Black Swan
2010
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Starring: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey, Vincent Cassel
Black Swan is the best ballet movie I’ve ever seen, but frankly, that’s not hard to do. What ballet movies is it in competition with? Center Stage, The Turning Point, The Company, the first of which is pretty damn bad, the next two are mediocre at best, and The Red Shoes, which is good, but my praise stops there. Thing is, though, Black Swan is a good movie because it’s not about ballet. It happens to be set in the world of ballet, but it’s not a ballet movie. Not really. The theme of obsessively striving for perfection and the psychological damage therein inflicted, could be set in any microcosm. Aronofsky simply happened to set his tale in the world of ballet.
Nina Sayers (Portman) is a consummate professional ballerina, constantly striving for perfection. When she finally lands her big break, dancing the role of Swan Queen in Swan Lake, her boss Thomas (Cassel) gets on her case about getting in touch with her sexual side in order to play the passionate and seductive Black Swan. Nina, though, has trouble letting go, and her repressive mother (Hershey) is no help. Meanwhile, another dancer, Lily (Kunis), seems to be gunning for Nina’s part.
