BLACK SWAN

BLACK SWAN

rated R

ART--->***
HEART->*
MIND-->***
FUN--->*

A New York ballet company is premiering a new vision of the classic Swan Lake, and casting a fresh face for the title role. Nina (Natalie Portman) is a dancer intensely dedicated to her technique, with a meekness and fragility that would be perfect for the White Swan. But she is dominated by her controlling mother (Barbara Hershey), and Nina is so spineless that her director (Vincent Cassel) doesn’t believe she could embody the fiery passion of the Black Swan.

When Nina fights off his unwanted advances, the director senses a spark and selects her for the role, vowing to help Nina embrace her darker side. Complicating things is wild and aggressive Lily (Mila Kunis), whom Nina believes is eyeing the part for herself. A descent into madness follows, as dark fantasies warp Nina’s mind and she loses her grip on reality. This could be the performance of her life. Or the end of it.

Director Darren Aronofsky knows full well how to bludgeon audiences with his subtle-as-a-sledgehammer aesthetic, primed from such previous bleak tragedies as REQUIEM FOR A DREAM and last year’s THE WRESTLER. With BLACK SWAN he crafts the high-minded but brutal world of ballet into a sordid, pulpy crescendo. Natalie Portman gives a dedicated performance, with an Oscar nomination to boot, but I wonder if the personal cost to her and the corruption of our culture is worth it.

Actually, I don’t have to wonder. Portman will most likely win an Academy Award for playing a dancer seduced by the wiles of the devil, but paranoid delusions, sexual immorality, drug use, extremely filthy language and bloody fantasies are all that await you here. You will gain nothing of lasting value from the experience. In fact, you are likely to be tempted and scarred by it. My recommendation:

AVOID AT ALL COSTS

P.S.
I can't help but think that if, in the world of the film, Nina would play only the part of the White Swan and then Lily would play the Black Swan all of this rotten yuck could have been avoided. Problem solved. But then we wouldn't be torturing young actresses and giving them statuettes for their reward, now would we. I guess we can't have that.