be a sexual sliminess. When he isn’t breaking up cat-fights, he is somewhere on the prowl. Not only must Nina deal with Thomas, but she must deal with her over protective mother, Erica (Barbara Hershey). Erica treats Nina like a ten-year old complete with incessant hounding and a bedroom full of stuffed animals.
The pressure of the whole situation has poor Nina on a verge of a melt down. She develops habits of self-mutilation which at times appear to be real and at other times appear to be figments of her imagination. The release of this madness addresses Nina’s main dilemma: her contradicting role of performing the “white swan” and the “black swan.” Nina has no problem dancing to the role of the “white swan” (the good girl), but lacks the passion to pull off the “black swan” (the bad girl).
Director Darren Aronofsky has painted himself a masterpiece that ends in explosive fashion: If you like boxing movies you will love this flick.
