BLACK SWAN

BLACK SWAN (Rated R for graphic sexual content, profanity, disturbing & violent images, some drug use):  Although, like "The Red Shoes," it takes us into the backstage lives in a ballet company, it focuses more accurately on one ballerina's horror story with graphic sexual overtones. 

The basic plot is pure, brilliant hokum, made not only acceptable but highly entertaining thanks to the mastery of director Darren Aronofsky, who has returned from a couple of lesser films to shine with "The Wrestler," and now here with an enigmatic script from Mark Heyman, Andrés Heinz & John McLaughlin (based on a story by Heinz).  Add consistently proficient camerawork (much of it hand-held & close up) by Matthew Libatique, clever cutting (pulling the complex material smoothly together) from editor Andrew Weisblum, a blend of Tchaikovsky & original scores from Clint Mansell, Benjamin Millepid's uncomplicated but delicately created choreography, Amy Westcott's ballet costumes (including the Black Swan's frightening veil & metallic crown) - all played against Thérese DePrez's production design - adding up to a fascinating, scary, puzzling tale of a shy, childlike naïf (Natalie Portman) who, controlled by one of those strong-willed mothers (Barbara Hershey), strives laboriously for perfection in her danse career, only to find that achieving it has its price.

>From the start, we discover that not is all well in Nina's mind; she works far too intensely, tends to see (or thinks she sees) frightening people & things, does increasingly serious harm to her body, stands like a man to urinate, lives in the environment of a pink flowered room cluttered with stuffed animals and a music box that plays a tinkly version of Tchaikovsky's familiar music from his "Swan Lake" ballet.  At home or during the grueling ballet workouts, she practices, particularly the fluttering of arms so important as representation of graceful swans.  And she competes.

Nina's seeking of perfection is tantamount to her desire to play both the White Swan and the Black Swan - direct opposites in character - in impresario Vincent Cassel's (Thomas Leroy) modern interpretation of the old classic.  He is willing to drop his prima ballerina & runner-up (Mila Kunis, Winona Ryder) to feature Nina, who is capable with the role of the White Swan, but must develop the ability to portray the Black Swan's disturbing, dark contrast.  "Let yourself go," demands Cassel.  "The only thing in your way is you!" 

Real or imagined, Nina proceeds to work out her inhibitions through, first, masturbation, and then a night of lesbian sex - or does she?  It's never clear.  At any rate, none of it is totally satisfying.  It's still all about the letting go, which she attempts thanks both to her hallucinatory and actual send-off into the premier performance in front of a capacity audience.  It's at that performance that the film plunges headlong, first into what the movie's supposed to be all about, the magnificence of a splendidly staged ballet, coupled with the climactic effect it has on Nina.

While Aronofsky develops brilliantly the personality of the disturbed, obsessive Nina and the effect her obsession wreaks upon her, he surrounds her with a cast of talented, carefully directed actors, all of whom impinge in varying ways upon her descent into madness.  But it is Portman who brings a memorable character to life - her gaunt, all-eyes portrayal, her relatively good ballet movements (revealed mostly from the waist up to avoid revealing whatever lack of talent she may have in the exceedingly difficult foot movements) - all shot with hand-held camera revolving dizzily around her - and her magnetic expressions evolving as she develops from inhibited naïf to effulgent star, is nothing short of Oscar material.

And while one pivotal scene after another lead us toward the concluding moments - each mesmerizing and believable in itelf - the sum of melodramatic scene after scene stretches believability. The pain & dedication that go into the making of a grand ballerina are here, but the accumulating effusiveness pushes drama to an incredulous level, redeemed only by the wonder of a combined cinematic inventiveness - 110-minutes of what marvelous cinematic magic an inspired cast & crew can achieve.  (Grade: A-)