Gothica does ballet meets Fatal Attraction on ecstasy: The motion
picture Black Swan, which did major P.R. and
advertisement long before it was finally released the first week
of December 2010, served as the closing film this year for the
AFI festival. Hailed for its makeup and costume design, we
thought it would be playing at the theater nearest the biggest
fashion school in Los Angeles, the Fashion Institute of Design
and Merchandise. It wasn’t, despite an ad near the Nokia
theatre for it, so we headed to Hollywood instead, to the sold
out show in its 6th night.
Written by Mark Heyman and directed by Darren Aronofsky (Pie,
Requiem For A Dream, The Wrestler), and stars Academy Award
nominee Natalie Portman as Nina, Mila Kunis (The Book of Eli,
Forgetting Sarah Marshall) as Lily, 80’s legend Winona
Ryder (Heathers, Dracula, Beetlejuice), as Beth MacIntyre,
Vincent Cassel as Thomas Leroy, Barbara Hershey as Erica,
Kristina Anapau as Galina, Toby Hemingway as Tom, Sebastian Stan
and Janet Montgomery as Madeline, Black Swan is,
like Nine, long on style, and
yearning in its search for substance.
Black Swan tells the story of Nina (Natalie Portman), a ballerina
in a New York City ballet company whose life, as those in her
profession, is completely consumed by dance. She lives with her
retired ballerina mother Erica (Barbara Hershey) who fanatically
supports her daughter's professional ambition and whose fixation
with her daughter, rivals Norman Bates’ with his mother in
Psycho. When the opportunistic artistic director
Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) decides to replace prima ballerina
Beth MacIntyre (Winona Ryder) for Swan Lake, the opening
production of their new season, Nina is the first choice after he
forces a kiss on her and she bites his lip.
But Nina has fierce competition, a rising new dancer, Lily (Mila
Kunis), who further impresses Leroy in more ways than one and
gets sheltered Nina to rebel against her mother; stay out late,
mess around, and drop ecstacy. Layered with breathy ambience, and
a score by sound master Clint Mansell (formerly of Trent Reznor
of Nine Inch Nails’ nothing records), Black
Swan keeps the pace of suspenseful sensuality, with some
sudden jolts worthy of the best horror film.
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, while 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 darker side with a reckless
abandon that threatens to destroy her.
Is Nina a schizophrenic ballerina tortured by hallucinations? Or merely
a creative daydreamer, and closeted lesbian with a twisted,
abusive mother? These things, and many more, are not answered.
Despite its missing pieces, and disturbing portrayals (a pervert
on the subway, a slimy instructor not one woman stands up to, and
not one redeemable character or healthy developed relationship),
Black Swan is, with all its twisted turns and
missing explanations, a film worth seeing, at least for the
brilliance of Natalie Portman, who shines here, showing more
range and talent than ever. For her presence alone, and fine
acting by the rest of this very talented cast, Black
Swan makes its tawdry target stick.