Ugly Duckling

So, as you may have noticed from my last post, I am a massive Natalie Portman fan. But I will try my best not to blather on about how amazing she is in this film just because of that, and make sure I take a look at the full picture. Portman aside,  Black Swan is just a brilliant film. it dares to be different by blurring the lines of genre, not letting you know until the final scenes of the film, what type of beast it is trying to be. Is it a drama? A thriller? Coming of age romance? Horror? Well it ticks all of these boxes at different points in the film, but I feel the best way to catch it would be to describe it as a psychological drama.

The focus of this is entirely on Portman's character Nina, a ballet dancer and perfectionist, who is trying to make her name known in her dance company. We see her striving to portray ballet in its purest most defined form, but encountering resistance from the company head, who is looking for passion, not perfection. the battle between these two facilities are embodied with the roles of the white and black swan's from the company's production of Swan Lake. By giving both roles to one dancer, they are encouraging the ability to be able to embody both side of the psyche, the light and the dark, the chaste and the sensual. when Nina is presented the opportunity to play this part, the film documents her struggle to find the balance between them.
As mentioned above, Nina is a perfectionist, but also a very naive and innocent character. Her relationship with her mother is downright weird, and she seems to have been kept in a bubble to prevent her from growing up. A sort of emotional arrested development. It is this side of Nina's character which makes her standout to the company's head as the perfect candidate for the white swan. Now all is left is for events to transpire to allow her to embody the titular black swan. These events are induced by four main players in Nina's life, who appear to be all too familiar with the black swan mantra.

Firstly their is Vincent Cassel, playing the dance company's head, Thomas. He is a character that you love to hate. He is smooth, charismatic, but a bit of a sex fiend. He uses the excuse of lust to try and evoke the manner of the black swan from Nina, and maneges to get up close and personal with her in order to help develop that side of her. He also jumps between his alternative nurturing methods with Nina, and a few other dancers he is trying to inspire. So although you are fully aware that he is an absolute shit, you can't help but want to be a bit like him. And Cassel plays him perfectly. Almost every word of dialogue smolders as if it is a double entendre. And the performance comes across as completely effortless.

Then there is Mila Kunis' Lily. Much the female version of Thomas, she seeks the lustful and joyful side of life as a point of everyday living, rather than just in the dance studio. She holds herself with a sultriness and likability, which would have proved difficult for another actress, but again effortlessly take it in her stride. And her ability to turn her intensity on and off becomes more apparent and impressive upon repeat viewings, when you are more aware that a lot of Lily's scenes are imaginations from Nina's perspective.

Nina's mother Erica is played by Barbara Heshey, set out as an overbearing yet doting mother, who is looking to live her failed ballet career through her daughter. We are introduced to her in early scenes preparing Nina for dance school like a little girl would preen a doll. This shows that emotional stunting of Nina seems almost genetic in line with her family. But it is the overbearing nature of Erica, which catalyses many of Nina's more notable outbursts, and her later outbursts and impulses mirror her mother's that are shown in the earlier stages of the film. Nina's complicated relationship with her mother is best shown when she, under instruction from Thomas, starts to masturbate in her own room. Only to open her eyes and find her mother sleeping next to her bed. This proves a clear metaphor for how her mother's presence has stunted her sexual and personal growth.

The final player who is not as prominent in the narrative, is Winona Ryder's Beth. She does however play an important part in how Nina develops as a character. Beth is the star of the company, but when we are introduced to the world, is on the brink of retirement. She acts as Nina's idealistic version of herself, of the dancer and performer she wants to be. It is when Nina sees her unravel as the film develops, that she begins to realise that perfection on the stage, does not reflect a perfect life behind it. That all the work and the effort that goes into being a perfect dancer, is not necessarily conclusive to a perfect life outside of performance. this culminates in the disturbing scene where Nina visits Beth in hospital, only for Beth to start stabbing herself in the face with a nail file. This image of the fallen idol haunt Nina in other vision, and results in the rapid declination of her own sanity.

Which only leaves us with Portman. Now I will try my best not to gush about her performance, but it truly is amazing. not only the physical challenge of being able to convincingly portrayed a conditioned and motivated ballet dancer, but bringing depth to a little girl lost in a seedy world of lust. Her outburst of anger against her mother are all the more shocking and emotive in contrast to her quiet and innocent other self. Her emotional transformation into the black swan, bluntly stated with a shocking physical transformation at two points of emotional peaks near the end of the film. And Portman handles some more uncomfortable scenes with sincerity and professionalism, those being the above mentioned masturbation, a surprisingly graphic lesbian scene, and a groping by Thomas. Nina's ability to react and adapt to these events show how she grows to rely on instinct and develop the darker side of herself, which is persistently looming throughout the film in a variety of clever mirror shots showing an alternate Nina glowering at her at varying points int he film.

Now after The Wrestler, I thought it would be difficult for Darren Aronofsky to follow with something else with such power. But i am happy to concede, that he has superceded himself with this film. It is a fast paced and highly emotional film about a young girl's development  and struggle in a world where she faces conflict between her want for perfection and morals. The denouement leaves with a sour taste of happiness for the accolade that Nina receives for her performance, but disappointment at the price she had to pay to earn it. If you haven't yet seen this film, I would put it to the top of your must watch list straight away, this is not to be missed.

Happy viewing...