Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman), is a talented ballerina who wants to play the role of the Swan Queen, in Swan Lake. In order to play the part perfectly, she needs to convincing become both the White and the Black Swans. She has the ability to do the White Swan, but the Black Swan will take a great deal more effort. Nina gets the position, and starts going through massive, often psychological changes and fantasies, as she becomes fully immersed in becoming the Black Swan. The friendship, turned rivalry between Nina and a new ballerina, Lily (Mila Kunis) adds to the insanity and stress in Nina's life. Vincent Cassel, is the ballet director, Barbara Hershey is Nina's mother, and Winona Ryder is Beth MacIntyre, the ballerina who retires and is replaced with Nina. This film is much more complex, than this synopsis is. It is a hard to explain, without giving away tons of information, so I will leave it at that.The cast is phenomenal...each and every one of them, but I am only going to comment on a few of the actors...the rest you will just have to take my word for. First and foremost, Natalie Portman is pretty much guaranteed a Best Actress Academy Award. She is absolutely incredible in this film. Nina starts off an an innocent, mild mannered ballerina, and by the end of the film is anything but. Portman convincingly changes gradually, as "Black Swan" progresses. She is incredibly tormented internally and allows herself to gets so involved in the ballet, that her dark shade emerges. This is beautifully done by Natalie Portman, over the course of the film and is something you have to see to fully believe. Mila Kunis, known for her roles on "That 70s Show" and "Family Guy" is becoming a film actress, and quite a good one at that. I'm enjoying seeing her in a wide variety of films. She is the perfect counterpart to Nina. Finally, Barbara Hershey was well cast as Nina's mother. She loves Nina and yet has enormous expectations of her and has huge control over her life, probably due to the fact that Nina's mother used to be a ballerina, until Nina was born. Barbara Hershey and Natalie Portman have some great scenes together that show the levels of the relationship, some more positive then others.
The cinematography is impressive and one of the many highlights of "Black Swan." The lighting is phenomenal and puts emphasis on the ballet scenes as well as the overall dark tone that the film has. The camera work is also done successfully. Many times the camera follows characters from behind. Also, there are a lot of great close-ups to show the vivid emotions on the actors faces. One scene, with particular memorable filming was near the beginning where Nina is dancing, and as she spins around, the camera does as well, making for a whipping motion.
The score is incredible and could not have complimented the film any better. Much of it is from the actual ballet, which for obvious reasons fits several scenes incredibly nicely. It sounds like its being played by an orchestra, which just adds power to the scenes. At other times the music adds suspense and intensity to the film, since it is in fact a psychological thriller, despite it being about a ballet. Then occasionally both music types mix together for a beautiful experience for you ears, to go with the excellent cinematography.
This movie proves that 1 hour and 50 minutes is the perfect running time for a movie. The filmmakers and everyone involved with making this work of art, packed in so much great talent, storytelling, suspense, visuals, sound, etc, that it is truly astounding. The pacing was perfect and boredom will never, ever set in...and if it does then there is something seriously wrong.
I feel like I am obligated to mention a lesbian sex scene that occurs between Nina and Lily. I was not a fan and looked away for the entire scene and would advise the entire human race to do the same. I know it's there...I don't have to see it...however I still had to hear it...I was not a fan of that either. There are a couple more scenes that remind you that it is indeed an R rated movie, so be careful who you watch it with.
Well, it has come to my attention that this is a pretty mediocre review and I apologize. In my defense It is getting late and my memory is horrible, so I was struggling to remember specific things to comment on. However, this film is way better than the above review may lead you to believe. It is absolutely incredible. It is so much more than a story about a girl who is in a famous ballet. The characters are dynamic and the suspense, genuine. Natalie Portman is amazing and will soon have an Oscar on her mantle. It's impossible to imagine someone putting the same kind of power and emotion into that performance. It's a perfect movie and I cannot wait to rent it or own it, since I can only assume how much I missed. Films like this just get better with repeat viewings. 4 out of 4 stars...maybe more...filmmaking at its best.
-Joseph Sbrilli
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