Review of Black Swan (2010) by Onlyo1948 — 04 Feb 2011

As someone who has been involved with ballet both as an aspiring dancer and an administrator I was looking for ward to this film with great anicipation, particularly considering the overall glowing reviews. It took about five minutes to dissolve. The rest of the time watching this film was utterly painful and a complete waste of time. An idiotic plot without drama (in spite of the gory blood and explicit sex), stereotypical characters, wooden acting and ridiculous attempts at making Natalie Portman look like a dancer. She does, when standing still, having achieved the required amaciated look but nothing more. Her very beautiful face is in every scene - but after a while even the most gorgeous looks become tedious, especially if it only has the one static expression of a stunned rabbit cought in the spotlight.

The film offers no subtelty, no mystery, no suspense. It's boring and predictable, confirming all existing prejudices that surround ballet. It doesn't even show any interesting dancing .An utterly dull film that makes a mockery of the art form that it sets out to portray.