Darren Aronofsky doesn't do normal. In the span of his career as a director, he has distinguished himself as a creator of controlled chaos. With Black Swan, he one again demonstrates that he has mastered his craft.
Often times with films, the credit for success tends to be thrown in one direction or the other; the director was a visionary or the actors were at the top of their game or the cinematography was revolutionary. Taking time to step back and reflect on Black Swan, it strikes me that this film was the sum of its parts – Aronofsky knew what he wanted and lucky for him he had the cast and crew that could deliver his vision to its full potential!
The film explores the world of the ballet, but more to the heart, it explores ambition and obsession, forces for both creation and destruction. The main character Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) is a ballet dancer who, despite being a dedicated and talented ballerina with her company, has never taken that next step to true stardom. She wants to ascend to the top, that place of prominence, but can she step beyond the technical and truly become her craft? It is the challenge her director (Vincent Cassel) issues to her, but the pressures of the profession take their heavy toll on Nina. Cast as the “swan queen” for the a re-envisioned Swan Lake, Nina is forced to push herself beyond her limits to realize her full potential at the risk of losing herself.
Aronofsky's skill is on full display as he presents the audience with a reality that we aren't quite sure of from the very first scene. As a psychological thriller, Black Swan works through subtlety. We are constantly fed little hints of paranoia and dreamlike segments of incongruity so that, like Nina, we are never sure what is entirely real. Those elements of herself that Nina is required to use to allow her to give the performance she wants and that her director demands are creative forces that eat away at her psyche. Nina is told from the beginning that she is the white swan but that she needs to channel the black swan within herself. In this way, the story of Swan Lake mirrors Nina's own journey – both the themes of transformation and ultimate self destruction.
Very often psychological thrillers spend at least some time trying to examine those elements which seem out of place as a way to help make sense of what is happening. With Black Swan, Aronofsky doesn't give the audience the luxury of those moments to help us stop and catch our breath. He used this to excellent effect! The film is relatively short with a run time of only 108 minutes. The pace of the story is brisk and somewhat frantic, mirroring the hectic pace with which Nina must prepare for the role she has always wanted. This heightens the effects of the paranoia she experiences – there is no time to stop and try to make sense of anything. As a result there is seemingly no line between what is real and what is not giving the film an added punch and genuinely frightened (Nina) feel. It is like watching self-destruction at break neck speed!
This film also benefits from the excellent performances from Portman, Mila Kunis and Vincent Cassel as Nina's director. Even Winona Ryder gave a good supporting performance as the jilted and discarded lead ballerina. For her performance as the tormented Nina, Portman won the Academy Award for Best Actress.
Black Swan is yet another excellent film from Aronofsky (Pi, Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain, The Wrestler) and a must see for any fan of the psychological thriller genre. It doesn't disappoint. 10/10
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