Movie Review: Black Swan

Speechless. Ok, let me gather my thoughts. Haha.

I have to say, watching this film made me both exhausted and exhilarated at the same time. Black Swan, to me, was unlike anything else Hollywood had to offer in quite some time. The movie as a whole was striking, dark, disturbing and just an absolutely beautiful work of art. I mean, in a year of pale remakes and possibly a clear lack of creativity with all the sequels, this film was indeed a breath of fresh air - at least to me.

Sure, the plot can be explained simply enough as a ballerina struggling to become the best out there - to be perfect - and didn't offer anything new because it seemed to me like Fight Club doing ballet. However, it was the depth of each character, the underlying theme and the emotional range that I experienced while watching it that made this extraordinary. It was, arguably, simple but riveting.

Of course, this was with the help of Aronofsky's brilliant direction, who made everything felt seamless but never subtle. To be honest, I've never seen any of his previous works, but I was floored at his outrageous theatrical style accompanied by a soaring classical music in this film. I also found his direction to have a good balance of that nightmare-like feeling of mystery while still focusing on the main lead. It's outstanding, to say the least.

On a technical standpoint, everything was on point. The musical score was beautiful, the editing was good and everything was perfectly paced. Aesthetically, the movie was a stunner. It was visually spectacular and wonderfully stylized. The cinematography was excellent, the production design was good and even the camera work was gorgeous - true, it was sometimes shaky and rigid but I felt that it was more of a creative decision than anything else.

Now, as for the acting performances, I have no complaints whatsoever. Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassell, Barbara Hershey and even Winona Ryder all delivered performances that were all stunning. But, there's no doubt in my mind that this was perhaps THE performance of Natalie Portman's career and I have clearly found a new respect for her whom I never was too impressed by in the past. Here, she has truly outdone herself. She was certainly intoxicating, especially the third act of the film where it was a no holds barred roller coaster ride for her character. Words just cannot express how perfect she was for the role.

Oh, and I just have to put this one out. The final act was so disturbingly glorious and beautiful that it almost escalated the film to near masterpiece. It was - sorry for the superlative - a moment of absolute perfection.

Yes, Black Swan was quite uneasy to watch but equally absorbing. From Aronofsky's profoundly dark and layered direction to Portman's astounding performance, this movie was nothing short of perfection in my eyes.

RATING: 9/10