Review: Black Swan

4.0

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Downward-spiralling pirouettes aplenty in this lavish exploration of the darker side of human nature. Read our review of Black Swan.

Director Darren Aronofsky’s psychological suspense thriller, based around the storyline of the well-known ballet production ”Swan Lake”, provides the perfect backdrop to explore a host of themes such as ambition, naivety, desire, torment, jealousy and paranoia to name but a mere few.

A (very) brief introduction to the original theme is required here - “Swan Lake” recounts a charming folktale of a maiden princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer, it would appear just for kicks. Only eternal love from a young prince can break this spell. Should this vow be broken, the princess will remain a swan forever. The Prince learns of this and declares undying love (of course). By turning his own daughter into a doppelganger of the princess, the evil sorcerer tricks the prince into declaring love to her instead.

With the broken vow, comes a princess’s broken heart, despite the prince being desperately sorry however the only way forward now is for the princess to kill herself because she can never be with her beloved Prince in human form (of course … have you ever tried to hang out with a swan?).

Natalie Portman (Nina), who plays both the swan queen prima ballerina and the (evil) black swan (as per “Swan Lake” tradition), is simply brilliant in her metamorphosis to the dark side (Queen Amidala references aside). Her portrayal of mental disintegration as she grapples with learning the role is gripping in its visceral intensity.

The mirroring of her relationships with the other cast is integral to the development of her slowly tormented character. Her desire to be perfect is spurred on by the dubious ballet director Thomas (Vincent Cassel); challenged by the seductive and deceitful behaviour of Mila Kunis’s character (Lily) who poses a threat to Nina’s success in owning the lead role; forewarned by the destructive behaviour of Winona Ryder’s character Beth, the “retired” former Swan Princess. Nina’s transformation from innocence and naivety is reinforced again thru her gradual rebellion against her overbearing mother (Barbara Hershey).

The music score adapts the original Tchaikovsky musical arrangements as well as drawing on the talents from the Chemical Brothers for some sections of the film to ably assist in delving deep into the human psyche, keeping the viewer on edge at all times.

This is a great film with minimal men-in-tights. There isn’t enough space here to discuss the inherent Faustian themes, Narcissism, pitfalls of fame, the frailty of the mind, etc. so we’ll leave those weighty concepts to you to think about when you watch this film. And you should see this film, if only for Portman’s splendid performance.

WATCH THE TRAILER HERE

Editor review

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