Black Swan is the best movie that I have seen since Inception. Inception and Black Swan are both exceptionally well made and deal with the psyche of man. Both films are nominated for best picture Oscars. Black Swan received 5 Oscars noms including Best Picture, Best Actress, Cinematography, Editing, and Directing. I haven’t felt affected by a film like this since I saw the Hurt Locker. Seeing this film is quite an experience and something you won’t want to miss.
Plot: Our story begins at the Ballet. The head dancer, Beth, is retiring and auditions are being held to cast the role as the lead in Swan Lake. This is the moment that all dancers dream of, to be the lead in a production. Nina, Natalie Portman, hardly dares to believe that she might get the role. The thing about Swan Lake is that the lead has to dance two roles, the White Swan and the Black Swan. The White Swan is innocent but the Black Swan her evil twin is seductive and destructive. To find such a dancer is rare. Nina is a perfect White Swan; she dances perfectly, but without passion. Her new rival, Lily, is the perfect Black Swan. She has loose technique but dances beautifully and with passion. Nina wins the role and so her spiral into darkness and obsession begins. She begins to unravel believing everyone is out to get her including her obsessive mother who also used to be a dancer. Lily and Nina strike up a friendship and as the movie moves further into Nina’s darkness, you aren’t sure if she is losing hold on reality or if everyone is out to get her. You will have to watch the movie and decide for yourself, and you will probably want to watch it twice if you can stomach it. The movie is very dark with very disturbing and vivid imagery, which disturbed even me and I am not disturbed by much. That said I will own this film when it comes out on DVD. This movie is a wonderful but terrifying exploration of the darkness of the human soul when obsess over something to the exclusion of all else. We all have the white swan and dark swan inside us.
Like I mentioned before, there is some wonderful imagery and camera work in this film. I was impressed with the quality of the cinematography in this film. It was nice to see a movie that didn’t totally depend on heavy CG (although I suspect there was a fair amount of effects in this film) to carry the film. There are some grainy and dark shots, some dream like quality shots. This cinematography matched the mood of the film. This film was very artistically done.
The acting was fantastic. Natalie Portman plays the main character, Nina. Portman has such an ethereal quality about her that adds to the film. She has such an expressive face which lets you know what is going on inside the character which is key in this film. She is such a good actress. I don’t know that very many other actresses could have carried off this role. She is totally believable in the middle of her breakdown. She was excellent. I hope she gets nominated for this role. Mila Kunis plays Lily. Lily is the black swan to Nina’s white swan. Where Nina exhibits the perfection of the dance, Lily personifies the fun, and spirit of the dance but her technique is not up to par with Nina’s. Lily is the bad girl who breaks all the rules. She eats what she shouldn’t, parties and drinks. She has fun where Nina has always had none. Lily shows Nina a whole new world that helps push her towards the brink. Vincent Cassel plays Thomas who is the director of the company. He decides who gets what role. He is a womanizer and an all around not nice guy. He builds his dancers up and breaks them down. Vincent does a fantastic job as the villain in this role. Barbara Hershey plays Nina’s mother. Nina’s mother was a dancer in her youth. She was unable to be successful so she pushes this world on her daughter. She imposes strict rules on Nina and is as much a villain in this tale as Thomas. Hershey does an excellent job as the overly strict mother. She is believable in the role and you can see why when Nina breaks free she starts to lose her grip on reality. Winona Ryder plays a small part as Beth, the past star of the company who also has her own breakdown. We can almost see Nina’s future in Beth. Ryder does an excellent job as the dying star who cannot deal with the fact that her time is up. Overall the acting was fantastic and really adds a depth to this movie that wouldn’t be there otherwise.
I really enjoyed this film. It is excellently done all the way around. It is a very dark film so be prepared. Be warned that this film will get to you. I had a physical reaction to this film and a film hasn’t touched me so deeply since I saw the Hurt Locker. It is one of those films that takes you on a journey and you are tired when you are done, but in this case the trip is worth it. I expect this movie to win Best Picture and Best Actress. I will be purchasing this one on DVD when it comes out. It is the best film I have seen in a long time.
