Starring Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Wynona Ryder
Directed by Darren Aronofsky
One of two Oscar nominated films causing the biggest brouhaha in anticipation of this year’s ceremony (the other being The King’s Speech), Black Swan must also be one of the most critically divisive in recent years.
The latest offering from the man behind the head melting Requiem for a Dream and the painful but terrific The Wrestler, this is the frightening and downright bizarre story of Nina (Portman), a highly promising yet troubled ballerina trying to make her big break in the elite ranks of the New York ballet Company. Her dream comes true when she is cast as the lead in a bold new production of Swan Lake. The only prerequisite attached to the honour, is that she must not only play Princess Odette, the good white swan but also the evil Black Swan, Odile. Alas, the intensity required to pull off these dual alter egos begins to get to poor Nina, and added to the constant threat she feels from the hot new girl of the scene (Kunis) she gradually begins to crack under the pressure.
Before long she’s having hallucinogenic visions, feeling mass paranoia and comes out in a severe rash as well as other hard to watch physical malformations.
Black Swan is a good film, but is by no means a great film. It is at times fascinating to watch but, performances aside, it’s a film that really belongs in a very specific, dare I say cult, niche. There is constant talk of how it really becomes a horror film in reference to the most climactic scenes, but I have no doubt that Darren Oronofsky intended right from the beginning to make a film in that exact genre. Right from the word go there is a strong sense of homage to classic paranoid horror of the 1970s, most notably 1973’s peerless Don’t Look Now.
As you don’t need to hear again from me, it is worth seeing for the brilliant and extremely difficult performance by Natalie Portman alone. Just looking at her back catalogue you will see that she has been deserving of Hollywood’s biggest accolade for a while now. She’s has some fine support too, most notably from the perennially excellent Vincent Cassel; perfectly suited as the suave, intimidating and overly seductive choreographer.
Go and see what all the hype is about if you wish, but just don’t expect something that not going to be for a very precise market when it all dies down.