The Film Reports

Rating 5/5

Drama, Thriller

My first post during Halloween season! Black Swan is a modern classic and has been one of my favourites for a very long time and so, this review will mainly be me listing why I love it so much.

1. Natalie Portman plays the main character Nina who is slowly succumbing to her hallucinations that are compounded by the intense competition in her ballet company. Natalie Portman is the single most compelling ingredient of this film. She is, I think, the only person that could do this character justice. Her delicate demeanour really excel in this, where her character is supposed to be, on the face of it, very frail and almost childlike (apparently, Portman had to train her voice back to it’s more “childlike” tones too). She’s done such a fantastic job. She also does a good job of twisting that frailty to show Nina’s inner “black swan”. There’s a scene where Nina finds out that a understudy has been cast and the way her voice changes initially is so fascinating. As Nina becomes more unstable, that inner steel becomes more outward and balance is played with really well. Also Natalie Portman won an Oscar, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA AND a SAG for her role, so you know my opinion is right.
2. The script is beautiful. I think the central plotline of Nina slowly becoming more unstable, which also correlates to her seemingly becoming more like her role in the ballet (the white swan, the pure one, and the black swan, who is her evil twin) is so compelling. It starts off strong, and then just builds at the best pace possible. Near the very end, there’s so much happening, and it feels quite chaotic which then again represents Nina’s own mind. It’s so beautiful. There isn’t a boring scene in the whole film.
3. The ballet is nice to watch. 
4. The supporting characters are all well played. Notable characters include Mila Kunis’ Lily, a ballerina at the company, Vincent Cassel as Leroy, the company director and Barbara Hershey as Erica, Nina’s controlling mother. Also a surprise Winona Ryder as Beth, a ballerina slowly fading away from the limelight.
5. Darren Aronofsky directs. Do I need to say anything else?
6. This is a psychological horror which basically means you can watch this for Halloween if you don’t like paranormal films.

Watch it: at night.