Black Swan

I figured with all the Oscar buzz I had to check out this movie. It was the typical Oscar worthy type movie. I have to say that Black Swan is not for everyone, I know a few people that were offended by it. So let's dig in and talk about it.

Portman plays Nina a ballet dancer who wants to be the perfect Swan Queen. She slowly starts to lose her mind because of several characters putting pressure on Nina to be better. Her mother, played by Barbara Hershey, is a control freak that wanted to be a dancer. She got married and had children instead, so she lives her life through Nina's dance career.

Next we have Lily, played by Mila Kunis, she is a fellow dancer. She tries to tempt Nina sexually and make her second guess herself. Lily is not afraid to be dirty and Nina is a good girl. She does not try and sleep with the directors and tries to earn her roles. Well Lily is the darker side to dance, she will do WHATEVER she has to to get what she wants. She seduces anyone that can further her career.

Finally we have the director Lerory, played by Vincent Cassel, who challenges Nina's purity. He tells her she is a great white swan but needs to be more sexual for the black swan. He tries to corrupt her purity to get the dancer he wants her to be.

The film is a little hard to follow because as Nina goes into madness the film becomes split from reality. You are not sure what is real and what is not. We also have very strong sexual undertones that almost overshadow the actual story. It seemed more for shock then depth. The dancing is amazing and stunning, the film does a great job of showing how the world of dance works. I have a friend that is a dancer and she said the film was very real in showing the relationships between fellow dancers.

Over all an interesting movie....a bit confusing. The special effects were good and the dancing was brilliant. The acting was good and I have no doubt that Portman will take home the Oscar.

Over all I give it a B/B-