Review of
Black Swan DVD version
Five out of five stars
On the cover, this is called a “psychosexual thriller.” It is far more psycho than sexual, I found it difficult to watch in time units greater than 20 minutes. Natalie Portman stars as Nina, a ballerina that is extremely talented, but even more unstable. She tries out for the lead role in “Swan Lake” to be performed by the New York Ballet company. Vincent Cassel plays the intense, hard-driving artistic director, pushing Nina hard. He even engages in what is clearly sexual harassment in his attempts to get Nina to rise to the level of a star. It is clear that sex is not his goal, his mind is on the ballet. Nina lands the role, yet she has not a moment of peace from that point on.
It is clear early in the film that Nina suffers from a serious case of mental illness, she lives with her mother and her mother is not the most stable of individuals. There are many times in the movie where there is action where the viewer is uncertain whether it is real or a wild vision in Nina’s mind. All are resolved, but they are very intense and really creepy. At one point, it seems likely that Nina is going to murder her mother. It has been some time since I watched a movie that gave me cold chills, there were many in this one. It is a movie that will make nightmares and it is about ballet, which is somewhat of an odd thought.
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