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Black Swan (2010)
I just
want to be perfect.
Director: Darren Aronofsky, Rated R for sexuality,
language, disturbing content
  Starring:
Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Winona Ryder,
Barbara Hershey, Benjamin Millepied, Ksenia Solo, Kristina
Anapau, Janet Montgomery, Sebastian Stan
DML Rating:
★★★★★★★★★☆
- near perfect
"Perfection is
not just about control. It's also about letting go. Surprise
yourself so you can surprise the audience. Transcendence! Very
few have it in them." -
Thomas Leroy
Why watch this? It
is a
psychological ballet mind-bender that's both complex and
gripping.
Plot Summary:
Young NYC ballet dancer, Nina Sayers, earns the coveted dual
lead role in Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake. She's a natural as
the innocent Odette, but struggles as the dark and carnal Black
Swan. She gives it everything, both to please her over-critical
mother and demanding director, Thomas Leroy. Nina also feels
pressures from another dancer, Lily, who is more sexually
uninhibited and appears to also want the lead role.
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Dad's Preview:
This
intense, often disturbing film delivers on many levels, as
it fades in and out of reality. This is due to Nina's hallucinatory
descent into exhaustion, jealousy and an unwavering obsession to
be perfect. It is beautifully shot, frantic and dreamlike,
a play
within a play. It has the 1948 classic ballet film,
The Red Shoes,
stamped all over it to positive effect. The film was nominated for five Academy Awards
(Picture, Director, Actress, Cinematography and Editing), but
took home only one - Best Actress for Natalie Portman, whose
haunting performance is her best work to date.
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Cross Creek Pic., Protozoa
Pic., Phoenix Pics,
Dune Ent.;
Fox Searchlight Pictures |
