Over the past few years I have come to respect and enjoy the work of Darren Aronofsky; from his little known "Life of Pi" to his more recent "The Fountain." He has a very characteristic film making style and "Black Swan" is no different. This film follows the rise to fame of Nina (Natalie Portman) in the ballet world with her appearance in Tchiakovsky's Swan Lake. Nina's story becomes a parallel of the story of Swan lake on a voyage of self-discovery and the quest to find her true voice in her passion, until she finally looses herself in the role and becomes a metaphorical representation of the the Swan Queen.Every single aspect of this movie is tied together in a beautiful way with Nina's life descending into the darkness of the black swan after making her debut as the beautiful and technically perfect white swan. Portman's portrayal of this role was spellbinding in her transformation from the good girl to the bad girl, which is backed up by textbook foreshadowing and symbolism. Aronofsky uses color traits (white and black) to specifically represent Nina's dark side as she begins to rebel against an obsessive mother and against everything she traditionally thought ballet was supposed to be.
Supporting actress Mila Kunis makes a point of representing everything associated with the dark side that Nina doesn't tap into until the end of the movie. He transformation is aided in the role of Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel), the slightly sleezy director of the ballet company who brings out the wild side of Nina. "Black Swan" is a must see for any Darren Aronofsky fan, and for most other viewers who enjoy his characteristic psychological mystery thriller genre. "Black Swan" gets 4.5/5.
.JPG)