There are some films I want to see before I've seen the trailer, others that I want to see after seeing the trailer and occasionally there are films I know I'll end up seeing, even if there was nothing about the trailer that made me want to see it. Black Swan is one of the latter films. I'd seen the trailer a couple of times and just didn't know what to make of it. It looked like a satisfying mix of dark and twisted but also looked like it had the potential to bore the pants off you by being overly pretentious. Thankfully, the pretentious overtones were limited and the dark and twisty elements were the dominant factors.
The story centers on a girl, Nina (Natalie Portman), who has always dreamed of starring in the lead role of her ballet company's next big production. She works tirelessly at this goal night and day and one day gets her big break in the production of Swan Lake. But the role of her dreams starts slipping away when Nina's paranoid mind starts playing tricks on her.
This might make me a bit of a freak but for me, this is when the film really started to become interesting. If a little disturbing. If you're squeamish there's lots to look away from, as well as moments to make you go "Gah!" My poor friend witnessed me squirming in my seat during several of the films more gruesome scenes. I consider myself a hardened horror fan but even I found myself jumping when the lady seated in front of me leapt out of her seat.
It's a well acted, well directed movie but it's not amazing. In some ways I feel it's worth the hype - Natalie Portman's performance is certainly one of the best I've seen her give and must have been very tough for her to do, in both the physical and mental sense - but in other ways it's not worthy. Yes it does give an insight into the arduous world of ballet but as my friend pointed out afterwards, that can also take away some of the magic. When we learned how Superman really flew it didn't make us marvel at the technical wizardry as much as make it all less real, less of a fantasy. My friend is going to see Swan Lake in a few weeks and has now lost some of her enthusiasm toward it. And I can understand why.
This is a film of very good performances. Although I only noted Natalie Portman above I should also mention the faultless performances of Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder and Vincent Cassel. Black Swan is a very dark and disturbing film but for those who like movies to provide the magic rather than destroy the illusion of it I would stay clear. 6 out of 10.
Viewing Date - 18th January 2011 (saw it on preview)
UK Release Date - 21st January 2011
Cast Overview:
Natalie Portman ~ Nina Sayers
Mila Kunis ~ Lily
Vincent Cassel ~ Thomas Leroy
Barbara Hershey ~ Erica Seyers
Winona Ryder ~ Beth Macintyre
Benjamin Millepied ~ David
Director ~ Darren Aronofsky
Writer(s) ~ Mark Heyman (Screenplay), Andres Heinz (Screenplay/Story)
and John J McLaughlin (Screenplay)
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