Black Swan

Black Swan is very much one of the films of the moment, it’s got more award nominations than you can shake a tutu at, and it kick’s off what promises to be a very important year for Natalie Portman. I went to see it this Wednesday, and I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. I didn’t really research into before I went to see it, and to be honest went to keep the missus happy, but I was pleasantly surprised.

           

Black Swan follows a young, virginal, fragile girl who is desperate to win the lead role in Swan Lake. I know what your thinking, this could quite easily be a film about Barbie but believe me it couldn’t be further from it.

           

Nina (Portman) lands the role of the Swan Queen which involves playing the “perfect ballerina” as the white swan, but also the darker, sexier evil twin of the white swan, the (you guessed it!) Black Swan. However, the role becomes too much for Nina and the inner demons it unleashes within her, and suddenly what the audience is dealing with is an intense psychological thriller. I loved how the film crosses the boundaries of realism and presents the world from Nina’s point of view, and using metaphorical imagery it conveys the inner feelings of Nina. The White Swan and The Black Swan parts of the role start to act as a release of her almost schizophrenic sub-conscious. It reminded me of American Psycho in that respect, how the audience sees and hears what the protagonist feels.

    

The film is truly superbly made. I particularly liked how the sound was edited to sound incredibly harsh in places, for example when she trimmed her finger nails it sounded like they were being ripped from her fingertips. This worked really well, contrasting itself with Nina and presenting her as the delicate young woman she is. This leads me on nicely to Natalie Portman’s performance which was faultless throughout. I’m not sure if she’s a trained ballet dancer, but she certainly looks the part as far as this untrained eye could tell. In my opinion she was proof that casting can make or break a film, and she certainly made it.

Black Swan may be set around the graceful world of ballet, but this film is not for the faint-hearted. In places it’s genuinely disturbing, and I honestly wonder how it didn’t get passed with an 18 certificate. But don’t let that put you off, if you enjoy psychological thrillers with twists and turns and climatic endings which will leave your heart racing then you can’t go wrong here, just be prepared to really engross yourself. As a film-fan I really enjoyed myself, and my girlfriend seemed to really enjoy it and she doesn’t often stray much further than The Notebook when having a film night in.

To conclude, by all means go and see this film in the cinema for the full immersive experience, just be prepared to have to use your noggin in places!
And if that doesn’t convince you… Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis. Underwear. Together. Enough said.

Hope you enjoyed my review. Please leave a quick comment and come back in the future for more reviews and articles!

-Luke