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Quite frankly, at first I had no idea what to expect with Black Swan apart from a flawless performance from Natalie Portman and that she is a ballet dancer. After the great critical acclaim it has received by reviews and has by awards so far, I really needed to see this! When I watched it, I was blown away by it completely and I loved literally every second of it. There were some moments that really surprised me and wasn't expecting in the slightest which I won't reveal. Many who would watch Black Swan would say that is partly like a fantasy film but, to be perfectly honest, I really isn't. It's just a psychological thriller that is like a 'mind-fuck film' so to speak and that is exactly what it did to me. Without revealing anything, that is the main thing that surprised me the most; with how disturbing it was but then again, I love disturbing films seeing as they are the most powerful films one could possibly make. The ending was pretty damn powerful as well. I think that this is mildly similar to David Fincher's Fight Club but features women more than men.
As far as production, I was really impressed with the construction of cinematography, art direction, costume design and make-up. The opening segment with the dancing is probably one of the best opening scenes in a film that I think I have ever seen for 3 reasons: Natalie Portman's ballet dancing was awesome, the cinematography was fantastic with flawless lighting and the way the camera was moving around was fantastic too with solid direction. Black Swan needs to earn many Oscar nominations and wins for me but the one that it really needs to win regarding production is Best Cinematography because the cinematography was just magic and my jaws dropped literally.
Nina is a ballerina in a New York City ballet company whose life, like all those in her profession, is completely consumed with dance. She lives with her obsessive former ballerina mother Erica who exerts a suffocating control over her. When artistic director Thomas Leroy decides to replace prima ballerina Beth MacIntyre for the opening production of their new season, Swan Lake, Nina is his first choice. But Nina has competition: a new dancer, Lily, who impresses Leroy as well. Swan Lake requires a dancer who can play both the White Swan with innocence and grace, and the Black Swan, who represents guile and sensuality. Nina fits the White Swan role perfectly but Lily is the personification of the Black Swan. As the two young dancers expand their rivalry into a twisted friendship, Nina begins to get more in touch with her dark side - a recklessness that threatens to destroy her.
Natalie Portman, you have always given a great performance to me but Black Swan is your absolute BEST and you so greatly deserve an Oscar for it even though you're long over-due for one anyway and should have won for Closer. I will literally hit the roof if she doesn't win the Academy Award for Best Leading Actress. Well, she's the favourite and it is almost like a sealed win for her anyway. I don't only deeply admire Natalie's performance in Black Swan, but I also really admire her preparation for the role. She learned ballet and trained for months with co-star Mila Kunis so inspiring and strong determination for the role regarding training for the character plus a great performance should equal an Academy Award. She goes on my list for Best Female Performances alongside her performance in Closer. I also really liked Vincent Cassel as Thomas Leroy. His penetrating of Nina by seducing her and asking her about her sex life made it even more disturbing and added the innocence to Nina's personality. I am surprised that Cassel isn't a contender for Best Supporting Actor. No, he wasn't quite good enough for a nomination but he wasn't that far off for me. Mila Kunis was brilliant as well as Lily. She is an enemy of Nina's seeing as she is the Black Swan and Lily is the White Swan who works for the same ballet company. They both bond in friendship but there is one scene that features both of them that I really enjoyed but was surprised about. She deserves a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award nomination but perhaps not the favourite to win it.
After watching this, I am not surprised that Darren Aronofsky chose to direct this because it really is his kind of film (excluding the ballet) because it is dark and its psychologically disturbing which is something that is pretty much every single film Aronofsky has ever done (except The Wrestler in 2008). I never was a great admirer of his at the start before Black Swan was made but now I really like him and I hope he continues to make more masterpieces like this. One thing I was pretty damn impressed with was that during the scenes in the studio with Nina dancing and there are the mirrors all around her, I didn't notice one blooper where you could see the reflection of the camera, a crew member, whatever and the camera was moving so quickly! The script was absolutely fantastic! There was some very slight black-comedy added into this film that was quite vulgar sexually but sometimes dark humour like that can be pretty funny at times. Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz and John J. McLaughlin (don't mistake him for the 9/11 survivor) all merged together to write a script that, in my opinion, deserves to win an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay (after Toy Story 3, of course).
Overall, Black Swan is an absolutely amazing film that I loved from shot #1 to the very last. It is definitely one of the most powerful and psychologically disturbing drama-thrillers that I have ever watched. It is definitely one of the best films of 2010 after Toy Story 3 (which won't be de-throned on that list). Natalie Portman gives the performance that we have all been waiting for like Darren Aronofsky has as well. Well, for me anyway. If you are just expecting Natalie Portman doing ballet dancing, you are blind! This film goes a lot deeper than just ballet dancing! It isn't just a masterpiece in general but it is also a masterpiece of fine art.
