Darren Aronofsky’s latest film, “Black Swan”, is about the world of ballet… and — if this movie is any indication — what a cutthroat, pressure-packed world it is.
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Natalie Portman stars as Nina, a young ballerina vying for the lead role in a new production of Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake”. The problem: she’s got more on her mind than learning the steps — much more. She’s seeing things, for starters, conjuring up all kinds of scary images. And when rival dancer Lily shows up — yet another fresh new face in pursuit of the plum role of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Queen — things get even worse, and her hallucinations become even darker.
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But ARE they hallucinations? One of the best things about the film — perhaps THE best thing — is the way Aronofsky teases us, forces us to have doubts of our own. DOES Lily seduce the sexually-repressed Nina after a night of drug-fueled partying? DOES the company’s lecherous artistic director (in an effort to “loosen her up”) grope and kiss her before a rehearsal one evening? DOES Nina actually catch him together with Lily late one night at the rehearsal studio?
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We don’t know, at least not for sure.
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Portman is fine, but it’s virtually a one-note performance; from first frame to last (and she’s in every scene) her angst and torment are right there, in every furrow of her brow, every haunted look in her big, expressive eyes. Only when she lands the role of her dreams early in the film, and then triumphs (in an unexpectedly dark way) at the end, does her expression morph into something less… pained. Nor does Aronofsky do Portman (or the script) any favors by completely ignoring Nina’s backstory and setting nearly all the action in the terror-filled here-and-now. We hardly ever see Nina happy, relaxed, carefree; as a result, her plunge into insanity (if that’s what it is) packs no emotional wallop, at all.
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As Lily, Mila Kunis is fine in a one-dimensional supporting role; Vincent Cassel — Thomas, the “hands-on” artistic director — has been better as, say, the smiling, cold-blooded killer in the Jennifer Aniston vehicle of a few years back, “Derailed” (Cassel plays nasty very well; if only there were more of that here); and Barbara Hershey and Winona Ryder, as Nina’s overbearing, faded ballerina mother and the suicidal principal dancer whom Nina longs to emulate, respectively — do good work, too… although, again, we are told hardly anything about them; I couldn’t help but wonder if they, too, had found their way into this psycho-drama only because the filmmakers needed some “villains” to drive poor Nina nuts.
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A few chilling moments, along with some impressive visuals (check out the terrific “swan wing” effect in the finale) make “Black Swan” a consistently watchable movie, but not a great one.
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Bottom line: if you’re looking for your next nightmare, horror fans… look elsewhere.
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FILM REVIEW by Stuart R. Brynien
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