Black Swan

Movie: 

Cast:    Natalie Portman (Nina Sayers)

            Mila Kunis (Lily)

            Vincent Cassel (Thomas Leroy)

            Barbara Hershey (Erica Sayers)

Genre: Drama

I saw it on: December 25, 2010

Synopsis: Nina is a ballerina in a New York City ballet company.  Her entire life is dedicated to ballet.  Adding to her drive is the incessant pressure from her mother, Erica.  The director of the ballet is holding auditions for an updated version of Swan Lake.  He tells Nina that she would be his choice for the lead if it was just the role of the White Swan; but he needs the same dancer to dance the role of the Black Swan as well as the White Swan.  He is not convinced she has the passion and emotion to handle the Black Swan.  Also in the competition is the new girl, Lily.

When Nina – much to her surprise – gets the lead, she starts to crack under the unrelenting pressure she feels.  Some of the pressure is from the director, but a lot of it is imagined.  To add to her problems, Lily is steadily trying to undermine Nina.  One of the ways Nina deals wither stress is incessant scratching – to the point of self-mutilation. As opening night approaches, Nina goes downhill faster.  On opening night, everything comes to quite a spectacular head.

My two cents: My first reaction to this movie was to get my daughter on the phone and demand she take my granddaughter out of ballet.  How dancers can put them through this torture is beyond me.  To put it mildly, this is a dark movie. 

At first Nina’s mother comes across as a nice, supportive mother.  Midway through the movie you start to see that she is not so much supportive as a failed dancer living vicariously through her daughter’s success.

Then there is the problem with Lily.  Is Lily a conniving backstabber – or is Nina just imagining it.  One of the frustrating things with this movie is you are never clear as to what is really happening and what Nina is just manufacturing in her imagination.

I thought the acting of both Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis was top notch.  You feel so sorry for Natalie that you just want to put your arm around her and comfort her.  Mila Kunis absolutely captured her character.  I kept alternating between thinking she was an absolute bitch to thinking she was being really supportive and just misunderstood by the increasing psychotic Nina.  My problem with Vincent Cassels is that I so disliked his character and his arrogance and the way the heartless way he manipulated his dancers.  But I guess that means he did a pretty good job of acting.

My bottom line: some good dancing, some good acting  - but be prepared to do a lot of wincing and squirming when Nina starts up on herself.  A good movie – but not a feel-good movie.  When I walked out at the end, I was pretty subdued.