"Black Swan"

By Matt Duncan
Coastal View News

“Black Swan” is the story of an artist’s desperation for perfection. It depicts the tirelessness, obsession and madness that is required for her—and, indeed, for any artist—to be better than the rest. This movie is a thoroughly remarkable cinematic achievement, especially for its director and actors. “Black Swan” is one of the best movies of 2010 and a worthy start to the new year.

“Black Swan” is about a talented but aging ballet dancer named Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman). Nina is the hardest working and most technically proficient member of her company, but she struggles to land major roles because she has difficulty exhibiting the kind of carefree and passionate lust for dancing that wins over audiences. For Nina, dancing is not simply an artistic expression; it is her career, her obsession, her life.

In contrast, Lily (Mila Kunis), who is the newest member of the ballet company, is not as technically gifted a dancer as Nina, but when she dances, she lets loose—she shows the warmth and élan that is absent from Nina’s repertoire.

As the new season opens, “Swan Lake” is scheduled to be the ballet company’s first performance. In this ballet, the lead dancer must master two parts: the pure and elegant White Swan, and her evil twin, the Black Swan. Nina is perfect for the role of the White Swan, and Lily is well suited for the Black Swan. But one dancer must play both roles.

Desperate for the lead role, Nina takes her obsession for perfection to a new level. She practices constantly and strives to master the Black Swan, all while keeping an eye on her competition. Nina makes progress toward her goal, but at the cost of losing her grip on reality. As the opening of “Swan Lake” approaches, Nina must ward off a whole host of challenges, including Lily, her overprotective mother and her own inner demons. Nina’s desperation for mastering the Black Swan threatens to dissolve her mastery over the purity and innocence she once embodied.

“Black Swan” is hardly what one would expect from a movie about ballet. It is edgy and visceral; both gripping and psychotic. Although this movie seamlessly weaves the drama of “Swan Lake” into its plot and score, “Black Swan” is really a horror story. This movie shows that, while competition and obsession do breed drama, they can also give rise to gruesome horrors.

In nearly all of its facets, “Black Swan” is powerful and captivating. Director Darren Aronofsky (who also directed “The Wrestler”) has a special flare for drawing out the behind-the-scenes struggles of entertainers who are grasping for success. He has a talent for portraying the unique battles and insights that come with an obsessive need to please others. Although audiences (of either film or ballet) typically care only about whether the end product that they see is flawless and entertaining, Aronofsky gives his audience a sense of the cost of their (that is to say, our) demands. We see that perfection requires an extremely narrow focus, an obsession with detail, an ignorance of the value of a balanced life, and, indeed, a sort of insanity. Hard work is not the only price that one must pay in order to be great.

“Black Swan” is interesting, and it is extremely well-acted. Natalie Portman’s performance is Oscar-worthy, and both Mila Kunis and Vincent Cassel (who plays the director of “Swan Lake”) provide admirable support. The combination of great acting and Aronofsky’s thematic and cinematic achievements make “Black Swan” a very well rounded movie. It is captivating even when it is not altogether pleasing to watch. So while it is not for the faint of heart, “Black Swan” is, in my view, one of the best movies of 2010.