BLACK SWAN
5 out of 5 stars

i don’t think this was darren aronofsky’s best (my fave is still the fountain), but it is quite compelling and quite disturbing... LOVED this movie, and LOVED natalie portman as a crazy ballerina! ;)

it’s pretty obvious what the plot is by now... natalie portman plays ballerina nina sayers, whose desperate for a lead role, and her prayers are answered when her company decides to force-retire the current lead, beth mcintire. (winona ryder) thomas leroy (a fabulous vincent cassel), the artistic director of the company, picks nina to play the swan queen role in tschaikovsky’s swan lake, and nina is ecastic! the only problem is that the role of the swan queen requires the innocence and purity of the white swan and the sexual and lustfulness of the black swan. nina struggles with the black swan part, even though thomas seduces her and encourages her to explore her sexuality to develop better interpretation. (unclear if he was really trying to have sex with her or not?) to add to the mix, nina begins to think that a new ballerina named lily (mila kunis) from san francisco is stalking her and ultimately after her role... well, is she or is this just a part of nina going mad? maybe you should watch and find out? ;)

the lines blurring between reality and nina’s delusions makes this movie worthwhile. the whole movie centers around nina slowly losing it with her skin rashes and weird dreams, and the ultimate climax where the “black swan” takes over her mind and body is brilliantly done. obviously, the dancing is beautiful, the dancers are beautiful, and aronofsky’s gritty portrayal of nina’s paranoia is even beautiful. portman lost 20 lbs. for the role of nina, and body double or not, ballet dancing was only half this movie. the anxieties and the brilliant portrayal of a person slowly losing it is why she got that oscar gold... ;)