, and he made millions look at the scorned world of professional wrestling in a completely different light with The Wrestler
. Black Swan is a mesmerizing experience from start to finish, opening briskly in a manic dream that essentially spells out everything you're about to experience. Even though it's clear what is happening to Nina(Natalie Portman), Black Swan never feels telegraphed. In fact the high wire act it walks and Portman's powerful performance will have you on the edge of your seat.The story will feel instantly familiar and yet completely new at the same time. Nina is a ballerina in a renowned ballet company. It's clear from the start that she's trained herself down to the bone, striving for perfection. She craves perfection, and the only to validate her hard work is to win the lead in her company's performance of Swan Lake. Her director, Thomas Leroy(Vincent Cassell), has her all figured out. He knows she has the technical skill to play the lucid White Swan, but lacks the frenzy and anger to play her evil side, the Black Swan.
Unfortunately for her, Nina's life is about to turn into a nightmare. In order to win the role, she'll have to best Leroy's new favorite dancer, Lily(Mila Kunis), who has the raw sexuality to best fit the Black Swan. Nina's mother(Barbara Hershey), a former ballerina who gave up her career, has grown possessive and overbearing. Beth(Winona Ryder), the former prima ballerina, has grown jealous of Nina's success and the way Leroy so casually tossed her aside. Nina's world seems to be collapsing all around her.
One way or another, Aronofsky's films deal with characters on a single minded and often self destructive quest. In this case, it's Nina's need to find perfection within herself, a desire that would drive any sane person insane.Black Swan is more about the psychological and physical damage such a fruitless pursuit can cause. The duality within Nina bursts forth at unexpected moments, always keeping you on your toes. Aronofsky might not be the most subtle director in the world, in fact he's fairly obvious when trying to make a point, but he knows how to keep his stories intense. Exploring Nina's emotional and sexual inexperience reaps unexpectedly captivating results, in particular her relationship with Leroy, both her biggest fan and a sensual predator who plays upon Nina's awkwardness. In a lot of ways he is both a blessing and a curse.
Speaking of blessings, Mila Kunis and Natalie Portman have now supplanted Naomi Watts and Laura Elena Herring's make out session in Mulholland Drive
as foremost in my thoughts. That's all I'm gonna say about that.Aronofsky has said from the very beginning that he considers The Wrestler and Black Swan to be companion pieces. From a character standpoint, both feature characters who have completely given up their lives(in his case physically, in Nina's case mentally) to an art. Not just any art, but a rare art that has a mostly small but rabid fanbase. Mickey Rourke studied and trained with the best indie wrestlers to hone his craft and make sure every move he made in the ring looked authentic. He had the bumps and broken bones to prove it. Natalie Portman went through just as rigorous a process to pass herself off as a ballerina, and it worked out in spades. She is simply magnificent here, and while I dont' consider myself a ballet expert by any stretch, I was completely engrossed by her performance. At one point I had to stop and ask myself if this was really her. Without giving too much away, there comes a point where her character crosses a certain threshold, and it's like we're watching someone completely new emerging right in front of us. As great as Natalie Portman has been throughout her career, she has never been this impressive. From a technical standpoint, Aronofsky shoots this film in much the same way as he shot The Wrestler. Black Swan is certainly more atmospheric, dreamy like so much of his earlier stuff. It does, however, utilize a lot of over the shoulder camerawork, so effective for personal stories like this. The style puts us right into the character's shoes so that we experience what they're experiencing.
Black Swan is an operatic production as grand as you'll find. Clint Mansell's sweeping score permeates every single scene, lifting you up to amazing highs and terrible lows like a rollercoaster thrill ride. That's probably something you wouldn't expect to be said about a "ballet movie", but then this is unlike anything else you've seen this year. Would you expect anything less from Aronofsky?
