← Back to Reviews
in
Natalie Portman finally won a long overdue Oscar for her performance in Black Swan, a 2010 psychological drama set against the world of ballet about a dancer who is cast in the role of the Swan Queen in Swan Lake, despite the fact that the director has doubts about her ability to pull of the Black Swan, but then the Black Swan starts to dominate her personality to the point of actually losing her mind.
Screenwriters Mark Heyman and Andres Heinz have come up with a strikingly original idea; however, there are plot holes you can drive a truck through, gaps in logic and continuity, and the story takes WAY too long to get where it's supposedly going. For instance, it appears that the black swan starts appearing initially when Portman's Nina Sayers starts seeing her doppelganger everywhere she goes, but this starts happening even before Nina gets the role. It's also revealed early on that Nina has an issue with self-mutilation, but it's difficult to tell which mutilation is real and which is going on in Nina's mind.
There are even simpler problems that I had a hard time getting past. Nina is observed actually going to the director of the company and asking him for the role of the Swan Queen and then has the nerve to be shocked and offended when the man comes on to her.
Speaking of which, this is one thing in the film that does ring true, the director of the company, Thomas, brilliantly played by Vincent Cassell. Cassell and Aronofsky perfectly capture the ego of the ballet choreographer, his God complex and a somewhat stereotyped method of using sexual analogies to get what he wants from his dancers onstage and then putting them to practice offstage. Love the scene where the director and Nina are rehearsing a scene with the black swan and he actually starts kissing and fondling Nina and then abruptly stops and explains to her that he just seduced her but in this scene she should be seducing him...this scene is brilliantly acted and directed.
Mila Kunis turns in the performance of her career as Lily, the personification of the Black Swan whose manipulation of Nina leads to one of the most erotic sex scenes I have ever seen between two women, again, brilliantly directed by Aronofsky.
Aronofsky is already a proven commodity as a director with The Wrestler and Requiem for a Dream under his belt, I just wish he had a better screenplay to work with.
Portman works hard to make Nina believable and I'm OK with her Oscar win, though I think Portman has done better work. Mention should also be made of Winona Ryder, surprisingly explosive as the diva that Nina replaced and Barbara Hershey as Nina's mother, even though Hershey's apparent plastic surgery was a bit distracting. The film is an interesting idea that almost works, thanks to the artistry of Aronofsky and Portman. 6.5/10
Natalie Portman finally won a long overdue Oscar for her performance in Black Swan, a 2010 psychological drama set against the world of ballet about a dancer who is cast in the role of the Swan Queen in Swan Lake, despite the fact that the director has doubts about her ability to pull of the Black Swan, but then the Black Swan starts to dominate her personality to the point of actually losing her mind.
Screenwriters Mark Heyman and Andres Heinz have come up with a strikingly original idea; however, there are plot holes you can drive a truck through, gaps in logic and continuity, and the story takes WAY too long to get where it's supposedly going. For instance, it appears that the black swan starts appearing initially when Portman's Nina Sayers starts seeing her doppelganger everywhere she goes, but this starts happening even before Nina gets the role. It's also revealed early on that Nina has an issue with self-mutilation, but it's difficult to tell which mutilation is real and which is going on in Nina's mind.
There are even simpler problems that I had a hard time getting past. Nina is observed actually going to the director of the company and asking him for the role of the Swan Queen and then has the nerve to be shocked and offended when the man comes on to her.
Speaking of which, this is one thing in the film that does ring true, the director of the company, Thomas, brilliantly played by Vincent Cassell. Cassell and Aronofsky perfectly capture the ego of the ballet choreographer, his God complex and a somewhat stereotyped method of using sexual analogies to get what he wants from his dancers onstage and then putting them to practice offstage. Love the scene where the director and Nina are rehearsing a scene with the black swan and he actually starts kissing and fondling Nina and then abruptly stops and explains to her that he just seduced her but in this scene she should be seducing him...this scene is brilliantly acted and directed.
Mila Kunis turns in the performance of her career as Lily, the personification of the Black Swan whose manipulation of Nina leads to one of the most erotic sex scenes I have ever seen between two women, again, brilliantly directed by Aronofsky.
Aronofsky is already a proven commodity as a director with The Wrestler and Requiem for a Dream under his belt, I just wish he had a better screenplay to work with.
Portman works hard to make Nina believable and I'm OK with her Oscar win, though I think Portman has done better work. Mention should also be made of Winona Ryder, surprisingly explosive as the diva that Nina replaced and Barbara Hershey as Nina's mother, even though Hershey's apparent plastic surgery was a bit distracting. The film is an interesting idea that almost works, thanks to the artistry of Aronofsky and Portman. 6.5/10