Any girl who ever strapped on a pair of toe shoes or took a dance class will want to see Black Swan, a psychodrama set in the world of New York ballet. However, this amalgam of All About Eve, Single White Female, and tutus doesn’t quite reach the heights of artistry one would expect from professional ballerinas.
Black Swan is centered around Nina (Natalie Portman), an appropriately named dancer in a New York ballet troupe. Fulfilling the meaning of her name, Nina is a twenty-something little girl, living with her overly-doting mother (Barbara Hershey), a former ballerina who may not be wrapped too tight above her ankles. Nina’s bedroom is pink, with lots of stuffed animals and girly things around, including one of those musical jewelry boxes with a pirouetting ballerina on top, which “Mommy” loves to wind up for her little princess. (This is my second movie in a row featuring a princess with mother issues, but Tangled is way more fun than this.)
Nina is a dedicated, hardworking dancer who’s caught the attention of her troupe’s European director, Thomas (Vincent Cassel). He wants to kick off the next ballet season with a new “visionary” interpretation of Swan Lake in which both the lead role of the White Swan and her evil-sister counterpart, the Black Swan, will be danced by the same girl. It’s a plum-but-grueling role and a huge opportunity for the right dancer, and Nina really wants it. However, as Thomas repeatedly informs her, she’s perfect for the White Swan, but maybe too perfect; she’s so careful about being technically accurate in her dancing that Thomas has trouble getting Nina to let herself go and be more seductive and extreme for dancing the Black Swan role. But she is pushed further down a dark psychological path to the role, thanks to her clingy mother, the aging ballerina she replaced (Winona Ryder), and a brash, black-clad newcomer (Mila Kunis) with her eyes on the prize.
The real “visionary” director here is not the snide and manipulative Thomas, but Darren Aronofsky. After his most mainstream film, The Wrestler, Aronofsky returns to the surreal imagery and rapid-fire editing of his strongest film to date, Requiem for a Dream. That movie was visually unusual, graphic and shocking at times, but its extreme moments were appropriate as manifestations of the desperation experienced by the drug-addled leads.
In contrast, drugs play only a minor role here, in a deliberately disorienting nightclub sequence. However, the psychosis is omnipresent, and without an easy target like drugs to pin the blame on. Nina has more frequent flake-outs as the film progresses, often involving blood and flesh wounds. Add to these visions nearly subliminal editing, symbolic imagery, and too much of a symphonic score, and it becomes quickly apparent that Nina is a repressed, virginal wacko who didn’t fall far from Mommy’s tree.
I wanted to like this movie a lot more than I did. Natalie Portman is on-screen for nearly the entire running time, and she does a terrific job. Mila Kunis is sexy and funny and a touch menacing, just like her character Jackie on That ’70s Show. Barbara Hershey may no longer be the radiant beauty she once was, but she’s still a fine and thoughtful actress. (Trivia: 30 years ago, Hershey also played a girl named Nina in a behind-the-scenes drama, The Stunt Man.) And Winona Ryder turns in a brief but edgy performance, hopefully signaling a return for her career.
But for all the starpower in the female cast and the darkness of the backstage drama, Black Swan seems to ultimately collapse from the weight of its own pretensions. Aronofsky throws in so many awkward moments and graphic visions that you can’t watch any of it with a sense of real logic. It’s not the sort of thriller that offers reasonable explanations for the terrible events we see–there’s little reality that the audience can rely on for a baseline. I eventually gave up on trying to make sense of it all, writing it off as all being in Nina’s head. If you ever saw Jacob’s Ladder, you’ll have a notion of what I mean.
I hate to sound sexist, but maybe it’s a guy thing. Black Swan features four strong actresses, while the lead male is a two-dimensional role with an accent. Vincent Cassel is not the strongest casting either, as almost any actor could have done this part. Men are given short shrift in this movie, from the dolts in the nightclub scene to the male dancers in the corps de ballet. We see them, briefly, but they barely even speak. In fact, the only line I remember from a male dancer occurs when one of them drops Nina after she spaces out during a lifting move. “What the f—?” he murmurs to her. My thoughts exactly, buddy…about the whole movie.
Related posts:
New Trailer of Black Swan that captures all of Natalie Portman’s back shots –
and there are plenty! apparently : )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMmQ1kwqagg
count how many
I actually wrote a review on this movie (view at http://www.oliobymarilyn.com/2011/01/enigma-of-black-swan.html). What I found the most interesting is that in polling 100 people, you will get 100 different responses as to whether it was brilliant, what the movie was about, etc. It’s like a diamond everyone is viewing from a different angle. I was draw in completely and actually had a hard time coming back to reality afterwards. I am hoping the Oscars will think it as amazing as I did. I know many people as well who absolutely did not enjoy it and thought it not worthwhile. I find this intriguing. Perhaps that’s what makes a great movie – no 2 people experience it the same.
Obviously the guy in the movie that said what the f-ck should have said that to you about this review. This movie was extremely creative and you gave up on the movie before you starting watching it. It is a guy thing because your afraid to feel something about a ballet movie. The inner meanings and working of this movie were amazing, but you probably missed those too. Just stick with writing about movies you would understand like Tangled.
Vincent Cassel is amazing in it as well. He fit the character perfectly. I don’t think just anyone could play that role.
I disagree with everything you said. The casting was brilliant and Mila Kunis as lily was nothing like the character Jackie from That 70s Show. The movie is very innovative and quite possibly the most creative movie I have seen for years. Also, the story makes you think throughout. There could be many things going on the story from many different perspectives of the characters. Sounds like you were just too lazy to think about it all. Good for you. Plus, it is nominated for 12 critics choice awards.. the most in history. Obviously you have no idea what you are talking about. Oh and the last 10 minutes of the movie are especially amazing. I suggest everyone to see the movie at least once.