January 20, 2011 (Australian release date)
Dir: Darren Aronofsky
Black Swan is a classic example of style over substance. That is not to say Black Swan is a bad movie, to the contrary I think this is close to a masterpiece from Aronofsky, second only to his last film The Wrestler. But after the credits roll and your heart is still racing from the chilling, total perfection that is the film's climax, you start to acknowledge that the film isn't, perhaps, as perfect as it appeared on first inspection.
Natalie Portman plays ballerina Nina Sayers who snags the lead role of the Swan Queen in her New York ballet company's production of Swan Lake. Her Artistic Director Thomas (Vincent Cassel) is not convinced she can portray the darkness of the Black Swan as well as she embodies the purity of the White Swan, and prompts her to look inside herself and feel the role rather than act it. Standing in the wings ready to take the role of a lifetime from Nina is Lily (Mila Kunis), a ballerina more in touch with her dark side and the free spirit needed for a convincing Black Swan. As Nina goes through the rehearsal process she becomes increasingly consumed by the role and soon can't tell the difference between what is real and what is imagined. Her ex-ballerina mother (Barbara Hershey) holds a tight leash on her daughter but soon Nina is spiralling out of control and the Swan Queen might not only be the role of a lifetime but the role that changes her life.
It would be easy to look over the shortcomings because of how lush this film is; the dancing, the music, the choreography; it's a stunning film. But there are a few instances where, if you took away the "style" you would see the definite lack of original "substance". Notably the opening of the film sees Artistic Director Thomas relaying the story of Swan Lake - as though professional ballerinas wouldn't know this classic ballet by heart, and as though the audience watching the film needs to be told what they're about to watch before they actually watch it. It's unnecessary and messy and further added to my dislike of his character - he simply wasn't believable nor is he as inspiring as his dancers and this film want us to believe he is.
The female dancers, that is Nina, Lily and aging ballerina Beth (a brilliant comeback performance from Winona Ryder), are your stock standard females with no motivations, no sense of character history or connections with an outside world. Sure the world of dance is an all intensive, all consuming lifestyle, but placing a carefree spirit such as Lily next to a neurotic dancer like Nina is just screaming teen dance film Center Stage. In the world of ballet, bitchiness is sure to exist, but so is a level of professionalism and normality. Having Nina and Lily wear contrasting colours (Nina in white and Lily in black) is again condescending to the audience and completely unnecessary in an otherwise engaging story.
Further to this the character of Nina's mother, the sad and pathetic Erica, is again a cardboard cutout with over simplified and cliched reasons for being the way she is. Abandoning her own dancing career to have her daughter "naturally" makes you an over protective mother who pushes her daughter and aims to control her. It's awfully unoriginal.
Then there's the central idea behind Nina finding her inner Black Swan; essentially the message is to 'stop being so frigid and get some action already'. In order to fully embody the role Nina must discover herself sexually, because only sexually free women can achieve anything creatively. Or something along those lines. There's a definite debate in there if you had the time, or could be bothered, to get into it. One thing is for certain, it makes for a great lesbian scene and that's what gets buzz generating about a film isn't it - lesbians!
Despite these criticisms I can't help but adore this film. Absolutely adore it. It truly is a stunning and achieved performance from Portman who spent a year in training for the role.The dancing is captured beautifully, the music of course is mesmerising, and despite their cliched characters all performances are solid and memorable. Next to Portman I would have to say Ryder stood out as particularly illuminating as the ballerina being pushed out of the company to make way for the younger dancers. Without spoiling a key (and classic) scene, Ryder fully embodies the psychosis of a has-been star on her way out.
What surprised me about Black Swan was how dark it got. There are genuine moments where you begin to develop Nina's paranoia and question, with her, what is real and what is imagined, which makes the climax's pay off that much more rewarding.It also intensifies the dancing sequences as we feel the depth of the frustration and confusion felt by Nina. Amazing stuff.
At the core of Black Swan is a story that's been around, and has been told in various incarnations, for hundreds of years and while Aronofsky doesn't stray too far from the path, or as Thomas tells his company at the start of the film "do it my way, strip it down", it's an incredibly entertaining and involving film that begs for further viewings.
4 / 5
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