Black Swan (2010)

Only Darren Aronofsky could get me watching a movie about ballet.  It's not specifically about ballet, although it does take Swan Lake, the production in which our protagonist wins the lead role as Swan Queen, as inspiration, but also the Japanese animated thriller Perfect Blue.  It introduces us to the crumbling mental state of a frightened and abused woman trying to reach in her mind what she sees as perfection.  

Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) is one of the most popular performers in a New York ballet company run by Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel).  He wants to do a new version of Swan Lake where the dancer who plays the Swan Queen also plays her rival, the Black Swan, and while he is confident in Nina's ability to play the traditional lead he thinks that she is too restrained to play her opposite.  His views change after she violently revokes a sexual advance, but the going is rough as he can't seem to get her to show the emotion and sexuality needed for the role.

Things are complicated by the arrival of a new dancer named Lily (Mila Kunis) who isn't as technically skilled but has the raw, emotional talent that Leroy is looking for.  When she is made the alternate for the role Nina feels threatened although she is somewhat attracted to Lily and the freedom she has, something that she has been denied most of her life by her domineering mother (Barbara Hershey).  Her mother is rightfully concerned that the role is taking a toll on her daughter, but ironically the deterioration of her mental state may bring a whole new Nina to the fore.

I loved Pi, so I really don't know why I haven't seen more of Aronofsky's films.  They are usually dense and have a '90s independent streak to them even as they are produced by major studios.  Although he didn't write this his role as an auteur director is all over it, including the influence he took from numerous films.  It's a rather simple story on the surface but there are many references to duality and perception versus reality that one would expect from a movie of this type.  

Natalie Portman trained for a year as a dancer, using her own money to learn so that the scenes would be realistic.  That pays off as often Aronofsky's use of a camera constantly in motion to match the dance moves would not have worked if they had to fake it, as using a frequent double would have been noticed.  Still, one was used, and the amount of involvement of the professional dancer and Portman is a bit of a question, although Aronofsky still insists the majority is Portman.  Either way, the lessons and being dedicated enough to lose weight to look more like a ballerina gave Portman what she needed to truly inhabit Nina.  The fact that Portman had to learn technical aspects regarding ballet helped, as Nina herself is presented as someone who has great technique but little emotional connection, while Lily is her exact opposite.

Although billed as the co-star Mila Kunis's role is not that prevalent.  She is positioned as Nina's rival, and she plays an important role as that, but Portman is the focus.  Also, the much-lauded sex scene between the two is nowhere near as graphic as described.  The 2000s, when same-sex relations between women became more prevalent and less taboo, led to many scenes like this being the draw for audiences.  Anyone hoping for naked Portman and Kunis in a salacious scene are in for a rude awakening as that, like most of everything in Nina's life, also borders on being detached and cold.  It's not the stereotypical transformative scene another director would have used it for. 

Black Swan doesn't depend on following Aronofsky's off-kilter plot twists and ideas like some of his movies, such as Mother, do.  For all the psychological twists and turns this is still quite straightforward and, like its influences, pretty much wraps everything up even if Nina's ultimate fate is left a little vague.  Even more important is that one doesn't need to know much about ballet going into it, even though Aronofsky tried to make sure he got details right.  The themes about sacrificing one's self and pushing too far in order to achieve some level of perfection in art is universal.

Black Swan (2010)

Time: 108 minutes

Starring: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Barbara Hershey

Director: Darren Aronofsky