Movie Review: 'Black Swan'

If you’re seeing BLACK SWAN because you want to see a “dance movie,” then you’re seeing it for the wrong reasons. This thriller is as far as you can get from the likes of CENTER STAGE, and it is its intensity, boldness, and blatant sexuality that will seduce any viewer…or at least those who can handle it. When Nina (Natalie Portman) gets cast in the coveted role of the Swan Queen in a new take on the classic ballet Swan Lake, everyone knows she’s perfect to play the role of the naive, innocent white swan… but can she play the evil, seductive black swan as well? This is the question that’s posed numerous times by the artistic director, Thomas (Vincent Cassel). In one scene, Thomas invites Nina back to his place for drinks. While there, he asks if she’s a virgin. I was taken aback by his bluntness towards Nina, but it’s understandable why someone might think she is. With her soft-spoken nature, over-protective mother who she still lives with, and her somewhat reserved, straight-laced manner, she’s like a poster child for purity. It’s not much later that we meet her exact opposite, Lily (Mila Kunis). She’s outspoken, and her every look, every movement is dripping with sensuality. Plus, at least to Nina, she seems to be after her and her role.

Director Darren Aronofsky has crafted a uniquely remarkable film. His combination of the grace and elegance of dance with the horror that Nina is experiencing is one that you would never expect to go well together… but in fact, they run parallel to and compliment each other much like the two roles Nina must master. There are a multitude of cringe-worthy scenes, some which had me covering my eyes long after the shot was over just to ensure to myself that it was, in fact, over. If you’re squeamish about fingernails, then you’ll be doing the same. Don’t be surprised if you hear gasps echo throughout the theater during some scenes (I’d be more surprised if you didn’t). Much of the time, it’s not even what’s on screen that’s causing anxiety in the viewer, but the way the film plays them up. Instead of overwhelming the audience with your standard “things popping out at you” gimmick to get a scare, we’re almost always exposed to the characters’ horrified reactions first… and then the horror that they are seeing/experiencing. There is no shortage of trippy, psychosis-inducing imagery in this movie.


Natalie Portman is, without a doubt, as good as she’s ever been. She not only looks like a ballet dancer (thanks to losing 20 pounds and 8 hours of training a day) but she dances so beautifully that it’s like she’s been doing it all her life. She manages to jump from her natural, white swan demeanor to her paranoid, disturbed self with the snap of a finger. From the very beginning of the film, Nina’s mother often calls her her “sweet girl”…and while she seems as sweet as sugar, you can just tell that underneath the surface she’s a little off-balanced. With a movie like this, it’s really hard to try and talk about it to someone who hasn’t seen it. Anything I say about it will make it seem like the absolute strangest movie (which, granted, it is)… but it’s one that you must experience for yourself to fully understand just why every movie fan can’t stop talking about BLACK SWAN.

Rating: A