Black Swan

If I had to pick one word to describe this movie it’d be haunting.  Black Swan is a wonderfully executed example of what great films should look and feel like.

The plot [SPOILERS]: Nina, a ballet dancer, wins the role of Swan Queen when her artistic director decides to replace his leading lady.  The role requires her to play both the White Swan, for which she’s perfect, and the Black Swan, a part whose dark undertones still elude her.  Facing competition from another ballerina, who has no trouble with the Black Swan part, Nina pushes herself beyond the point of a nervous breakdown and into pure madness.

Darren Aronofsky directs with such skill and intensity that the audience is tightly dragged along, almost bounced between reality and dream state, to the point that one doesn’t know where the former ends and the latter begins anymore.  Through great editing and cinematography, and a few well placed visual effects, the film ends up looking both highly polished and jaggedly raw.  Aronofsky has clearly established himself as a masterful auteur.

In the leading part, Natalie Portman gives a performance so intense, refined, and unyielding she deserves all the accolades and awards she has already received and the Oscar she’ll likely take home in about a month.  In Black Swan, for which Portman learned to dance ballet, this young actress gives her best performance to date, one she might never be able to top or match and one countless young actresses surely watch with envy.

Speaking of the upcoming Academy Awards, while I’ve been rooting for Annette Bening’s incredible portrayal of a betrayed adoptive parent in The Kids Are All Right since last summer, I must admit that I now hope Portman will win a very deserved Oscar.

Portman is also flanked by an intriguing Mila Kunis, a creepy Barbara Hershey, and an abrasive Vincent Cassel, all of whom offer great supporting performances.

Don’t miss this cinematic gem.  The best movie of 2011 so far.

Grade: 9