Black Swan
A twisty psychological drama, Aronofsky uses cheap scares that date the film.
Darren Aronofsky's clever take on Swan Lake is not the shocking, twisted and disturbing vision that was implied, but a sexier version of The Wrestler - two individuals pushing their physical and mental and health to the limit.
A twisty psychological drama, Aronofsky uses cheap scares that date the film. If he was going for a Polanski vibe, the tone is all over the place. Natalie Portman is marvellous as Nina, a promising dancer with the New York ballet whose dream role of the lead in Swan Lake is threatened. As committed Portman was to the project, she is still too cold as a dancer to be believable. As Nina obsesses, she loses touch with reality, and soon her body manifests itself into her nightmares.
Barbara Hershey hams it up as Nina's worryingly clingy and oppressive mother (and clearly the root of all evil), but does well to remain ambiguous in her motives - not something anyone else was interested in. An overrated Mila Kunis is the seductive, passionate Lily, a fellow dancer and thorn in the side of the prim and uptight Nina. A gleefully slimey Vincent Cassel's predatory director drums home the Madonna/whore stereotype of these two women's polar personalities, and the film serves as one long, deeply eye-rolling look at female sexuality. The repressed desire storyline could not have crammed in any more cliches if it wanted to.
Portman is excellent at commanding the screen, having thoroughly enveloped the hysterical Nina after she breaks away from her childlike naivete. The climactic scene of her transforming into the black swan on stage is enough to justify the inevitable awards. Her scenes with Winona Ryder's broken and crying former star dancer are intriguing, and it's an angle that should've been explored more.
Aronofsky attempts some Cronenberg body horror for the promised shocking moments, and the few moments of skin-ripping, bone-crunching detail are most welcome. Otherwise, it's left to some stunning cinematography to elevate Black Swan above the ropey psychological thriller it is. Shot on grainy 16mm film, the camera swirls on the stage as we hear every breath Nina takes, and feel every drop of sweat.
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