Movie review: Black Swan (contains spoiler)

by Maia Hagai, Year 12

After rewatching “Black Swan” for the third time only a couple days ago, I found it only fitting to write about it and deconstruct the plot. The “Black Swan” is a 2010 American psychological horror film directed by Darren Aronofsky, based on Heinz’s tale. The film stars Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey, and Winona Ryder and focuses on the New York City Ballet’s rendition of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. The film was very well received, had a total of 188 nominations, and won 61 awards.

The story is about Nina, a young, innocent, shy, and fragile ballerina who lives with her overprotective and often over intrusive mother. What is very interesting in this story is that the influence of still living with her mother can be seen through different aspects of her behavior. The little dancer is a representation of her mother’s hopes - a remarkable and satisfyingly vicious performance from Barbara Hershey- who abandoned her own ballet career upon becoming pregnant by some heartless, ruthless tycoon, and channeled her fury and failure into coaching the resulting daughter, whom she has shaped to have infantile behavior, an easily persuaded temperament, and pink room filled with stuffed animals.

We join the story when the New York Ballet House is trying to find new talent and the future star of the “Swan Lake”, as a result of the previous acrimonious star, Beth Macintyre, being forced to step down. The director’s gloomy attention lands on Nina’s trembling form. She is an amazing ballerina with great form, who is perfect for the role of the white swan. However, the casting executive, Thomas Leroy, played by Vincent Cassel, warns Nina that it is not enough to shine and that she needs to defeat the challenge of portraying the role of the black swan. He therefore instructs her to go home and figure out a way to bring out her “dark self”.

Thomas Leroy later also introduced her to the company’s latest addition, eccentric free spirit and Olympic-caliber scamp Lily, portrayed by Mila Kunis, in order to learn from her techniques. Nina and her ultimately form an interesting friendship which allows the protagonist to let down her guard and enjoy herself and her freedom. This, however, later makes Nina question whether Lily’s kindness and friendship is pure or whether she’s trying to get close to her in order to steal her role.

Following this, the movie explores Nina’s mental health issues. The protagonist becomes overly obsessed with perfection and being the best possible “swan”. This causes her to develop an intense amount of anxiety, which in turn causes her to doubt everyone and everything. Nina, also due to this, develops a weird gauze-like skin-rash, which might be the cause of her later on seeing another version of herself in the reflection of the mirror. At this point in the movie, the audience understands the severity of Nina’s mental health problem and how this makes being the perfect ballerina for the role of the swan in the “Swan lake’’ her sole purpose in life.

Black Swan is one of the greatest films (with Repulsion by Roman Polanski) that examines feminine disintegration. With its creepy Manhattan decor, its looming, close-up camerawork, and its encircling conspiracy of evil – especially in cinematographer, Matthew Libatique’s brilliant continuous shot in which Nina is dancing in a club, then wakes up to what she’s doing and, terrified, stumbles through murky, winding corridors and out into the night air – there appears to be no distinction between inside and outside. She cannot escape claustrophobia.

I will not spoil the ending for you, however, it is the best ending to this story, criticising the extent to which ballerinas are pushed to be perfect. Black Swan is ironically exaggerated, and some of its effects are excessive, but it is profoundly, lusciously delightful, and it is fascinating to see Portman give in to the lunacy and watch her face transform into a horrormask. It is exhilarating, somewhat bizarre, and often terrifying.