Black Swan - Cool Ballet?

To understand "Black Swan", it helps to know the previous work of the director Darren Aronofsky. I didn't while watching the movie but I wish I would have. The movie is very well done and draws more than a few parallels with "The Wrestler". I think both movies speak to the dedication and commitment of performers but obviously from different ends of the "High Brow" spectrum. Just as Aronofsky built a level of compassion to the broken down and out Mickey Rourke, he builds empathy with (Nina Sayers) Portman as she struggles with a quest, not only for perfection but also while discovering a darker side she must include in her dance.

Everything I know about ballet could be written on a really small piece of paper with a rather large crayon. I've seen "Swan Lake" but I was a kid and didn't enjoy it even a little bit. I did see a presentation by the local company in elementary school and it was sorta cool...but that's about it. I mean let's remember this was invented by the French. The French know how to cook and surrender. Anything else is a stretch.

Thank goodness for the "Interwebz". Swan Lake was written by Tchaikovsky and the music is superb. Turns out the most common version shown today is based on a "revival" with minor changes to the score and staging. I won't do the story much justice but, just in case you don't know the outline, the plot summary is:

1. Woman turned to white swan by curse
2. Woman can be saved by the true love of a Prince
3. Prince is fooled by the black swan
4. White Swan dies because foolish Prince got fooled

Told you I wouldn't do it justice...but there it is.

The movie follows a dancer who is obsessed with perfection and is given the lead in Swan Lake. As she goes deeper and deeper into the part of the Black Swan, and as she discovers more of her darker side, the movie turns into a psychological thriller of sorts. The lines between reality and fantasy start to blur for Sayers. She is overly controlled by her mother, overly threatened by another dancer, overly challenged by an Artistic Director (Vincent Cassel). Does she give the perfect performance?

Very solid performances by Portman, Hershey, Cassel and Kunis. I think Portman will win the Oscar for this one. She's grown into a powerful actress and she's certainly showing that. She shows subtlety and finesse which is a far cry from her stiff work on the Star Wars episodes. If my math is right, she's coming up on 30 years old and I believe we'll see some spectacular roles for her in the future.

For the non technical categories the film got nominations for Actress in a Leading Role (Natalie Portman), Cinematography (Matthew Libatique), Directing (Darren Aronofsky), and finally, best picture. The film is a money maker with a budget in the range of 10-12 million and a box office that will top 100 million.

I have no idea on the Cinematography or Editing awards, so I won't comment. I predict no joy on Best Picture or Directing with a walk up the stairs for Portman as best actress.

In another somewhat surprising rating this is also "R" [See Full Rating] for "strong sexual content, disturbing violent images, language and some drug use". The violence is less than you'll see in the trailer for an action flick, the drug use is one scene and two pills without knowing what it is for sure, the language isn't over the top and the strong sexual content is a non climactic masturbation scene by Nina, and a lesbian sequence involving Lilly. Only suggestive and not graphic at all. But then again, of the 10 movies nominated for best picture, we have 6 with an R rating.