Black Swan Review

"The truth is when I look at you all I see is the white swan. Yes, you are beautiful, fearful, and fragile. Ideal casting. But the black swan? It's a hard fucking job to dance with both." - Thomas Leroy

(POSSIBLE SPOILERS; seriously I can never really tell what counts as a spoiler anymore)

Here's an Oscar movie I was really, really looking forward to. Black Swan is a psychological thriller for the books. It showed me that movies can still break new grounds and show you things you haven't quite seen before, along with a bunch of other movies in 2010. The movie features an outstanding, career making peformance of an already amazing actress, the ever growing power of a young talented actress, the intricate nature of the screenwriters, and the sheer brilliance of one of the most interesting American directors.

Black Swan is the story of Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman), a ballet dancer whose discipline and skill is almost completely unmatched. She performs in a company, whose most recent production is that of the famous Swan Lake. Nina's biggest ambition in the movie is to earn the role of Swan Queen, in which she must perform an elegant and serene dance as The White Swan personality of the Queen as well as The Black Swan, whose dance is exotic and invigorating. The company director Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassell) knows Nina is perfect for the White, but is aware she doesn't have enough passion to be the Black. This brings conflict as Nina tries to find a tone in herself to dance as the black swan, while fellow dancer Lily (Mila Kunis) is perfect the role. In her relationships with the exciting and friendly Lily, the seductive and inspiring Thomas, and Nina's own obsessive but worrisome mother (Barbara Hershey), Nina begins to change. She begins to uncover the layers of her personality. She starts to gradually veer from her innocent nature to a darker one; to transform herself from the White Swan to the Black Swan. And I don't use the word "transform" figuratively either. But while this change could be exactly what Nina needs to be perfect, it could also mean her undoing.

The movie is art, in my opinion. Cinema at its finest. It has untraditional and exciting action, wonderful and powerful performances, and technical precision that is just amazing. I've never seen any ballet in my life, and I've seen even fewer movies about it. But Black Swan not only makes ballet look incredible and beautiful, it makes it look freaking brutal. Most men may write off ballet as something, I don't know, "girly." Those men should watch this movie. The dancing these people have to train for makes some sports athletes I've seen look like pussies. It's a lot of keeping your body conditioned, repetitive practice, careful timing, and elegance if anything. It also appears to be very competitive. Maybe they aren't racing a ball down a court or bludgeoning body against body on a field but what they do is very difficult. So difficult that I imagine it was a bitch for Portman and Kunis to prepare for their roles. At times I'm sure they used doubles, but for the most part it is pretty clear that no one else but them could be dancing. I'm all about getting cultured, maybe I should try to see one of these productions. You never know.

Director Darren Aronofsky is one of the most brilliant directors around. He chooses projects he gives a damn about, and cares even more about making them perfect. They flow together almost as well as the ballet in this picture. Movies like Pi and The Fountain are haunting films that make you question reality, while films like The Wrestler and Requiem for a Dream (which I honestly have not seen all of; I know, it's his most popular but still...) are films that show human beings down on their luck in ways we can't even imagine. Black Swan has all of those qualities, and then some. Aronofsky's filming during the dancing is jaw dropping, making it so that it moves effortlessly, rhythmically with Natalie Portman as if the camera was being guided by her every move. The writers Mark Heyman, Andres Heins, and John McLaughlin are also invaluable as they weave together a plot that twists and turns, makes you second guess yourself again and again as to what you are seeing. In that sense, they make Nina a filter for the audience; neither of you knows exactly what's going on. Though the special effects in the film are at times a little over the top, the dark mood of the film makes it mesh well and you don't really mind. Plus, there's not a lot of the special effects so don't worry. And how could I forget the always awesome Clint Mansell's score for the film, which is just as haunting and effective as his other music compositions.

Now on for the really fun part. The acting department was ace in this film, of course. I will start off by saying that Natalie Portman has been doing nothing but leaving her mark in cinema history lately. I'm sure a few decades from now, she will be regarded as one of the greatest actresses of all time. I'd make that claim already after watching this movie. Like Firth did for The King's Speech, Portman embodies her role to the point where you're sure no one else could play it. Though you feel for Nina for a lot of the movie, as I expected, you also dislike her a lot. I did at least. She is obsessive and vicious at times, believing any misstep to not only be someone else's fault but an action against her. What I was most intrigued with was her personality, as any gentleman would be. But seriously, Nina's mind is the most intense thing in this movie. It is clear as day that she is still a child. She lives with her mother, sleeps in a little girl's pink princess room, she is deeply hurt easily, I could keep going. Somehow, Portman portrays this unique trait so convincingly that it is shocking when she begins seeking out her darker or perhaps more mature self. You wonder what will happen to her when she reaches that point, if she reaches that point. The point is, Portman deserved that Oscar and I don't care what anybody thinks. But if Portman has left behind her days as Padme from Star Wars (it's actually kinda funny looking back now), Mila Kunis has left behind her days as Jackie from That '70s Show (also funny). Kunis conveys a lot of mystery and even more power in her role as Lily. She presents herself as a chipper, welcoming confidante who may just be a bit too reckless for Nina, but of course not everything is as it seems. With the roles she's been getting lately and how she's played them, Kunis is an actress I am really hoping to see more and in more movies like this. Besides, how can you not love Jackie? Vincent Cassell is an actor I enjoy seeing. He's always effective and convincing. I say this because I usually see him play cold blooded assholes (Ocean's 12, Derailed). I thought that might be what he was gonna play in this movie. It's pretty clear that Thomas cares about his play and his dancers, but is determined to get such a legendary production right, understandably. He has a tendacy to prefer some dancers over others, and an even bigger tendacy to sleep with them. His interactions with Natalie Portman were actually some of my favorite moments in the film. He knows her personality just by how she dances and encourages her to break free of herself (in hindsight, maybe not the best advice, but how could he know). The funny thing is that even when there are hot and heavy moments between them, they still appear to have a student-teacher relationship and I liked that. Barbara Hershey is Nina's mother, who I was sure would be domineering and Joan Crawford-esque. Well, actually, she might be. I saw her as very worried for her daughter, but maybe you will see something else. She was good regardless. A very bizarre performance is turned in by Winona Ryder (that's right) as Thomas' former star dancer and lover. She is a forgotten, tragic figure who was once great. This performance, with one scene in particular, might have been the creepiest. So if you can't tell I'm in love with this cast.

For those with the faint of heart, this movie is unbelievably dark and moody. But hey, I enjoy dark and moody. I AM DARK AND MOODY! Sorry about that. But for real, this is a visceral experience for the new generation. You'll know what I mean. Now it's not to say there aren't other things to be said about this movie. It does have it's moments of true beauty. The actual dancing, especially the last, is jaw dropping and just plain gold (take some fucking notes, Sucker Punch). The kind that makes you go "wow." Oh yeah, the infamous-even-before-release Natalie Portman/Mila Kunis sex scene was, well it was...eerie. Sure, it's sexy but at the same time it is very ominous. In fact, sexuality in general is one of the more ominous and even alien things going on with Nina throughout the movie. Her moments with Leroy felt almost pedophilic given the way Portman portrayed the character (not saying that's bad, just interesting). The movie also steals Fast Times at Ridgemont High's crown of most embarrassing masturbation moment. So kudos to you, Black Swan, kudos to you.

Aronofsky apparently meant this to be a companion piece to his last film, The Wrestler. I can see that. Both films have to do with masters of their medium in the biggest moments of their lives. Two people giving it their all for their passion at the expense of their body, their minds, their friends, maybe even their lives. But where The Wrestler was about Mickey Rourke searching helplessly for redemption, Black Swan is about Natalie Portman searching painstakingly for darkness. Aside from the dancing, there isn't a whole lot to Nina's situation. Nina is the one who sensationalizes everything, which in turn makes the movie sensational. Her perspective on things morphs from a simple company's rendition of a classic to that of a massive conspiracy to destroy her. In her mind, (possibly in reality too) it's not her style that must change but the way she views herself. But how must the Black Swan role appear to a girl as virginal and controlled as Nina: probably not just something sexy, but maybe violent, reckless, animalistic. Or maybe something a bit more haunting is happening. Maybe everything she sees is what is happening. But that would be crazy, wouldn't it?

Five out of five swans. This has been a quickly written review from Your Modest Guru. Thanks for reading.