Everyone knows the classic story of ‘Swan Lake’, and the story of the gracious White Swan and the sensual Black Swan. What everyone didn’t know is that such a classic story could be turned into such a dark, psychological blockbuster film.
The film is based around a New York ballet school that is producing an adaption of ‘Swan Lake’ with all of the dancers wanting to be cast in the role of the Swan Queen, none more so than Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman). However, there is one problem – the dancer that is cast as the Swan Queen must be able to dance both the part of the gracious and perfect White Swan, as well as being able to dance the part of the sensual and seductive Black Swan. Nina Sayers embodies the technique and personality associated with the White Swan, yet lacks the passion and free will of the Black Swan. With fellow dancer Lily (Mila Kunis) possessing the traits and personality of the Black Swan, Nina must fight for the part of the Swan Queen, as well as having to fight for her sanity in this dark, psychological thriller about the lengths a dancer will go to in order to obtain what she wants.
With Natalie Portman cast in the lead role, this film had promise right from the start. Portman plays shy, frigid Nina Sayers and is perfect in the role. Given that Portman is best known for her role as Padme Amidala in the Stars Wars movie franchise, she delivers a stellar performance as the tormented dancer. Although there are times when timid Nina becomes quite unbearable to watch, Portman holds your attention throughout. Even when you are forced to watch the more gruesome scenes, you can’t help but watch, even though you know you should be looking elsewhere. Portman has won a plethora of awards for her role, most recently winning 'Best Actress in a leading role' at the 83rd Academy Awards, and rightly so; it’s hard to imagine any other actress playing the role of Nina.
Fans of the original ballet production of Swan Lake will not enjoy this film. They will be disgraced at how such a classic piece of art has been turned into a film about a dancer wanting to kill anyone that dares to hinder her chances of becoming the Swan Queen. But for me, that was what I enjoyed most. In a masochistic kind of way, I enjoyed seeing Nina lose her sanity over the role as this showed how much the part meant to her; the conviction Portman bought to the role, and the torment Nina suffered was fantastic to watch. Although it became difficult to differentiate between what was real and what was not by the end of the film, as a member of the audience, I felt exactly what Nina felt – confusion, frustration, relief, plus more.
My main criticism was the ending; Nina dying was the worst way to end the film, yet fitting as the Swan Queen dies at the end of Swan Lake. I personally would have liked to see Nina embrace her dark side sooner than she did as this was when Portman was at her best. Still, a great film, nonetheless, and Portman summed up her performance with her closing line in the film: "I was perfect".
8/10
