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Natalie Portman © Fox Searchlight |
As an over-boiled body horror thriller, this movie's aces. As much pretty anything else, not so much. I must admit I was disappointed to see that Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan is merely good, not a masterpiece. He certainly tries hard: all the close ups of toes en pointe or even Nina (Natalie Portman) and her mother (Barbara Hershey) ripping up and remaking her slippers hold a certain fascination for their insight into a world plagued by body issues, workplace sexual harassment, and cutthroat competition.
The movie's certainly spooky (rehearsal spaces have never looked so creepy), but it's too serious to be much else. If only it could, as Nina is repeatedly told to do, loosen up a little. There are a few moments of levity (Rothbart's casual backstage "hey" chief among them) that make me think that Aronofsky is this uptight deliberately. Which is a shame because it makes Portman's performance, captivating though it is, ever-so-slightly unsympathetic (if everyone you know tells you to assert yourself and you won't, how long can the audience root for you?).
Still, technical and acting props for the shudder-inducing swan transformation at the end and Clint Mansell's beautiful, frightening take on Tchaikovsky's timeless work. Mila Kunis and Winona Ryder are such hilarious bitches that I almost want to hug them, and Vincent Cassel is some sort of a genius for making me think that despite his abuse, he actually cares about helping Nina progress as a dancer.
As it is, the movie is more trashy than full-on camp but too plagued by its intense focus to be much of either. "Just like Nina!", you might defend, but tell the truth: would you really prefer a movie about the White Swan to the Black one? B
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