Tormented, driven birds of a feather
Natalie Portman taking a beautifully executed "Swan" dive.
(Fox Searchlight Pictures)
"Black Swan"
Running time: 110 minutes
MPAA rating: R (strong sexual content, disturbing violent images, language and some drug use)
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You probably need to be a little nuts to twirl around on bloody tippy-toes in a tutu as a serious ballet dancer.
Perhaps not as bonkers as the prima ballerina Natalie Portman embodies in Darren Aronofsky's macabre psychological thriller "Black Swan," though.
Nina (Portman), the daughter of an overbearing former-dancer mom (Barbara Hershey), appears to see a new reality (or is it?) with every spin of her sculptured (and barely fed) body.
For those who might not recall, Aronofsky is the daring film-making visionary who provided a comeback and an Oscar nomination last year for Mickey Rourke as the tormented title character in "The Wrestler."
Aronofsky doesn't hesitate to link "The Wrestler" and "Black Swan," since both deal in what the filmmaker has called "bodily extremes, souls in turmoil" and a film-making style "that pulls the audience inside the character's fascinating inner worlds."
From this aisle seat, "Black Swan" takes tortured flight as a horror movie. Portman's Nina is so tormented by the quest for perfection that her fragile mind wobbles off pointe way before her body follows.
Portman (Queen Amidala in the "Star Wars" franchise), an Oscar nominee as the stripper in Mike Nichols' "Closer," is no stranger to ballet, having studied seriously in younger years. Portman has said she's kept it up as exercise throughout her acting career.
Like Rourke, Portman is primed to nestle deep into a tormented psyche. As Nina, she's chosen to portray the Swan Queen in a New York City production of a leaner, meaner "Swan Lake." "I want to strip it down to the core," flirtatious artistic director Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) croons.
"Black Swan" is shocking throughout, and not just because the artistic director of a major ballet company is straight. Nina's determination to capture both the gentle innocence of the White Swan and the sensual, unbridled aggressiveness of the Black Swan sends her spiraling in at least the madness zip code.
When she finally does get in touch with her bad self, as ordered by her artistic director (portrayed with ample verve by Cassel), Nina opens her eyes to the shock that her mother (the definition of a helicopter mom) has parked herself in Nina's bedroom.
"Black Swan," unlike Aronofsky's almost unwatchable sci-fi fantasy "The Fountain" of 2006, channels the director's wildly creative talent into a hellish vortex of progressively surreal dark energy.
In addition to Portman, who turns in the performance of her career so far, Mila Kunis ("The Book of Eli") dazzles as Lily, this tale's dark side of self.
Hershey hovers nicely as the mom who never quite made it to the ballerina spotlight herself but may (or may not) be pulling for her daughter to over-achieve. Also, Winona Ryder has some impressive pouty or fit-throwing moments as Beth, ballet's Cinderella who fights a forced exit when fame's clock strikes midnight.
What happens to Nina in "Black Swan" reminds me of Jack Nicholson's grim descent into madness in "The Shining."
Know this, though. All work and no play doesn't make Nina a dull girl. Not for a chill-down-your-spine moment.
Perhaps not as bonkers as the prima ballerina Natalie Portman embodies in Darren Aronofsky's macabre psychological thriller "Black Swan," though.
Nina (Portman), the daughter of an overbearing former-dancer mom (Barbara Hershey), appears to see a new reality (or is it?) with every spin of her sculptured (and barely fed) body.
For those who might not recall, Aronofsky is the daring film-making visionary who provided a comeback and an Oscar nomination last year for Mickey Rourke as the tormented title character in "The Wrestler."
Aronofsky doesn't hesitate to link "The Wrestler" and "Black Swan," since both deal in what the filmmaker has called "bodily extremes, souls in turmoil" and a film-making style "that pulls the audience inside the character's fascinating inner worlds."
From this aisle seat, "Black Swan" takes tortured flight as a horror movie. Portman's Nina is so tormented by the quest for perfection that her fragile mind wobbles off pointe way before her body follows.
Portman (Queen Amidala in the "Star Wars" franchise), an Oscar nominee as the stripper in Mike Nichols' "Closer," is no stranger to ballet, having studied seriously in younger years. Portman has said she's kept it up as exercise throughout her acting career.
Like Rourke, Portman is primed to nestle deep into a tormented psyche. As Nina, she's chosen to portray the Swan Queen in a New York City production of a leaner, meaner "Swan Lake." "I want to strip it down to the core," flirtatious artistic director Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) croons.
"Black Swan" is shocking throughout, and not just because the artistic director of a major ballet company is straight. Nina's determination to capture both the gentle innocence of the White Swan and the sensual, unbridled aggressiveness of the Black Swan sends her spiraling in at least the madness zip code.
When she finally does get in touch with her bad self, as ordered by her artistic director (portrayed with ample verve by Cassel), Nina opens her eyes to the shock that her mother (the definition of a helicopter mom) has parked herself in Nina's bedroom.
"Black Swan," unlike Aronofsky's almost unwatchable sci-fi fantasy "The Fountain" of 2006, channels the director's wildly creative talent into a hellish vortex of progressively surreal dark energy.
In addition to Portman, who turns in the performance of her career so far, Mila Kunis ("The Book of Eli") dazzles as Lily, this tale's dark side of self.
Hershey hovers nicely as the mom who never quite made it to the ballerina spotlight herself but may (or may not) be pulling for her daughter to over-achieve. Also, Winona Ryder has some impressive pouty or fit-throwing moments as Beth, ballet's Cinderella who fights a forced exit when fame's clock strikes midnight.
What happens to Nina in "Black Swan" reminds me of Jack Nicholson's grim descent into madness in "The Shining."
Know this, though. All work and no play doesn't make Nina a dull girl. Not for a chill-down-your-spine moment.
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