Black Swan review

[This review probably isn't appropriate for a newspaper (blog?). It's more of a discussion, and assumes the reader has seen the movie. Do with it what you will, but I would appreciate feedback, if possible. -JLC]

3.5 out of 5 stars

Here's why...

Beth (Winona Ryder)

Served no purpose but to foreshadow Nina's fall into mental/psychological/emotional turmoil, which, I suppose is useful if that's what you want. But for me, it removed any hope of suspenseful tension. I already knew how this would end.

Thomas (Vincent Cassel)

He has a reputation for sexually bullying his dancers, particularly his lead soloists, and that's how his character was sold to us. I'm glad that they didn't require that to happen with Nina. He turned out to be a guy, and a brilliant ballet director. I like him.

Lily (Mila Kunis)

We were sold the idea that Lily was supposed to seduce Nina and bring the dark side out of her. This didn't come to full fruition for me. She managed to loosen her up with the ecstasy-fueled rave, but outside of Nina's psychotic hallucinations, Lily turned out to be just a girl and a decent person and friend to Nina. Of course she wanted the lead, but she didn't do anything extraordinarily evil.

I enjoyed watching the well-grown-up "Jackie" from That 70's Show. Which makes me wonder if Aronofsky asked for a well-grown up Jackie, or if that's all Mila Kunis can do. Either way, I'm fine with it. I like Jackie/Lily/Mila.

Nina (Natalie Portman)

There cannot be enough said for Natalie Portman. She is absolutely brilliant in this role and there's no doubt that's she has nailed an Oscar nod.

Nina, however, left me a little wanting. I get the idea of sacrificing everything in pursuit of perfection in your craft. That was well established in Nina from the beginning, and every related scene merely underscored what we already knew. Because this story is a tragedy, I suppose it's unfair of me to have expected to see her grow, versus watch her disturbing descent into madness. I wanted to see her successfully shed her shackles of technical perfection, but she didn't. There is a scene of her pining over Lily's freedom and unforced grace, but Nina's thoughts seemed to be, "I wish I could dance like that," and not, "I wish I could be like that." She never wanted to be bad. She only needed to be bad to gain perfection for this lead role. She didn't accept Lily's invitation to the club primarily to embrace her dark side, but to escape her controlling mother. Some might say it's basically the same thing, but there's a nuance in the way it played out that damaged the impact it could--should--have had in my mind.

Here's the next bit. She didn't achieve perfection by embracing her dark side. It was an accident. It was only a result of her psychotic dementia, of which she was a victim, and not because of anything she did. Aronofsky wanted us to believe that it was her drive for perfection, and Lily's influence, that ultimately led to her goal. But there's nothing in this story to indicate that she would have achieved perfection if she wasn't already completely bat-shit. The lip biting did show that she had the spark that she needed, but that spark didn't seem connected to her mental illness at all.

The comparison in my mind, perhaps unfairly, was Rocky. Rocky was possibly the opposite of Nina. Rocky wasn't technically perfect, but he already had what he needed inside. Where Rocky had to dig deep to draw from his own resources, Nina was supposed to take from outside herself and try to create it inside her. In the telling of the story, the end result was correct, but the path didn't seem to jive.

The Film (Darren Aronofsky)

I had a few reasons for wanting to see this film. First and foremost, I like dark thrillers. The Black Swan concept is beautiful, and the film mostly measures up. Although it begins and ends perfectly, the storyline falls just a bit shy of its potential, crawling when it could cruise, and leaping just slightly inappropriately at times. The film should have remained a brilliant psychological thriller, but it lost something for me when it wandered into horror.

I also like Natalie Portman. I've liked her since Leon (The Professional), and Closer made me a permanent fan. I was disillusioned by the melodrama in Star Wars, but I'm willing to blame Lucas, and may even watch again just to see how well she outshines that kid who played Anakin. I'm sure he has a name, but I've forgotten it.

Then my wife told me that I would enjoy the sex scene. I had no idea there was a sex scene until she mentioned it. I popped on over to the imdb parents' guide to see what she was getting me into, and I admit, I forgot what my first two reasons were. Yeah, I could still publicly justify wanting to see the movie for noble reasons, but inside I pretty much just wanted to see two hot chicks make out. And so they did. And more.

But then that creepy horror thread intruded again. Aronofsky deliberately flashed us with some top rate soft porn, and before it was even over, he made us feel awful for watching it. Kudos (I guess) for being original there. In other films, like the rape scenes in The Accused and Last House on the Left, we know that we're supposed to be offended, so we can properly pretend that we are. Black Swan broke new ground for me.

Visually, the film tore me asunder. The main themes of good versus evil represented by almost purely black and white sets was as genuinely appropriate as it was obvious. The use of impure reflections to skew the reality and intent of what we were supposed to see was brilliant. However, I thought the horror element was grotesque and unnecessary. I know it was supposed to make me feel uneasy, and it succeeded. I just thought this film would have been better without it.

So here's my final take:

Concept: 5

Storytelling: 3

Visual: 2 and 4.5

Portman: 5+

Overall: 3.5

I'd love to know your thoughts...