Black Swan: a Film Review
Film Review: Black Swan
Everyone has heard of ballet, some perhaps just that, while others practice it or just enjoy watching it on stage. Most people have also heard of Swan Lake, maybe even saw it performed in one or another adaptation, as there are many. Then there is Black Swan directed by Darren Aronofski, which leaves most other adaptations in the shade. Darren Aronofski is a most certainly an ingenious director; he's proven that with Black Swan, as well as with his previous films which, according to Ryan Fleming, “can justifiably be classified as being disturbingly brilliant, or brilliantly disturbed depending on your point of view, and Black Swan is no different.”
Darren Aronofski's Black Swan is a psychological thriller; the main storyline revolves around Nina Sayers, portrayed by Natalie Portman. Nina is a ballet dancer in the New York City ballet company. Nina's devoted her entire life to ballet, she does not care about relationships with other people as long as she can dance; she desires to be perfect in every possible way. Both her devotion to ballet and the longing for perfection are fuelled by her mother Erica, a former ballet dancer of moderate success. However, despite Nina's self-imposed isolation from the rest of the dancers, she sees a rival in Lily (Mila Kunis) when it is announced the role of the Swan Queen has emptied. Much to Nina's surprise, the role becomes hers.
But there is a catch – the director, Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel), wants one dancer to play the characters of both the White Swan and the Black Swan, two opposites. In spite Nina's excellent skills and performance, Thomas fears she is not entirely fit to play the role of the Black Swan, and thus he imposes his own methods to make Nina's true self emerge. Nina is not aware of that, and when combined with her desire for perfection, it causes her psyche to fluctuate; she even begins to hallucinate, In the end, Nina achieves the so much desired perfection, but for a heavy
Everyone has heard of ballet, some perhaps just that, while others practice it or just enjoy watching it on stage. Most people have also heard of Swan Lake, maybe even saw it performed in one or another adaptation, as there are many. Then there is Black Swan directed by Darren Aronofski, which leaves most other adaptations in the shade. Darren Aronofski is a most certainly an ingenious director; he's proven that with Black Swan, as well as with his previous films which, according to Ryan Fleming, “can justifiably be classified as being disturbingly brilliant, or brilliantly disturbed depending on your point of view, and Black Swan is no different.”
Darren Aronofski's Black Swan is a psychological thriller; the main storyline revolves around Nina Sayers, portrayed by Natalie Portman. Nina is a ballet dancer in the New York City ballet company. Nina's devoted her entire life to ballet, she does not care about relationships with other people as long as she can dance; she desires to be perfect in every possible way. Both her devotion to ballet and the longing for perfection are fuelled by her mother Erica, a former ballet dancer of moderate success. However, despite Nina's self-imposed isolation from the rest of the dancers, she sees a rival in Lily (Mila Kunis) when it is announced the role of the Swan Queen has emptied. Much to Nina's surprise, the role becomes hers.
But there is a catch – the director, Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel), wants one dancer to play the characters of both the White Swan and the Black Swan, two opposites. In spite Nina's excellent skills and performance, Thomas fears she is not entirely fit to play the role of the Black Swan, and thus he imposes his own methods to make Nina's true self emerge. Nina is not aware of that, and when combined with her desire for perfection, it causes her psyche to fluctuate; she even begins to hallucinate, In the end, Nina achieves the so much desired perfection, but for a heavy