Black Swan

My brain is still wrapped around Darren Aronofsky's daring and visually stimulating Black Swan. I couldn’t have loved a minute more or less of this film. And it’s almost difficult to explain why.

Actually, I can. Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder, Darren Aronofsky; all are the reason why. Natalie Portman took her place as the lead, Nina, but the other characters worked hard to create the world Nina lives in. At the same time I saw Nina growing out of control, I understood her nature because of the people who surrounded her.

The film follows a young ballerina who is given the lead in Swan Lake. Underneath the pressure, she breaks both physically and mentally as she attempts to transform herself from a gentle lady into a darker, more emotional, star performer. It’s a simple enough story, which Darren Aronofsky twisted into something fascinating.

There was no reason for me to pull my eyes from the screen, and yet it’s almost too excruciating to watch. The anxiety pours from the characters, eating away at you while you witness what unfolds. Black Swan is a film that captures you second by second, and makes you a character in its world.

With all of the expectations I had going into Black Swan, I was given everything for which I’d hoped. Although not solely a film about ballet, Darren Aronofsky didn’t cut corners in portraying the passion that leads people to dance. I appreciated all of the dance sequences. They weren’t simply for our viewing pleasure, but instead used as metaphors for the film.

Black Swan is definitely psychological. It uses human sexuality and the body to emphasize maturity and obsession. This may put off some people of the film, and the squeamish could have a hard time. I never found it to be a problem and Black Swan never took itself so seriously that it didn’t throw a couple of comedic lines in for good measure.

I’d go see this film again, and probably again after that. There is so much going on underneath Nina’s skin and in her mind that by watching Black Swan several times, it could only get better.