The highly hyped Black Swan, starring Natalie Portman as Nina Sayers, is psychologically focused look into an overworked and unstable ballet dancer. As themes and setting are established in the early moments of the film, the ballet is a bit constricting, only appealing to fans of dancing. But that didn’t last too long. Suffering from some unspecified mental problem, events in Sayers’ life soon become supernatural as the pressure of her role in the ballet builds.
What also builds is Portman’s eerie performance. With help from a frenzied script, she sneaks into the audience’s minds garnering feelings from pity to disgust and even envy at times. The character is so sheltered that there is a feeling of claustrophobia and suffocation that keeps the viewer’s attention, whether they want to give it or not. Even with the support of the less deranged supporting cast, Black Swan is painful to watch because of the shear terror Portman portrays with her character. It doesn’t hurt that the whole saga takes place in a very accurate New York City backdrop. Even with the countless people, the lead constantly finds herself in empty spaces, which often leads to a spooky event and gasps from the audience.
The frequent use of hand held camerawork and shaky close-ups add more discomfort, but give a contemporary feel to the film. Building with the plot, the film’s dramatic ending is all over the place, from a cinematic standpoint, yet is still easy to follow. The final success and definitely the most pronounced of the film is the lasting psychological effect Black Swan has on the audience. After tons of creepy/scary scenes, the ending is sudden and abstract. I found it hard to leave the theater when the credits rolled. In addition to the knot in my stomach, I had an unnerving feeling that was difficult to pinpoint. I do tend to avoid horror films, but I can easily say this was the scariest movie I saw in 2010. (9.3 out of 10)
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