Black Swan (2010)

Darren Aronofsky has directed one of my favorite films of 2008, The Wrestler, and one of my least favorite films of all time, Requiem for a Dream. His work may not always be to my taste, but he goes big or he goes home. He is undeniably a visionary director who works without compromise, and I thought when I first watched Black Swan in the theaters that I was seeing something fresh and visceral. Upon a second viewing, however, I now see that I was blinded by clever camera work and a bravura performance from Natalie Portman.

His latest endeavor follows something resembling The Wrestler--it is a story about an entertainer trying to find the spotlight. While his earlier work is about an unremarkable man trying to find a sense of meaning in his life, his latest creation looks at an artist obsessed with perfection who will do what she must in order to be seen. This sounds formulaic, after all how many movies in the past fifty years have tried to copy All About Eve? A million. None of them, however, have tried to create an atmospheric thriller though about paranoia and madness, and if they have they certainly have not been this loud or memorable.

Portman plays Nina, a young ballet dancer in New York with dreams of stardom and who is compelled to achieve technical perfection. She lives with her failed dancer of a mother (Barbara Hershey) who lives vicariously through her daughter, pushing her ever harder to succeed. When the prima ballerina of the company is forced into retirement the role of the Swan Queen in Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" is suddenly available to be had. Nina lands the role with her technical prowess, but the character requires her to be not only the ethereal White Swan, she must also be the seductive and instinctual Black Swan. Nina's timid nature and sheltered lifestyle does not lend her to this part, but when a new, beautiful, and effortless addition to the company (Mila Kunis) threatens her place as the lead, Nina's drive for perfection leads her down a psychotic path for ultimate triumph.

We, of course, follow her down this path as she discovers the Black Swan inside of herself, and as she goes mad with the effort. It is dark, macabre, and at times rather scary, but upon a multiple viewing and with the shock factor mostly gone the problems with the film were all too obvious. The performances are great all around, to be sure. Natalie Portman really is spectacular as the troubled dancer, and Mila Kunis works very well off of her (there is a delicious scene with the two of them that will bring all of the guys in the audience to the front of their seat--even the limp-wristed ones like myself). Barbara Hershey does well as the mentally deranged, overprotective, stage mom, but her character was written very poorly. One critic mentioned her Mommie Dearest moment which I have to say was spot on, and not much of a compliment. Also there is a terrific and terribly depressing cameo from Winona Ryder as the washed up prima ballerina.

The faults here fall on Aronofsky who, I have to say, did a psychological thriller 101 film. The art direction was without thought; the black and white was so on the nose it was annoying. Every time Nina had an episode (except two...I think) there was a mirror in the room. Physical mutilation as representation for her mental breakdown. It was all just too obvious. Further, I really have no reason to accept the story that a girl who really showed no signs of mental instability (except that her mom was slightly off) would suddenly have a complete mental breakdown. I know stressed, over zealous workers who work just as hard as she did for the stage, but they have never started hallucinating. Of course this ruins the spirit of the movie, but it kept bothering me, and I couldn't tell the thoughts to leave me alone.

Aronofsky, like Nina, was in his own way from creating something exceptional. He did not take enough chances as a director and simply relied on his actors and his cinematographers to create the drama in ballet. That is not enough, says I. Strong acting and a camera tossed about the stage can only dazzle me for so long. Soon enough you can bet that I will see that with a less capable lead this film would be nothing more than the dime-a-dozen horror/thrillers that are schlocked out every year, but with a more pretentious backdrop. Ballet is not interesting, and neither is gilded film making.

3/4