Black Swan (2010) Film Review

1 hr. 43 mins.

Starring: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Winona Ryder, Barbara Hershey, Vincent Cassel

Directed by: Darren Aronofsky

MPAA Rating: R

Rating: *** (out of 4 stars)

Anytime a scathing portrait symbolizing one's descent into madness blossoms into a tension-filled tale of self-destruction and reflective ribaldry then one thing is certain...filmmaker Darren Aronofsky has once again struck an unsettling, nuanced nerve. In the riveting and darkly disturbing ballet psychodrama Black Swan, Aronofsky continues his off-kilter obsession with profiling a cutting edge protagonist's bout with hellish hedonism in the devastating dawn of uncertainty.

Natalie Portman gives an unflinchingly stark performance as a ballet star thrust into a wicked world of dancing into the darkness while unearthing the seedy-minded demons that persists under the surface. Clearly, it is a no-brainer that astute filmgoers will reference Aronofsky's brilliantly boisterous 2000 cinematic offering Requiem for a Dream-a stunningly deep and demented drama that similarly explored the thriving themes of misplaced passion and designated disillusionment. Although Black Swan lacks the stimulating hallucinatory dream-like drive and depth that effortlessly flows in the better crafted Requiem there is still a chilling aftermath that resonates so potently poetic in Aronofsky's overt examination of an over-the-top dancing diva conflicted by her undefined, nefarious neurosis. This film is affectingly haunting and a hyped-up head-tripping experience into the uncontrollable realms of disenchantment within the unfulfilled psyche.

Portman plays New York City-based ballerina Nina Sayers, a physically beautiful sculpted yet timid performer who lands a big break when she is offered the desirable leading role in the lavish stage production of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake. As the Swan Queen, the pressure is immensely intimidating and Nina realizes this revelation. It does not help matters any that Nina is burdened by a couple of personalized key factors. First, she must contend with an intrusive and overbearing stage mother (Barbara Hershey) determined to keep the tight reins in tact thus threatening to stunt Nina's emotional and psychological growth. Secondly, Nina must look over her shoulders at an opportunistic albeit capable rival (Mila Kunis) in the dance company whose very ominous presence creates a nerve-racking competition.

In the meanwhile, the dance company's demanding director (Vincent Cassell) is instrumental in pushing Nina to her fullest capacity to the point of no return. The hectic dance routines are undeniably rigorous that result in bloodied body parts and exhaustive mental measures. Thrown into the chaotic mix is a resentful sickly prima ballerina (Winona Ryder) on hand to serve up her critical stance against the privately tormented Nina. In fact, the other dancers are acerbically abusive towards Nina as they label her every unkind label imaginable.

With mounting stress increasing at every terrorizing turn possible, Nina is sucked into a vicious vacuum of schizophrenia aided by her dubious escapism into drugs, delusional discomfort and disdain. Her corruptible existence is bargained by the paranoia and pain that she applies aimlessly through desperation and despair without any discerning boundaries whatsoever. Nina Sayers appears to be the vulnerable victim of her self-imposed anxieties brought on by layers of self-doubt and salacious experimentation. The hovering sentiment remains this: will Nina's penchant for excessive hallucinatory happenstance give legitimate weight to her tricky commanding performance as the dueling identities of an angelic white swan/bombastic black swan? Ironically, would the dangerous encounters with her dysfunctional dynamics bring an uncanny calmness and completion to her hectic artistry as a whole?

Much detail is skillfully put forth in this deliriously drenching drama. Aronofsky instinctively captures the murky essence of this tumultuous topsy-turvy universe where motivation and the malfunction of the human spirit collide relentlessly. The visual vitality of pink ballerina shoes and snug tutus, back-breaking hardcore practice routines, melodic music swaying in the background, the unique feel of staging theatrics, the athletic physicality of demure dancers instructed to maintain the regimen of a resilient regal lioness, artistic expectations at stake-all are incorporated to instill the psychological urgency that spins Black Swan as one of the delightfully twisted takes of horrifying cautionary tales regarding fragile dreams and broken spirits. The inclusion of pill-popping sequences, periodic lesbianism, low scale violence, raging ridicule, unstable emotional sabotage-they too are indicative of the warped wasteland that Aronofsky wants to invoke compellingly as we follow his harried heroine into her sordid cell of insanity.

Well-acted, lucidly written and rousingly conceived, Black Swan is amazingly executed thanks to the over-stylized cynicism and intoxicating foundation of Aronofsky's collaborative creativity. The collective performances are hypnotic and harrowing. Portman is in Oscar-bound mode as a worn-out waif in destructible distress. Her Nina's detestable dalliances with the ugly forces that stir the macabre-driven malaise are exceptionally perceptive. Kunis is quite captivating in her own right as another casualty of a different brand of strife-ridden indifference.

Penetrating and impulsive, Black Swan delivers its exquisite caustic message with a wondrous weirdness that is both courageous and cunningly calculating in its blunt afterthought.