Black Swan

Yeah, it’s alright. In the end, I hope it helps real ballet because the over-hyped fans will go see what the girls who are mutilating themselves actually like about it. Otherwise, it's a solo Portman film, no question about it, and it’s more disappointingly inconsistent genre-wise. A few of the special effects are very bad. The mom seems to be right out of Carrie, which didn't have to be the case. Winona, on the other hand, was a delight, but she always is. Cassel is nothing special. In the end, it’s a well-aimed advertisement for ballet, which names like Aronofsky and Portman helped bring to the people. (12/02/2011)

Natalie turning bitchy. Black Swan is beautifully cruel. Not only to the protagonist, who is fragile in an Audrey Hepburn kind of way, but also to the viewer. It doesn’t give us any indication of what is a dream and what is reality. We figure that out only in retrospect. Though Aronofsky doles out information with the greatest care and only additionally justifies the presence of seemingly insignificant situations, he still leaves enough room for the imagination, which makes it possible to comprehend Black Swan on the physical, psychological and metaphysical levels. Symbolic value can be assigned to each of the few visually distinctive settings. The “warm” home with a prevalence of pink as the past, from which Nina wants to escape, the hospital (with Beth) as the future to which she is headed, and the cold grey theatre as the space where the protagonist must deal with her struggle between what she was and what she would like to be. As depicted in the film, ballet is as painful and destructive as wrestling is in The Wrestler, but Aronofsky still succeeded in capturing its ethereal grace, which is admirable, given the raw, almost documentary-style realism using  “pursuing” camerawork. Of course, such competition is prevalent not only in the behind-the-scenes world of ballet, as the cult of beauty and focus on the surface (which is [un]reliably reflected here by the ever-present mirrors) are an everyday challenge. Do you want to succeed? Be a whore. Portman hands in a supreme physical performance, but her eyes tell us more about her crucial transformation than her gestures and words do. Her almost frightening determination is preceded by innocence and timidity. When she finally comes into her own, I said together with her, “It was perfect.” Almost. I’m not entirely sure if Black Swan is a great film pretending to be a B-movie erotic (or, better said, “physical”) thriller, or just a thriller, but given the fact that it thematises the wearing of artistic masks and the indistinguishability of what’s true from what’s false, it’s a winner in either case. 90% (16/02/2011)

Aronofsky's declaration of love for The Red Shoes. A psycho (not psychological!) update of Swan Lake for the 21st century in art-mainstream trappings with the now traditionally weeping Natalie who also happens to play her own self wonderfully. I expected more of a balletic backstage full of sharp elbows, intrigue, and obsession, and fewer would-be horror elements that Aronofsky didn't quite master yet (um, mirrors… like seriously Darren?). Still, it works, and it escalates magnificently. (18/02/2011)

An unexciting attempt at psychologically sophisticated art. Slightly irritating in places, unconventional thanks the interesting ballet setting, but an attempt nevertheless. Someone should tell Aronofsky that he is not the Kubrick of the 21st century. I admire the difficulty of ballet as an art, as well as Tchaikovsky's magical music, but this film is so empty and uses so many horror tropes that it's maddening. Hype of the year. PS: If it wasn't for Natalie Portman, who put so much effort into her role, I'd go even lower with the rating. (25/12/2010)

You can stone me, but Aronofsky is repeating himself for the third time and it's getting old. Although he once again emphasizes the physicality and the decay of the soul and body, the film lacks any sort of more prominent moment that I haven't seen from him before. The lacerated fingers do hurt, but what I saw here was more so pseudo-art, where he gracefully tiptoes around but doesn't get to the core even once. The metamorphoses at the end amused me unintentionally rather than making me feel any kind of gradation or even catharsis. However, I can understand the standing ovation the film receives. (26/12/2010)