black swan

Darren Aronofsky. You did an awesome job with this one. Just wanted to put that out there before I forget and get wound up in one of the best stories ever told on film. Yes. I mean it. Black Swan deserves all the accolades it receives.

The movie takes many emotional and psychological turns throughout so it's not really easy to tell you what this movie is about. On the surface? It's about a girl Nina (Natalie Portman) trying to master herself as the lead of a New York ballet company's performance of Swan Lake. With a twist. In more ways than one. This version of Swan Lake entails the head to have a double personality - A white swan which is good and pure and a black swan - A misguided dark soul. As Nina nabs the part, she battles demons and mental assumptions about herself to see if she can execute her role as the dark swan as well as she has the white one. Along the way she friends another dancer, Lily (Mila Kunis), who represents what the black swan entails and who Nina really wants to be. Other people in Nina's life including her dancing queen mother (Barbara Hershey), (who wasn't developed well in this movie and could result as the only negative of the otherwise perfect cast) and rival dancer, Beth (Winona Ryder) play intregial parts in this movie and showcase sides of Nina she hasn't found in herself, yet.

I'm going to stop there as I don't want to spoil too much of the movie. And again, I can only tell you on the surface what this movie is about. If I go deep into it, it might ruin it for you.

OK. I will tell you this much. I think it's a bitter sweet tale of an individuals travel within to find their true self and letting the outer voices get inside and ruin their subconscious. But more.

But more?

When you watch it you'll understand.

Portman is a shoe-in for best actress awards all across the board this year as I haven't seen someone display such passion and truth on film in years. In pure Darren form, the movie is written in such a way that will pull on your heartstrings as it starts off showcasing a melodic city girl perusing the dreams her mom never got to but over time the whole facade is stripped and you finally see what she is really about. Or what she really wants to be. Or..

Again. Telling too much.


Just watch it. You'll understand.

Black Swan gets 10 ballet shoes out of 10.