Black Swan
Director: Darren Aronofsky
With: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder
While I was watching this movie, I thought, “Who is the audience for this? There’s too much ballet for the horror people and too much horror for the ballet people.”
There is also the problem that, despite the obvious assets of this film, including wonderful acting and gorgeous photography, the whole thing didn’t hang together for me. I left wondering what and how I was supposed to feel.
Nina (Portman) is a member of the corps in a New York ballet company, and is up for the lead in a new production of Swan Lake. Thomas (Cassel) is the autocratic company director, who has recently fired his lead dancer (Ryder), who has aged out at about 40.
The two contenders for the lead are Nina and Lily (Kunis), who has recently been brought in. Thomas’s problem is that he doesn’t think the repressed and introverted Nina can dance the role of the black swan, and he tries to get her to loosen up. He uses sex as both a tool to accomplish this, and as a means of control.
Meanwhile, Nina has been experiencing hallucinations and hideous dreams. Her mother (Hershey) is controlling and living out her own broken dreams through her daughter. Lily becomes a friend and, yes, lover, although we never know if we should trust her.
In Roman Polanski’s masterpiece, Repulsion, a similarly-repressed angelic girl/woman deteriorates mentally into a homicidal maniac. I would guess that Aronofsky was influenced and informed by that film, and there are several similarities, including the hallucinatory aspect.
I am interested by Aronofsky’s films, and have generally admired them. (Okay, does anyone really know what the hell The Fountain was all about?) Both Pi and Requiem for a Dream dealt with people pushed beyond their ability to cope. Black Swan takes it to a new level.
So, should you see it? I think yes. I like it better now than when I saw it a couple of weeks ago, and that’s a good sign. The dancing is spectacular, and a fringe benefit. If you don’t like ballet, this may change your mind. And, Portman, Kunis and Hershey are great.
B+