Black Swan: Horror, Fantasy, or Psychological Drama?

Overall Rating = 5 out of 5 Stars

Black Swan is an exquisitely crafted movie that operates on many levels. It’s a movie rife with metaphors and symbolism, but to interpret the movie in this review may spoil the movie for some of you. I will save my interpretation for a future blog. This review will just provide enough information for you to decide if this is a movie you’d be interested in seeing.

Actually, Black Swan comprises several types of movies rolled into one: It’s a coming of age movie depicting the blossoming of a girl into womanhood. It’s a movie that depicts the transformation of the artist as technician into the spontaneous, passionate artist. It is also simultaneously a psychological drama and a horror thriller, where threads of fantasy and horror blur reality. Black Swan’s cinematic form is like a black and white rose whose tight buds unfold to at last reveal its beautiful, if horrific mystery.

The story centers on ballet dancer Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman), who, now at the peak of her technical prowess, vies for the principal role of Queen Swan in the upcoming season’s production of Swan Lake. The role of this avant-garde production requires the selected ballerina to dance the dual roles of the white swan and the black swan. Nina has the technicality to dance the white swan, which expresses chastity and self-control, but can she dance the black swan, which exemplifies uncontainable passion and sensuality. Artistic director Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) pushes Nina to go beyond her fears and embrace her dark passions which will free her full personality. On the other hand, Lily (Mila Kunis), who, in many respects, is Nina's alter ego , even if she lacks her technicality, naturally embodies the passion of the black swan. Will Lily beat her out for the role? Can Nina manage the transformation to triumphantly inhabit the spirit of the black swan or will she be destroyed in the process?  

Natalie Portman delivers an on-point performance handling the dramatic challenges of this complex role. Barbara Hersey gives us a credible performance as the doting, oppressive mother. Vincent Cassel provides the right vitriol and charm to give his role an edge as the perfectionist taskmaster. And Kunis serves as the spontaneously delicious foil to contrast Portman’s uptight character. The beautiful costuming, makeup, and special effects worked seamlessly with the cinematography to give this production an aesthetically polished look and texture. The choreography was satisfyingly dramatic and Portman’s meticulous preparation made the demanding dance scenes convincing. Darren Aronofsky’s direction is as brilliant as it is intriguing as he artfully weaves together Black Swan’s many complex story and cinematic elements.

This movie has rightly become the darling of the awards circuit, garnering a record-breaking 12 Critic Awards nominations, four Golden Globe nominations and is likely to receive a bunch of Academy Award nominations. And rightly so. This is certainly one of the best movies of this movie-making season. The tension and suspense of Black Swan had me engaged and guessing to right up to the movie’s startling conclusion. For this masterpiece of film making, I give five of five stars.