Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan is a passionately deranged pirouette into the slowly fracturing mind of a ballet dancer and a title that already looks to be one of the top films of 2011; a real dream of a nightmare.
The film focuses on Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman), a perfectionist ballet dancer who, after getting the part of the Swan Queen in Swan Lake
Nina herself is surrounded by numerous forces, each pulling and pushing her into varying mental states. These include her determined and slightly deranged mother (Barbara Hershey), a passionate teacher who’s methods are just a little unorthodox (Vincent Cassel), and Lilly, a new dancer to the company (Mila Kunis), who encapsulates everything Nina is not, sexual, uninhibited; a perfect Black Swan right down to the tattooed wings on her back.
Whether these individuals are the catalyst for Nina’s descent into madness or merely the push over the edge that such a focused, lifelong passion has lent itself towards, the films treatment of Nina’s dissolving mental state is a joy to watch.
The film is brimming with doubles, opposites, mirrors and doppelgangers, leaving different versions of Nina to be found all around the screen, and, each indicating Nina’s ever loosing grip on herself and reality. The film boasts a number of wonderful shocks, scares and general creepiness, and Aronofsky squeezes every ounce of physical panic and dread from every shot.
Often transforming normality into the stuff of nightmares, whether it be the picking at a bit of skin transformed into a moment of pure squirm-inducing horror or a old man on a train becoming a nightmarish deviant, Aronofsky heightens the mood at every chance, racking up the tension as he does so.
Clint Mansell’s score provides a gripping atmosphere of unease that leaves both Nina and the audience unable to escape, however, that said, the film is never a struggle and the sheer audacity of the film as well as some brief comic moments left a smile on my face.
Alongside Nina losing herself in her role, the film also explores ideas of rivalry between dancers as well as showing us (as Aronofsky did in The Wrestler), a real sense of the physical ordeals that the dancers put themselves through in a bid to become the best. We see close up the blood, sweat and tears (but mainly blood and tears) that come with the tough routines, intense rivalry and fierce dedication of ballet life.
Portman’s performance as Nina is perfect: deranged, brave, haunting, fragile, powerful and absolutely mesmerising all at the same time. Her performance contains so many surprises that it would be a shame to list here; suffice to say she is a strong and deserved contender for best actress at both the BAFTAs and the Oscars after already winning a Golden Globe for her performance.
The film boasts so many visual surprises that it is hard to describe in detail what makes the film a masterpiece. Black Swan is a true experience and a film that needs to be seen on the big screen. As the final third of the film descends into utter madness, everything is racked up to eleven. The eeriness, the scares, the shocks, the dancing; it all comes together in a final act that, as the music swelled, left me wanting to actually stand up and applaud.
The film is the directors best yet and on this form, Aronofsky’s next project, The Wolverine*, looks set to be one very interesting Marvel movie; although I don’t expect any Hollywood producers will be giving the green light to a Wolverine masturbation scene, just yet.
(I suppose as my first blog post and first attempt at a real review I should attempt some criticisms. Unfortunately I have none. But in the interest of fairness, I know that some have found the camera work too shaky and it may be a little ambiguous for some.)
*Aronofsky has since left The Wolverine and reports suggest his next film will be a retelling of the story of Noah's Ark. A masturbation scene involving Noah seems just as unlikely.
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