Black Swan — Directed by Darren Aronofsky; starring Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, and Vincent Cassel

See the Black Swan trailer here. 

We open on a stunning shot of a spotlighted ballerina on stage. Her surroundings are black, but her outfit and skin are pale white. The music behind her performance is muted and the image on screen is slightly blurred.

Are we witnessing reality or a figment of imagination? 

Darren Aronofsky’s dramatic thriller Black Swan follows young but seasoned ballerina Nina Sayers (Portman) as she works to earn and portray the role of The Swan Queen in a modern production of Swan Lake. Nina faces pressures from her dance coach (Cassel) to be more sexual and effortless; she faces pressures from Lily (Kunis), a new, rising dancer who she fears is after her role; and she faces pressures from herself to achieve perfection. 

Audiences follow Nina as she begins to embody her role and subsequently slip further and further away from reality. What is real and what is imagined? We ask this question again and again as Nina asks it herself. 

This film is all-around well crafted. The use of sound is incredible — we hear literally every tap of the ballerina’s toe and the crack of her flexing bones. The melding of action on stage and on screen is well-written and immaculately interpreted by Aronofsky. The simplistic use of black and white is a subtle guide through Nina’s transformation.

Every element of this film seems to have been considered, tweaked, and perfected. 

Anyone who knows me well can tell you I’ve been rooting for Oscar front-runner Annette Bening in The Kids Are All Right since I saw the film in Cannes this summer. After seeing Portman’s performance in Black Swan, however, I think I may have to shift my alliance. 

Portman so clearly translates Nina’s devastation, frustration, and dysfunction to the screen without ever being melodramatic or showy. This “little princess” deserves any and all praise thrown her way.