Black Swan

I have finally caught up with the film that won Natalie Portman this year’s Best Actress Oscar. Anyone who may have read my review on June 4, 2008 of The Red Shoes could guess that I am not a great ballet aficionado. I can appreciate the artistry and hard work that goes into it and its aesthetic beauty, but I doubt I will ever be moved by dance. I cannot imagine fighting back tears watching Swan Lake. Call me a Philistine, but there it is. Fortunately you need no affinity for the ballet to enjoy and appreciate Black Swan. It is a very well made and unnerving study of a dancer’s descent into madness. Natalie Portman deserves every bit of her Oscar for a very brave and wholly committed performance. There has been much debate about how much of the dancing is her own, but that is mostly irrelevant. All of the acting is hers and she embodies the role. The film is directed by Darren Aronofsky and it has a surprising amount in common with his previous film, The Wrestler. Both films show the physical impact of a chosen profession on the bodies of its practitioners. Both deal with the pain of no longer being able to perform at one’s peak and having to pass the crown to the next generation. The avian imagery in Black Swan is truly unsettling and brings to mind Hitchcock’s The Birds, although here the threat is all from within. It’s a very powerful film and will stay with you for days, whether or not you care one jot about the ballet.