Black Swan (2010)

Directed by: Darren Aronofsky
Written by: Mark Heyman/Andres Heinz/John J McLaughlin

A few weeks ago, I saw this psychological horror film that was so hard to peg down that I just couldn’t seem to review it. Now it’s been nominated for an Oscar and I feel like I need to get a review up for it. Pardon me if it seems like I haven’t seen the film in a while. I haven’t.

Before we start dancing, there were a couple of previews.

LIMITLESS–Bradley Cooper is given a drug that allows him to use 100% of his brain. The world becomes his, but not without Robert DeNiro noticing and putting him to work for him. What happens when Bradley runs out of the drug?

Looks like a pretty interesting flick, even if I feel like I’ve seen the premise before. It’ll be interesting to see all of the “special powers” that Cooper gets in this version. And it’ll be interesting to see if DeNiro can still do a role like this after so many years as a Focker. I’ll check it out at least on video.

SUCKER PUNCH–I think I might already be in line for this one. Sure, it looks like another sexist girl power movie (by which I mean, a movie where women have power, but they still wear tiny skirts and little else), but Zack Snyder makes eye-candy at least interesting and, with the asylum backstory, this could actually have a little bit of depth. I really hope it’s good.

WATER FOR ELEPHANTS–This is a story that I’ve been interested in ever since I saw the book. No, I haven’t read it, but it takes place in a circus and, even though I’m not a huge circus fan, I’m fascinated by the life. Reese Witherspoon I can deal with. She’s very good when she wants to be. As long as I don’t have to watch one of her terrible romantic comedies. Christoph Waltz I’m all for being in anything he wants to be in. Robert Pattinson…um…dealbreaker? Jesus. I’m tired of seeing him in new Twilight movies every six months. Why do I want to see him in a real movie?

Well, maybe he’ll prove the detractors wrong and actually be good. So far, he hasn’t been good outside of Harry Potter, though. And, yes, he’s tried.

Ok. Let’s dance.

Let me first say this: If it weren’t for Aronofsky and Natalie Portman, I probably never would have seen this movie. I am not a ballet fan at all. The Red Shoes, one of the greatest films ever made, did absolutely nothing for me. That’s how little of a ballet fan I am.

Aronofsky did direct it, though, so I had my ass in a seat. And it certainly didn’t hurt that Natalie was there looking beautiful and super-talented…although she was WAY skinny in the film. Luckily, she’s put that weight back on. It mostly seems to be in the form of a baby, though.

Nina Sayers (Natalie) is a crazy woman. She just doesn’t know it yet. She’s so focused on success in her ballet company that she has no time for a real life. She’s never had a real boyfriend and sex is something that has always eluded her. Her mother (Barbara Hershey) doesn’t help matters by basically living out her dreams through her daughter. She’s a perfectly loving mother until Nina starts to find a life of her own.

That life comes in the form of bad girl Lily (Mila Kunis). Lily is a live-wire who, while not as good of a technical dancer as Nina, has more passion in her dancing than Nina ever seems to be able to muster.

Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel), the company’s leader, has noticed this, but he still gives Nina the lead role in his re-imagining of Swan Lake. (See? They do it in “high art,” too.) Not before making a quick pass at her, though. He wants her to be his new Beth (Winona Ryder). Beth was his “star pupil,” but she’s gotten too old. Time to trade her in for a younger model.

It’s hard for me to say that any of these actors has ever been better than they are in Aronofsky’s nightmare of dance. Vincent Cassel has always kind of annoyed me. Here, he is the very vision of smarminess and power…just like always, but better. Mila Kunis has never had a role that really showed that she could act until now. I’ve loved her in Forgetting Sarah Marshall and That 70s Show, but I always kind of saw those characters as her. Not a lot of acting going on. Here, she blows it out of the water. Barbara Hershey is Barbara Hershey. Has she ever been bad? And Winona doesn’t have a lot to do, but she does great things with the small role. She’s fuckin’ scary in the hospital room.

Of course, the star of the movie is Natalie. Always great, this is a tour de force. And I don’t use that word/phrase lightly. She’s fucking amazing. So meek, but so powerful. So frightening, but needing so much love. You don’t know whether to run from her or to her.

This movie is, overall, about obsession. Obsession with perfection and passion. Neither is a particularly good way to live, but the mix of both can be terminal. Aronofsky has made a career out of obsession (drugs, love, fame/past), so it’s no wonder that he was able to make this into something much greater than it could have been. Flashier than his last film (The Wrestler), but every bit as powerful, he just keeps getting better with each film.

There’s basically nothing wrong with this movie. It’s horrific and delicate…just like ballet.

Last thing: Kudos to the marketing team for the Art Deco style posters. Unfortunately, those aren’t the posters that are being used. That’s why I’ve decided to include all of them in this review.