From director Darren Aronofsky, "Black Swan" stars Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel and Mila Kunis in one of the year's most highly-rated psychological dramas.
In the wake of "The Wrestler," Aronofsky's 2008 critical success, "Black Swan" acts as a companion piece: highlighting another performance art with its own audience, setting, skills and debilitating stressors.
The main character Nina (Portman) is an ambitious, controlled and dedicated ballerina who labors under her prestigious New York company and its Machiavellian director, Thomas Leroy (Cassel). Confronted by Thomas' new rendition of "Swan Lake" that fuses black and white swans in one performance, Nina molds her personality to reflect both. However, Nina's virginal life under an overbearing mother (Barbara Hershey) makes becoming the Black Swan difficult.
Meanwhile, she launches into a complex and competitive relationship with her company's fiery, worldly newcomer Lily (Kunis). Gradually, Nina develops a massive psychological breakdown due to her severe habits, unhealthy relationships, and obsession with becoming the Black Swan. Unsupported, Nina's self-injury and tragic fall conclude the film.
At his best, Aronofsky paints characters under duress of their own making. From his earlier work "Requiem for a Dream" to his later films "The Fountain" and "The Wrestler," Aronofsky is anything but light-hearted. He uses bold colors and his figures are hurting people who achieve pyrrhic victories.
It may be true that Nina is nothing like "Requiem's" escapist addicts, "The Fountain's" grieving protector, or "The Wrestler's" burnt out Robin Ramzinski, but she still has to wake up in her pretty pink bedroom and be something for someone else. Even though it is what breaks her, she becomes the individual that the previously mentioned characters always were: a trait essential for the seductively feminine Black Swan. Before this point, Nina has to take on other's identities and does so á la imaginary sex or the theft of small valuables. The Black Swan lets her kill off vestiges of others she's internalized, but the last thing keeping her from the role happens to be so close that she misses the mark and ends up bleeding.
Aronofsky also returns to visual surrealism with strength comparable to "Requiem for a Dream" and dramatics that outweigh "The Fountain." Yet he goes further to downgrade and simplify with strong reds that manifest blood, whites and blacks that scream opposition and the sheer power of locomotive muscles. With these essential skills, he reverts his own clichés to work momentarily and succeeds in making intermittent brilliance.
The weaknesses of "Black Swan" are a result of what makes its strengths: Aronofsky's enthusiasm. He wants to make an epic and waxes blandly symbolic with a black-clothed Portman passing a white-clothed Portman and the stylized black wings tattooed on Lily. The audience comprehends. Big hammers fly like Thor threw them and, yes, they break mirrors.
Yet, at the same time, he should be applauded for efficiently using sex where it may be squandered. Thomas' slightly slimy fondling and Lily's illusionary tongue aren't out of place.
Portman, Hersey, Cassel, and Kunis join the expansive cast in near-seamless acting that is highlighted by Portman's believable wide-eyed innocence, drugged liberation, and sometimes-radical malevolence. A particularly satisfying scene has her reduce Cassel's Thomas to a boy of twelve while in full Black Swan. It is true that every other character is vastly secondary to the viewpoint of Portman's Nina, but their masterful integration as a part of her is hard to miss.
Overall, Aronofsky delivers well and his cast superbly embellishes him. For all fans of this artistically gifted director or the particular skills of Portman, "Black Swan" is a definite recommendation. It is also recommended to ballet fans that may see their medium twisted in an interesting, respectful way.
