Black Swan

More disturbing images and behind the scenes stuff, here.

The H-Bomb: For New York ballet dancer Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman), it seemed like a dream come true. The Company’s aging star (Winona Ryder) is being pushed into retirement, and the director Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) has just cast her in the lead for his production of “Swan Lake”. It’s everything that Nina has worked and trained and lived for. It’s everything she could ever wish for… but everything comes at a price.

Soon, the pressures of being “the star” start to take their toll on Nina. She’s bitterly envied by the other dancers in the company (back stage cattiness, never gets old). Her half-crazed, over bearing stage mother (Barbara Hershey) is constantly breathing down her neck to succeed where she failed. The director Thomas, while he believes she’s perfect as the White Swan, he has his doubts that Nina can pull off the role of the treacherous Black Swan. He keeps telling her that she’s too frigid and reserved, that she needs to loosen up and “let go” (he suggests that masturbation would help).

With all this, Nina starts to crack, both physically and (especially) mentally. She sees and hears things that aren’t necessarily there. She practices her dance moves so hard she starts to injure herself. A strange rash appears on her back shoulder blade. Her skin seems to break easily. And then along comes Lily (Mila Kunis). Freshly arrived from San Francisco, Lily is everything that Nina is not; brash, assertive, self confident, and sexually aggressive. Lily also looks a lot like Nina, so much so that they could be sisters… even twins. Two sides, same coin.

Even though Lily approaches her as a friend, Nina senses that she’s really out to undermine her and take Nina’s spot in the ballet. Could this rivalry (that may or may not be real) be what finally pushes Nina over the edge into madness?

Dear readers of iRATEfilms, you are witnessing a crucial, truly historic moment in this site’s history… not really, but… well, not really. For the first time since I’ve started writing for this site, I am rating a film a perfect five out of five stars. Why haven’t I done this before? Because, for me, a perfect rating should NEVER be handed out lightly. Even if I really, really like a film (“The Hurt Locker”, “Inception”), if it has any glaring flaws that I can mark it down for, I will.

So, is “Black Swan”, a psychological-drama/kinda-sorta horror movie from director Darren Aronofsky, a flawless film? Probably not. I’m sure there are flaws to be found, but nothing glaring. Nothing that I could remember afterwards that really nagged on me. That’s because this had the same effect on me that Aronofsky’s previous films had: it left me feeling like I had been run through a true emotional ringer. By the end I was both exhausted yet exhilarated, depressed yet riveted, and overall, it left me wanting to see it again.

Aronofsky is that rare breed of filmmaker who understands the potential power that film can have, and who knows how to harness it in a way to make a true impact on the audience. Like in his earlier work, he combines music, sound effects, and striking imagery to capture the lead character’s obsession with perfection and her insecurities. This is especially true in the film’s frantic final act as we see Nina’s free fall descent into insanity, which captures the same kind of manic energy found in the last acts of “Pi“ and “Requiem for a Dream“.

Aronofsky literally puts us into her shoes (or dancing slippers) in the final third when we, like Nina, can’t tell if what we’re seeing is real, or only inside her head. The climax here isn’t quite as punch-to-the-gut powerful as the one in “Requiem for a Dream”, but alas, “Requiem” is a 6 star film, whereas “Black Swan” is merely a 5.

This film’s success or failure really depended on who was cast as Nina, since it’s entirely her show, and I don’t think Aronofsky could have found a better fit than Natalie Portman. She’s played it dark before in films like “Leon: The Professional” and “Closer”, but she really goes all out here and gives what is far and away the best performance I‘ve ever seen from her. And being that she just happens to be one of the best actresses in her age group (if not the best), that‘s really saying a lot. She holds absolutely nothing back, and her Nina ultimately becomes both a scary and pitiful figure in the end. If the Academy overlooks her this year, then I will personally picket outside the fucking Kodak Theater on Oscar night myself… okay, I probably won’t, but you get the idea.

However, as great as Portman is, her performance isn’t the only one deserving of my praises. There’s also Vincent Cassel as the somewhat slimy, manipulative ballet director, Thomas. Like with Portman, Cassel fits his role like a glove. The character isn’t a complete douchebag, in fact, he knows that deep down Nina has what it takes to play the Black Swan as well as the White, he just goes to extremes to get that performance out of her, without realizing the psychological damage he’s causing her. Cassel really brings the perfect mix of charm and sleaze to the part.

Mila Kunis, who I had only seen in that steaming, ass fucking pile of pig shit “American Psycho 2”, totally took me by surprise here. Playing the flipside of the coin to Nina, she’s dark, seductive and appropriately difficult to read. I was never fully sure if she was sincere in her attempts to befriend Nina, or if her real agenda was to screw her over. Before this, Kunis wasn’t on my radar at all, but she certainly is now.

Barbara Hershey is frighteningly freakish as that kind of overprotective mother who lives vicariously through her daughter. The kind we just want to grab by the throat and throttle until they’re room temperature, “Get your own fucking life, lady, and leave your daughter alone to live hers!” It’s obvious in Hershey and Portman’s interactions that the roots of all of Nina’s mental issues start with dear mother. I smell possible Best Supporting Actress Nod for Ms. Hershey, and a well deserved one. Her very appearance made my skin crawl.

As for criticisms, after viewing this film from beginning to end, and mulling it over in my mind, I can only think of one single complaint. It comes in the form of a visual metaphor late in the game that is both insultingly obvious and completely unnecessary to those of us who have been paying attention (you‘ll know it when you see it). That aside, I have no gripes. This is about as close to a flawless show as my tired eyes have seen in a good long time.

Though I personally loved “Black Swan”, there are those out there who I am sure will not. This is a true love it or hate it affair with no third option on the table. Those that hate it will probably do so for the same reasons that the lovers will love it. Whenever a film goes as far as this one does at times, it’s never certain how people will react to it on a individual basis. Aronofsky has never been one to hold back or take it easy on his characters or audiences with any of his films. And while some have reacted to his work with hatred, I think he would find that preferable to audiences reacting with indifference, which truly is worse. While I can’t guarantee you’ll like “Black Swan”, I highly recommend you see it.