Black Swan

The first thing that I said when I walked out of the theater was, "That was a mind________ (fill in explicit language here)." Black Swan was one of those movies that you're not quite sure what you just watched for the last hour and forty five minutes. IT took me about twenty four hours to sort through everything that my eyes had taken in, and that was after the damn thing gave me nightmares. They were not lying when they called the movie a psychological thriller.

The basic plot of the movie focuses on Nina (Natalie Portman). Nina is a young ballerina in NYC. The dance company that she belongs to decides to put on Swan Lake. The lead role requires the dancer who plays the Swan Queen to play both the White Swan (innocence) and the Black Swan (sensuality). It becomes apparent early on that Nina is a perfectionist when it comes to her dancing and in life itself. Nina is chosen for the role. She is able to perform the part of the White Swan with ease, but a struggle arises when she begins to practice the Black Swan. The company leader, Thomas (Vincent Cassel), tells her that she is not able to let herself go enough to become the role of the Black Swan. The dance is more than just dancing the steps correctly. Nina becomes distressed because she cannot understand what she has to do in order to perfect the dance. She becomes even more bothered when a new dancer in the company, Lily (Mina Kunis), seems to understand the Black Swan role. Nina begins to spiral out of control.


After initially watching the film, it is easy for someone to say that it was the role of the Black Swan that drove her insanity. Then I thought about it some more, and the more I thought about it, the more it seemed to me that the movie is just one be ironic situation. It becomes clear throughout the movie that Nina has struggled with some kind of psychological problem before being award the role of the Swan Queen. She was able to control the problem, but not without the constant help of her mother. I believe that it was this psychological problem that drove much of Nina's desire to be perfect. The idea that being perfect would make everything wrong disappear. Her psychological problems began to surface again when she begins to struggle with dancing the Black Swan. She cannot be perfect without embracing the parts of her that are imperfect. That is the true story- Nina's struggle with perfection, and the fact that perfection sometimes is not always perfect.

Darren Aronofsky did a fantastic job directing this strange and twisted story. There are little things in each scene that take you into Nina's mind. You felt the mental struggle in Nina. You began to struggle with her. She    was never quite sure what was going on. You are never quite sure what is going on. He never gives you more information that Nina herself has. He allowed his audiences to become Nina and to suffer with her. That is something very hard to do.

Everyone who know me, knows that I have this deep dislike for Natalie Portman. It would be wrong of me to say that she didn't do a fantastic job with this movie. She was amazing. Her dancing was breathtaking. It is a difficult task to portray two completely different personalities with such ease and grace. I believe that the best actors say the most when they are not saying anything at all. She said so much with little looks and tiny movements that could easily have gone unnoticed. Mina Kunis also did a wonderful job as the opposite personality. Without a strong cast, this movie could have easily fallen apart with such a complicated plot. Snaps for the actors!

I would have to recommend this movie. The more that I think about it, the more and more I like it. Just be prepared to not really know what it was you just watched when you walk out of the theater. Don't think about it to much. It seems to figure itself out. One thing I would have to say though, don't watch it before bed!