The thriller Black Swan shows us that not everything is beautiful at the ballet (which I could have told you for free, incidentally.). The movie is about an up and coming ballet star Nina (Natalie Portman, in full fierce bunhead mode) who has finally been given a starring role - the Swan Queen in a new production of Swan Lake. She is a natural for the White Swan, but can she play the darker, more sensual Black Swan?
Don't be fooled into thinking this is a happy little "a star is born" ballet story. It's a deeply creepy psychological exploration of Nina's increasingly paranoid emotions. As she strives to perfection in the dual Swan role, she feels the heat of competition, with other dancers trying to make it to the top. It's a cutthroat world, you know? Prima Ballerina, Beth, (great cameo by Winona Ryder) has just been pushed into retirement due to her old age. Ballet is a young person's art - although I watched a great profile on NYCB Ballerina Darci Kistle this morning - she just retired from professional dancing with the company - at the age of 46.
Nina grows more and more paranoid by the second, driven to the brink by the arrival of a new dancer Lily (Mila Kunis!! Doing awesomely in her post That 70s Show life! Goooo, Mila!!) who Nina thinks, of course, is out to get her. Incidentally, both of them did a lot of their own dancing, and it works very well. Rodarte designed the tutus, and they are truly fabulous.
Don't sit too close though or the camera action might make you spew. Other than that, totally go and see it.
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