Body horror: Natalie Portman in Aronofsky's latest film.
That it’s a (sort of) horror film about ballet may seem paradoxical, but, really, it’s an inspired choice of subject matter. Ballet may well be one of those tastefully expensive art forms enjoyed by today’s bourgeoisie, but it is essentially an art performed by human bodies pushed to unnatural extremes. It is this essence of the dance that Aronofsky captures – the acute exertion, both physical and mental, and the damage that is wrought upon the film’s protagonist as a result.
Ballet, however, is but one aspect of Black Swan. As much as Aronofsky draws from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake as inspiration and backdrop, the film is more concerned with the nature and dangers of obsession. In that respect, it recalls not just Pi, but also Requiem for a Dream and The Wrestler.
Black Swan is not particularly subtle, and it does possess some melodramatic tendencies. Nevertheless, it’s a near flawless film, and an excitingly radical one at that. It’s unusual that a formally experimental film like this gets such a wide cinematic release, and, as such, one can only hope that people skip that other horribly brain-numbingly awful looking Natalie Portman film that’s out at the moment and see this instead.
Directed by Darren Aronofsky
Starring Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis
RATING:
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
