A "Swan Song (For Nina)"...Black Swan Constructive Review

Although this blog is entitled “A Swan Song (For Nina)” because of its motif in narrating life’s wide spectrum of events as told through the random melangerie of music in my i-pod, you should not confuse my intentions- this is after all a constructive review of the critically acclaimed Darren Aronofsky film Black Swan.

As a dancer, I am the first to guiltily admit that I have watched pretty much every dance movie that has premiered on the mainstream platform.  From Centerstage to Save the Last Dance, from Take the Lead to Step Up, and from Dance With Me to Dirty Dancing to Dirty Dancing Havana Nights and back… I have shamelessly indulged in all of the above and I even own most of these films.  However, I also recognize that the talent in these films lays if anything in the choreography, in the dancing, and in some cases even the acting, but the plots regrettably leave much to be desired.  I often wished to see a provocative film featuring Dance or about Dance break into the mainstream track without loosing its Indie quality.  I often yearned to see something along the lines of The Red Shoes, The Company, or One Last Dance break into cinema that the “average Joe” purchases tickets for.  Fortunately, Black Swan achieved just that, the fusion of Independent style filmmaking with mainstream box office success. 

An evocative, moving, and thrilling story, Black Swan boasts excellent writing, directing, acting, choreography, dancing, et al.  Where other Dance films have lacked in substance, Black Swan is rich in depth.  Beginning with Natalie Portman’s intuitive personification of obsessive compulsive and deeply troubled ballerina, Nina, and continuing with Aronofsky’s breathtaking cinematographic choices, it’s no wonder the film has such a gripping pulse.  Aronofsky manages to seduce our senses with a strategic combination of the beautiful musical score including a couple original versions of Tchaikovsky’s classic Dying Swan reprise, visuals of feathered tutus, classic ballet stage makeup, deliberate lighting and mirror placements for those jarring thriller scenes, and genius shots of Nina’s dancing including an enchanting slow-motion shot of her practicing a fouetté-pirouette combination on pointe. 

To further accent the films all ready epic quality, Aronofsky had the foresight to cast the demure and eloquent Natalie Portman as Nina. Natalie Portman deserves the Oscar not only for Best Actress for her role as Nina, but also for Best Preparation (if this category existed) for the role as well as best insight into the psyche of not only the character but also the pressures of the ballet world.  Portman truly engulfed herself in the dark and macabre facets of the character Nina as well as the physical and psychological demands of the professional Ballet world.  Trapped between a dysfunctional and possessive relationship with her mother as well as her own obsessive and self-destructive inclinations, Nina’s emotional and mental stability fouetté maniacally out of control as the pressure of dancing the coveted Swan Queen role pushes her over the edge.  Portman not only surpassed the emotional range necessary to convey Nina’s conflictive inner dialogue, but she also fully embodied the physicality of Nina’s dedication as a dancer, her submission as a person, and the cathartic instance when she finally snaps.

With such an emotionally charged story, blood-pumping scenes, breathtaking dancing, and a heart-wrenching musical score Black Swan is destined to grand jeté its way to the Oscars.