Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan
revolves around a big production of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. Nina Sayers (Natalie
Portman) is a perfectionist ballet dancer who manages to get the main role in a
prestigious company as the Swan Queen which demands being able to play the
innocent White Swan as well as the passionate Black Swan. Although this was a
most expected goal it soon becomes a heavy burden as pressure is at its peak.
(From this point it may contain spoilers. Stop reading if you wish)
Pressure comes from several directions. On one side there’s her mother
who is a former ballet dancer who expects to live her own dream through her
daughter’s role while on the other hand there’s Lily (Mila Kunis) who seems to be
a perfect Black Swan and the company’s director who seems reluctant because he
believes Nina will never loosen up. Because of all this pressure Nina starts to
loose grip of reality as her twisted friendship with Lily leads to some sort of
sexual tension and violence.
Another quite interesting aspect on this film is the exploration of the
painful side of being a ballerina. What from the outside seems to be a gracious
performance is in fact quite violent and physically demanding.
Do not expect it to be a light drama because it is not. It’s more of a
dense psychological thriller with hints of sexual tension and hallucination.
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