[Now for a bust of a movie widely tipped for Oscar success.]
Black Swan (2010) is an American psychological thriller/horror film directed by Darren Aronofsky, starring Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, and Mila Kunis.
In the end Natalie Portman discovers that the only way she can achieve the perfect performance in the lead role of Swan Lake is to go mad and kill herself.
When New York City Ballet director, Vincent Cassel, decides to re-invigorate the classic Swan Lake for his latest production by ditching his aging former protege and established principle dancer (Winona Ryder) in order to obtain a more visceral and real staging, dedicated company member Portman sees it as an opportunity to step into the limelight.
However, she is bitterly disappointed to discover that in Cassel's opinion, despite her brilliantly obsessive perfectionism as a dancer, Portman lacks the dark passion required to portray the black swan portion of the role. He believes that she must abandon reason in order to experience the schizophrenia required to properly play the part. It is especially disappointing for Portman, when the newest member to join the company, wild child and rule breaker Mila Kunis, seems a natural choice for the black swan role.
Desperate for the part, Portman approaches Cassel, only to discover that he has already decided to give it to yet another dancer. In an effort to prove to Portman just how unsuitable she is, Cassel tries to take sexual advantage of her in his office, only for Portman to bite him on the lip in order to free herself. A move which forces Cassel to reverse his decision and offer the role to Portman, much to the displeasure of the other dancers who assume she only obtained the part by offering herself to Cassel.
Having won the role, Portman's troubles are not over, however, as she seemingly has to cope, not only with the stress of rehearsals on her body, but also the increasing competition she feels she has with Kunis for the part, as well as the ever present and suffocating attention of her over protective and doting mother (played by Hollywood maniac stalwart, Barbara Hershey), a former dancer who considers she gave up the possibility of success to raise her daughter.
Neither does misogynist Cassel ease up on his new choice of protege, insisting that Portman constantly push herself to the limit and suggesting that she should indulge in pleasuring herself for homework in an effort to free herself of her inhibitions and frigidity, a task she finds impossible to do at first.
Throughout the whole period leading up to the opening night, Portman suffers an increasing number of ever more bizarre and frightening experiences, from strange lesions appearing on her shoulder-blades, to a leering middle-aged man on the subway, to encounters with Cassel's former leading lady, Ryder, who is supposedly in hospital having sustained terrible injuries after walking out into traffic following her fall from grace, as well as a wild night on the town with Kunis which eventually leads back to Portman's bed where Kunis performs oral sex on her before transforming into a vision of Portman herself.
Not surprisingly these frightening and confused visions involving herself, Cassel, Kunis, Ryder and her mother, culminating in Portman apparently plucking out proto-feathers emerging from the flesh of her back, while both her legs spontaneously break, leave Portman unhinged.
However, when she wakes on the eve of opening night to find that her mother has reported her sick, Portman fights with her, rather than miss her opportunity to dance.
So her unexpected arrival at the theatre confuses everyone. Not least Kunis who by now thinks she will be performing in Portman's place. However, Portman is adamant that she will be dancing and bullies Cassel into agreeing to reverse his decision to replace her.
Clearly still suffering from hallucinations, Portman manages to get on stage, although she injures herself in a fall, breaking down in tears.
Retreating to her dressing room she discovers Kunis preparing to take over from her in the role of the black swan, but will have nothing of it. Tragically, during the ensuing argument Portman apparently mortally wounds Kunis with a shard of broken mirror. Though, she still somehow manages to make it on stage and performs the black swan role like never before, her arms apparently transforming into black wings as she dances.
Between bows, as she receives the adulation of the audience, Portman dashes into the wings to kiss Cassel passionately, much to his tearful delight.
Returning to her dressing-room in order to change for the final act, Portman first tries to soak up the blood emerging from the hiding place of Kunis's dead body, only to be shocked when Kunis herself appears at her dressing-room door to congratulate Portman on her performance, at which point Portman tearfully realises that it was not Kunis who she had stabbed earlier but herself.
Wiping away her tears she rejoins the stage as the white swan for her fatal finale, leaping to a blissful end in front of her sobbing mother who is in the audience, as the blood from her wound consumes her white costume.
Whether or not you enjoy the movie depends largely on whether or not you mind that much of the spectacle occurs in Portman's head. She and director Aronofsky do an excellent job of scaring her out of her wits. And the supporting performances are all great. But there will, no doubt, be audience members who baulk at the use of madness as experienced from the viewpoint of the victim device, as well as those from the ballet community who will take issue with the necessity for a dancer to go mad and kill themself in order to put in the perfect performance. Even so, it's a white-knuckle ride of the highest order, more pop-corn, though, than high art.
Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Swan_(film)
