Black Swan

Natalie Portman received a whole lot of rave reviews for her performance in "Black Swan" so I wanted to see it. Needless to say, she did not disappoint. And neither did the movie. I know the film plays out in a ballet setting but apart from that I didn't really know what else the story was about. I would never have thought that you could create a very powerful psychological thriller with this classical dance as a backdrop, but "Black Swan" does just that.

Ballerinas move so effortlessly and appear so light on their feet that they can give casual viewers the false impression that what they do is so easy. It's not, and this film does an excellent job of making the audience understand the superhuman physical demands required of ballet dancers. It also showcases the intense emotional and psychological strain along with the sacrifice and rejection that they and their loved ones have to go through as they build their careers and attempt to land leading roles. "Black Swan" manages to combine all these ingredients with superb editing, cinematography, and acting to create a thriller that leaves the audience feeling the same sense of paranoia and claustrophobia that Nina, the lead character played by Portman, feels.

I do have to say that Natalie Portman absolutely deserves every accolade and award she received for her role in this film. She actually performed some of the ballet moves herself (a dance double performed the more difficult routines), and just for that degree of difficulty, she merits an Oscar. But it is her emotionally intense, textured, and ultimately believable portrayal of a troubled ballet dancer that makes this an absolute master class. She successfully and effectively combines vulnerability with ruthlessness, repression with desire, calculation with compulsion, and perfection with self-destruction. Nina's closing line, "I felt it - Perfect - I was perfect", applies just as easily to Portman herself.

"Black Swan" has truly dark and ominous themes that make this movie disturbing yet powerful. While it doesn't make for easy viewing, it is a truly amazing film - one of the best I have seen in recent years - and is definitely worth watching.