Black Swan by Darren Aronofsky ★★★★
With Black Swan -a fascinating ballet drama and psychological thriller that premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2010- the American filmmaker Darren Aronofsky has once again proven himself as a very talented director, tackling interesting topics, such as overbearing parenting, ambition, jealousy, identity, obsession, self-sacrifice and insanity.
Duel
The excellent screenplay of Black Swan (written by Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz and John McLaughlin) is based on The Understudy: an intriguing story by Andres Heinz about the rivalry between two ambitious female dancers in a New York ballet company.
The company's artistic director and choreographer (played by the French actor Vincent Cassel) wants to stage his own version of Tchaikovsky's famous 19th century Russian ballet Swan Lake and is looking for a new female dancer to replace Beth (Winona Ryder) as prima ballerina. The young, devoted, but insecure and inhibited dancer Nina (Natalie Portman) is under pressure from her overbearing and meddling mother (played by Barbara Hershey) to get the part. Once a ballerina herself, Nina's mother hopes to compensate for the failure of her own ballet career with the future success of her dancing daughter. Nina, however, faces stiff competition from Lilly (Mila Kunis): a new, extroverted and attractive ballerina, who is also prepared to go all the way to become the troup's new dance star.
Alter ego's
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| Natalie Portman as Nina. |
The lead part in Swan Lake requires the physical, dance technical, artistic, mental and emotional abilities to express not only the innocence and grace of the White Swan, but also the sensual seduction and unscrupulous cunning of the Black Swan. The role of the White Swan fits Nina like a glove, but her polar opposite Lilly seems the perfect personification of the Black Swan. Pushing herself to outshine Lilly, Nina has to explore the dark side of her own soul in order to embody the Black Swan. In turn, Lilly uses her feminine, sassy charm to curry favor with the artistic director. During their fierce artistic and psychological duel, the two ballerinas get entangled in a dangerous web of intrigue, in which ambition, jealousy, betrayal and a ruthless drive for perfection push Nina to the brink of madness, leading to a surprising finale that gives the film new meaning...
Reality or fiction?
Following in the footsteps (pun intented) of brilliant dance films in which on- and offstage action intermingle, such as The Red Shoes (1948) by the English duo Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, and Carmen (1983) by the Spanish director Carlos Saura, the lines between reality and fiction are blurred in Black Swan. This results in a compelling, genre-transcending film that balances between an artistic dance movie, a psychological coming-of-age-drama, an erotic thriller and a postmodern fairy tale with horror elements. The film is skilfully edited (by Andrew Weisblum), in such a way that the viewer can keep track of (but still wonders) what's going on, without revealing too much too soon, while the story of the Swan Lake ballet gradually unfolds parallel to Nina's confusing (on- and offstage) exploration of her own feelings and identity, which mirrors narrative techniques in The Red Shoes and Carmen.
Lots of mirrors and reflections are shown in Black Swan, because at its core this is a film about the self-reflexive search of a girl for her own identity as she's becoming a woman and full blown ballerina. Nina wants to break free from her domineering mother, and stand on her own two feet. But while desperately trying to (re)discover herself, Nina is also afraid to lose herself. Still, she finds the courage to delve into deep, dark passions that go far beyond her own artistic ambitions and touch the essence of human desires. Thus, the erotic dimensions of the intelligent, layered screenplay emerge in the dance scenes and in other scenes that show Nina's budding sexuality while she tries to overcome her prudish shyness.
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Pygmalion
Thanks to her acting ànd dancing skills, Natalie Portman won an Academy Award for her demanding and convincing portrayal of Nina's transformation. And the charismatic Ukrainian actress Mila Kunis, perfectly cast in her supporting role of the unfathomable Lilly, won the Marcello Mastrioni Award for Best Emerging Actress at the 2010 Venice Film Festival, where Black Swan was first hown as the opening film. Vincent Cassel, however, lacks charisma in his role of the ruthless artistic director and choreographer who plays his dancers against each other and molds them like a modern day Pygmalion.
Visual flair
In the final sequences of Black Swan, during the intense onstage performance of the Swan Lake ballet, the atmospheric cinematography (by Matthew Libatique), the expressive costumes (designed by Amy Westcott) and the evocative make-up are reminiscent of the cinematic magic in the visually stunning classic The Red Shoes: still the most beautiful dance film ever.
Most of the other scenes in Black Swan are shot in a more sober and realistic cinéma vérité style, which contributes to the credibility of the contemporary setting, but sometimes at the expense of the enchantment in this fable. Yet, even in those scenes, Black Swan is visually interesting enough in its unique and surprisingly thrilling retelling of Tchaikovsky's timeless fairy tale.
Joeri Naanai
Black Swan - USA - 2010.
Cast: Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey and Winona Ryder.
Genre: dance / psychological drama / erotic thriller / horror
