The Black Swan

Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel

Directed by Darren Aronofsky

Rating: 4 stars

In this twisted tale of The Swan Lake, Nina (Natalie Portman) strives to be perfect. Her dream is to play the lead of the Swan Lake and so she practices and practices and practices. Perfection is her ultimate goal. The choreographer, Thomas (Vincent Cassel), casts Nina as the Swan Queen where she has to dance both as the White Swan and the Black Swan. Nina's "White Swan" is perfect, as it reflects her personality. But as Nina tries to be too perfect, her "Black Swan" suffers. Lily (Mila Kunis) is new to the dance studio and is seen as a threat to Nina. Lily seems nice as she tries to be friendly to Nina. What's threatening is that Lily is the new girl and would be perfect as the Black Swan. Thomas sees this. So Nina is under pressure to break out of her good-girl mold and try to loosen up a bit. However, it costs her life to reach it.

The Black Swan is truly a great movie. The symbolism in it is what makes this movie so amazing. You see Nina, this young woman (her age is never revealed but I'm guessing she's in her early 20's), who dedicates her life to ballet. She's the image of innocence. All she wants is to be perfect. When she gets the role of the Swan Queen, all her dedication to dancing has paid off. However, Thomas keeps telling her she needs to loosen up a bit in order to be the perfect Black Swan. The White Swan represents innocence and precise moves. The Black Swan is flirtatious and full of experience. Nina, being as innocent as she is, can't achieve the perfection to be the Black Swan. She tries too hard, Thomas says. But as the movie progresses, you see Nina transforming herself into the Black Swan, losing that innocence you see her as in the beginning. By the end of the movie, she kills herself because she has done it: reached perfection in her own eyes.

The reason I think this movie deserves four stars instead of five is because it's a little disturbing. The thing is, it was necessary in order to make this movie beautiful. The symbolism, the transformation from White Swan to Black Swan, that makes this movie amazing. Yet, seeing Natalie Portman go crazy and imagining things (like the bedroom scene with herself and Mila Kunis), the hospital scene with Winona Ryder, the murder of Mila Kunis in her dressing room, this was all a little too much. Obviously she had some mental disorder. I wouldn't recommend this movie to those who like a happy ending, the faint-hearted, and the sensitive. If you're going to watch this movie, be prepared that it is hard hitting. It's an amazing movie but also on the dark side too. Don't say I didn't warn you.