Black Swan

Viewed in
2010

Formats
Movie theater (digital)

Premise
Natalie Portman stars as a sheltered ballerina given the pressure-filled lead role in "Swan Lake".

Loved
The acting, the sound effects.

Thoughts
Another strong entry by director Darren Aronofsky, and arguably Natalie Portman's best performance to date.

The main reason why this film succeeded was because Portman. She delivered memorably in creating a naive, oppressed kid put into the pressure cooker of being in the spotlight, gradually unraveling. Newly-appointed, her character needed to tap into her dark side to truly become a ballet star. Portman masterfully recreated the innocence of a young lady, at the same time subtly allow her character to seep into uncontrollable danger.

She was helped by some great supporting performances. Mila Kunas and Winona Ryder were excellent, but Barbara Hershey was mesmerizing as Portman's obsessive, iron-fisted, complex mother.

Aronofsky immersed the audience into Portman's head with mood, performance, subtle use of special effects, and wizardry with sound. He created a psychologically haunting style, in which fantasy blended into reality, and each scene kept me on my toes regarding which realm I was in. I loved how sound was used. With Aronofsky's deft manipulation of voices and effects from unnatural angles, I highly recommend watching this with a good surround system, whether it be at home or theater.

Overall, the story was pretty strong, especially the tug-of-war between Portman and her mother, and the subplot of the ousted ballet ex-star. Though if you have seen enough of these kind of psychological thrillers, there was a slight aura of predictability. But the film makers executed it very well. Another minor beef was that I did not appreciate the "cheap" horror techniques to make me jump.

For some reason, people compared Black Swan to Aronofsky's The Wrestler, but I thought it more closely resembled Pi. Both were visually/psychologically dark/haunting, with themes of obsession and treading the dangerous unknowns of the mind. I would not consider this one of this year's best films, but still highly recommendable, thanks to Aronofsky's execution and memorable performances by Portman and Hershey.

What I would change
Less of the horror shock tactics.