Review of Black Swan (2010) by Mloy X — 11 Mar 2013

Normally, I'd put a favorite quote from the film before the review, but my favorite quote from the film is a little lengthy and bit risqué (the conversation between Nina and Lily about Nina's dream the night they went out clubbing) Hella hilarious! Kudos to Kunis for delivering the line so naturally and so brilliantly that otherwise would have come off creepy.

Loved it! So anyhow, on to the review: the story is one I already loved- Swan Lake, but the plot twist was so "Perfect Blue-esque" (it's an awesome Anime, look it up) it's was definitely my genre of film.

But once the film begins and I see that it was shot like a PBS documentary (very clever!), I knew I was sold. Natalie Portman was the perfect choice to play Nina because no other actress was suited for this dual role and be able to pull off a credible performance! She is an incredible actress that knows how to play her strengths and in this film, plays it she does because she gives an ah-friggin'-mazing performance.

In the film Leon (a.k.a. The Professional), Portman has the ability to realistically portray a character that exhibits both sweet and seductive qualities and still be loveable. Just like Portman's Mathilda (in Leon), Portman's Nina (in Black Swan) appears fragile at first (she's soft-spoken, seems meek and shy), but she's also tough (she's a perfectionist, an incredible dancer that blows every other dancer in her company out of the water while keeping her evil twin at bay for as long as she possibly can), but inevitably like Anakin Skywalker, she crosses to the dark side as well and what an enjoyable venture that turns out to be.

During the opening night's performance, Nina's White Swan was technically flawless albeit cold and calculated but Nina as the Black Swan was electrifying and oozes sensuality. Portman gives such a great split-personality performance that's it reminiscent of Christopher Reeves' Superman/Clark Kent duality.

The supporting cast was awesome as well, like I mentioned Kunis (Lily) was naturally enchanting, Barbara Hershey (Nina's Mom, Erica Sayers) was sufficiently creepy and Vincent Cassel (Thomas Leroy) should have come off as an a-hole, pervy jerk but the actor was too charming so that his Thomas was just scandalously delicious.

Kudos to Darren Aronofsky for this thoroughly enjoyable tale of the dark and twisted side of success; like they said, "be careful what you wish for.".