Review: Black Swan

WARNING: This review contains film spoilers. Read at your own risk.

[Editor's note] A couple of weeks ago, I went to see Natalie Portman's latest film Black Swan. Directed by Darren Aronofsky, this new film is just as dark and thought-provoking as you'd come to expect from the same guy who did Requiem for a Dream and The Wrestler.






Black Swan is essentially the story of Nina Sayers (Portman), a ballet dancer who wins the lead in "Swan Lake". In her unrelenting quest for perfection, Nina's life is consumed with dance. Becoming the Prima Ballerina of the company, she feels pressure from the company director (Vincent Cassel) and from her oppressive mother (Barbara Hershey) to be excellent. As rehearsals for the new production go on, Nina's mental state starts to crumble and she's wracked with paranoia, hallucinations, and uncontrolled sexual desire.



Enter Mila Kunis.



In perhaps the hottest girl on girl action scene I've seen yet, Mila Kunis' character Lily drugs Nina on a night out and proceeds to sex her up in her bedroom. I'm a gay man and even I was transfixed by what I was seeing these two beautiful women do to each other. I was hot, then cold, then incredibly thirsty when it was all over. If nothing I've written so far has enticed you to see this film, let the promise of arousal be what pushes you towards it.



But there is more in Black Swan to attract you than the cunnilingusness of its female leads. Nina's transition from the pure, rigid but delicate White Swan into the evil twin sister known as the Black Swan is utterly intoxicating. Natalie Portman delivers a performance that is powerfully visual and renascent. In what feels like a throwback to silent pictures, Miss Portman conveys every raw emotion on her face; just looking at her is at once engrossing and evocative.




The same can't be said for her mother's face, played by Barbara Hershey of Beaches-fame. Now, I know that aging happens to us all and that women are especially susceptible to the process. But I have to tell you, Barbara's face was downright ravaged by the aging process. Every single time it came on the screen, I gasped. Everything from the mile-wide forehead to the blinding caps was horrifying. To see her was to fear her. But perhaps that was the point, to have someone startling in an already startling film.



Black Swan is a beautifully delicate film to watch. It juggles reality and imagination in ways that intertwine them both beyond separation.

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