"Black Swan" (2010), dir. Darren Arronofsky *****

In his blistering new film, Aronofsky states his mark as one of America's most influential and exciting filmmakers. 


Black Swan is not only technically the best film of 2010, but arguably the decade. Masterfully directed by Darren Arronofsky, the film is a psychological plight into the depths of despair of Nina, played perfectly by Natalie Portman. From the opening frame to the closing frame, it is a faultless display of cinema that is rarely seen these days. Sticking with his strengths, Aronofsky uses paranoia and nightmarish imagery to create a world that never feels comfortable for audience or characters. Throughout the two hours, we are not given any room to breath. We travel with Portman's Nina into a world that may or may not be what it seems. We are in the elite world of ballet, a brutal environment where back-stabbing and competitiveness lies at its forefront.

The story focuses on Nina, a ballerina who gets the role of a lifetime to play the Swan Queen in New York City Ballet's production of Swan Lake. Nina is technically perfect, and has no trouble adapting to the White Swan - innocent, beautiful and loving. However, it is the Black Swan that she cannot grasp, a role which requires less technique and more emotion. Her choreographer, Thomas (played by Vincent Cassel), a manipulative and predatory thirty-something, encourages Nina to find her dark side. In an art such as ballet, where we are led to trust our seniors, Nina doesn't call Thomas out for his unethical treatment towards her. He claims that he is helping Nina discover the tools she needs to play the Black Swan.

Mila Kunis as Nina's rival, Lilly

Enter a sexy competitor from the West Coast, Lilly (Mila Kunis), who would appear destined to play the Black Swan. She is a far cry from Nina. Her equanimity questions years of Nina's hard work. She has a devilish quality that can influence others in the blink of an eye. Nina confidence becomes undone. She questions her talents, her ability to play the Swan Queen. On top of this, her overbearing mother (Barbara Hershey) attempts to control her by keeping her locked up in the apartment at night. As Thomas begins to recognize Lilly's talents, Nina becomes increasingly more jealous.

Aronofsky doesn't follow the cliched narrative trick that most filmmakers might take. Instead, he implies that Nina lost her mind years before we first meet her - possibly because of her mother's smothering love, or the lack of a father figure in her life.

Black Swan might be the most love or hate films of the year. Some will find it near impossible to watch as it provokes the audience's emotions on levels rarely seen these days. There are moment you have to look away, moments when the pain of Nina's body becomes to great for her - and us, the audience, who are living vicariously through Nina's eyes. For those that can take the emotional torture, it will be a cinematic experience that you won't forget anytime soon. As with Aronofsky's previous films, Black Swan is visually arresting. It captures the pain that a top ballerina goes through with their bodies. Through Aronofsky's direction, you feel every tendon stretching, every muscle working to attain perfection. However, it's not a selfishly directed him. Like in Requiem For a Dream and The Wrestler, Aronofsky hands the control to the actors. Without Portman's Oscar-worthy performance, his effort might be nothing. Portman and Kunis started ballet training six months before principal photography commences so that their bodies would match that of professional dancers. It is this focus on the body that is so effective. Nina appears almost skeletal through the film. Her muscle tone - like every other dancer in the film - is accentuated, which helps the audience emphasize the physical toll that ballet has upon the body.


As a so-called "young director", Aronofsky has clearly borrowed a great deal of material and poured it into the vision of Black Swan. Its nightmarish quality parallels Polanski's Rosemary's Baby, The Red Shoes and The Shining. Instead of copying these films, Aronofsky has spun them into his own nightmarish world, which makes him one of America's most exciting directors working today (matching Paul Thomas Anderson).

The score of the film is brilliantly done by Aronosky's collaborator, Clint Mansell, who turned Tchaikovsky's music into a haunting and dreamlike quality. The way the music meanders the audience from feeling to feeling is testament to its excellence.

Black Swan is the darkest film of the year. It is highly sexual - but never in a glorified way. The film owns too much class for it to sink into that. It is one of those rare gems that - for any cinephile out there - should not be missed.