Black Swan

Where to even begin...

It just seems to me that Darren Aronofsky lives in a very very bad place inside his mind. The man behind Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain, and The Wrestler is back with his first horror flick. Confused? Thought this was a trippy ballet movie? Well you're wrong. This is straight up suspenseful, psychotic horror.

Natalie Portman takes the lead as the ballerina Nina, who despite being amazingly technically proficient hasn't yet had the chance to shine. But now, the aging star of the stage Beth (Winona Ryder) is being forcefully retired and the role of the Swan Queen in Swan Lake is up for grabs. The director (Vincent Cassel) adds a little twist to the show, however, to make it interesting. The pure white swan and her evil twin the black swan will be played by the same ballerina. Nina, under the overly protective and caring eye of her mother, is perfect as the frigid white swan, but cannot loosen up to give the director the black swan he desires. Enter Mila Kunis as Lily, a younger dancer who embodies the black swan perfectly in her attitude and less technical style. Basically, the film mirrors the play, as you might expect. However, there's one thing which keeps you from knowing whether it is actually reflecting the play, or if it's merely pretending to: madness.

Nina goes through frequent psychotic breaks, hallucinating things that aren't there, and often entire events which she later discovers didn't happen. But possibly the most disturbing is that most of her visions involve such wonderful things as peeling her own skin off. Not to mention, the visions happen just often enough to keep you completely on edge along with Nina, never quite knowing what is real and what is insanity.

Most movies, or even just directors, have problems with starting at such a high level of suspense that there's simply nowhere to build. Black Swan does not have that problem. The high anxiety ratchets up real quick, and yet, it manages to remain completely suspenseful and horrifying until the last minute when you finally get your release.

A great deal of this comes from the very tight direction from Aronofsky, but a great deal of the due must also be paid to Portman, who brings us along with her on every single emotional up and down and all around. Kunis is also wonderful as Lily, easily treading the line between the seemingly clueless not-a-care-in-the-world ballerina and the seemingly dark and dangerous girl luring Nina into the depths. Barbara Hershey is almost the most terrifying of them all as Nina's mother, who will go to any lengths to make sure that her little daughter stays an innocent child for the rest of her life.

The only problem I had with this film was the ending, which I won't spoil, but it seemed such a lackluster way to end such a highly intense final half hour. It just seemed a bit obvious, but as I've looked back on it (and as will probably continue in future viewings) I've begun to appreciate it more.

One thing's for certain, Black Swan is one hell of a film. Its style and suspense keep you hooked from the very beginning, and likely won't let go even after the end.

Black Swan gets a 9.5/10