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“What happened?”
“I was perfect.”
2010 was a great year for film: The Social Network, Inception, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Blue Valentine, etc. However, I believe one of the most forgotten and overlooked films of that year is Darren Aronofsky’s film of obsession, devotion, and sacrifice- Black Swan. As the years have gone on since my first watch, my affinity and admiration for it has only grown. I think about it daily (which is slightly concerning.) It has everything you want out of a movie: committed performances, confident direction, and exhilarating camerawork to name a few. Simply put, Black Swan is still a thrilling and twisted balletic film.
Black Swan is about a committed dancer, Nina Sayers (Portman), who fails to maintain her sanity after winning the lead role in a production of Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet, “Swan Lake.”
The film stars Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis, and Winona Ryder. It is written by Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz, and John McLaughlin. It is directed, as previously stated, by Darren Aronofsky.
The story of Black Swan follows Nina in her slow descent from an innocent, dependent, almost child-like adult into an obsessive, demanding, and honestly rather terrifying dancer. And as Nina goes, so do we.
The story brings us into Nina’s worlds- her home and the ballet studio. We learn all the details of her home life- the relationship she shares with her overly-protective mother, her bedroom that looks like it could belong to a twelve-year old girl, etc. At the studio, we see the relationships she shares with fellow dancers, her heavily-practiced routines, and how she interacts with the ballet company leader, Thomas (but pronounced like Toe-Ma) (and played by Cassel.)
The moment she becomes the new swan queen, everything in her world goes to hell.
What Nina wants out of her performance is perfection. It is her desire for perfection that causes her to do all the things she does. She over-worries and over-practices for her role, and it eventually leads her to be overcome by feelings of inadequacy, jealousy, and disappointment. All of these feelings are spurred on by her demanding coach in Thomas and a new dancer, Lily (Kunis,) who threatens to take Nina’s position as the lead.
As these worries of replacement start to turn in her mind, her mind begins to create hallucinations reflective of her own fears. Nina wanted to become the swan queen, and with it comes consequences.
Portman’s job as an actor is simply sensational. She deftly weaves together the surface level openness and vulnerability of Nina while also exposing the inner rawness and “black swan” within. Her performance is not only deeply emotional. It was a role that demanded great physicality, whether it be graceful or brute. She met the demands and then some.
Aronofsky’s direction is up-close, raw, and dynamic. The camera is literally right in the face of every actor and I believe it does us favors in showing off their great performances. It somehow is able to showcase grace and pain, and all the emotions in between. The camera is balletic itself, having to keep up with every leap, bound, and twirl the ballerinas and dancers perform. Aronofsky doesn’t shy away from the “gore”, and while some may not enjoy those aspects, to some it could be quite thrilling and enthralling. I am in the latter.
The editing of the film might be the unsung hero. Andrew Weisblum is doing some fantastical work here. It is propulsive, dynamic, and really gives the film energy at all levels even in the most mundane and normal scenes.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Ten years from the original release, it is still superb on all levels- direction, acting, cinematography, and editing. While it may not be to everyone’s cinema tastes, it offers a compelling and thrilling story with Natalie Portman giving her most demanding, and quite frankly, best performance of her career.
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