Black Swan: three and a half stars
Rated: R for language and mature subject matter
I’ve always had a strong admiration for ballet dancers, placing them above hockey players, quarterbacks and professional wrestlers on the athletic ladder. It takes indefatigable desire for one to stand and pirouette on their toes for minutes at a time. I tried it once and nearly busted my ankle in the process.
Natalie Portman is said to have trained for ten months to prepare for her role in Black Swan, and never have I seen such dedication pay off. Even in the most bleak of moments you don’t catch her acting. She plays Nina, a dancer whose life is devoted to ballet. Is that entirely her doing? Her mother, Erica (Barbara Hershey), is a failed dancer who now dedicates her life to her daughter’s career. The two live like sisters in a small apartment that sometimes feels like a prison, sometimes like a tomb.
After exiling his former prima ballerina and lover Beth Macintyre (Winona Ryder), the egotistical head of Nina’s dance company, Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel), decides to cast Nina in the lead of his reimaging of the classic Swan Lake, a part which will require her to play two separate roles. Nina is perfect for the part of the White Swan. She’s graceful and flawless. But the part of the Black Swan demands sensuality and letting go, something Leroy feels Nina is incapable of. As Nina pushes herself to lose her inhibitions she nearly breaks down altogether. It’s one thing to lose yourself in a role; it’s another to lose your mind.
There are moments in Black Swan that forced me to look away. One scene in particular where Nina pulls a hangnail and nearly denudes her entire finger still lingers in my mind. But it’s not gore that makes Black Swan such a triumph. The fact that director Darren Aronofsky made ballet cool is herculean enough for me, but what Portman does with the role of Nina is a revelation from the days she played Queen Amidala in Star Wars. Her performance blew me off my feet. You’d be hard-pressed to find an actress more deserving of the Academy Award.
‘Til next time! See you at the movies.
