Black Swan

Black Swan

Directed By: Darren Aronofsky

Written By: Mark Heyman Andres Heinz, John McLaughlin

Produced By: Ari Handel, Scott Franklin, Mike Medavoy, Arnold Messer, Brian Oliver

Cast: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Wiona Ryder

Plot: Nina Sayers (Portman) lands the roll of both the White Swan and the Black Swan in a production of Swan Lake for a prestigous New York Ballet Academy. She starts to feel the stress of the role bearing upon her, and starts to display psycotic symptoms (Hallucinations, paranoia, aggression) she fears that she will not be able to take centre stage in Swan Lake....

I myself, am not a big fan of ballet, but I feel that Black Swan, is probably one of the most intense films I have ever watched. It is a beautiful, dark, twisted fantasy. Natalie Portman is completely gripping as she slowly slides into insanity.

It is wonderfully dark and creepy. Darren Aronofsky does a magnificent job of pulling the audience into Nina's world, making them feel every twist and turn of Nina's mental unstability. We all have our dark sides, and this film shows us how dark some people can be. This is the film that Natalie Portman was born for, this shows her full potential as an actress.

Mila Kunis gives a fantastic performance as the savvy character of Lily. Even though Portman gave an outstanding performance in her role, I feel that Mila Kunis did not recieve enough credit for playing her understudy, after all there would be no sense of paranoia if Kunis wasn't in the film.

However, the film is like a posh version of Fight Club. Set in a reknown Ballet company, rather than a dirty underground ring underneath a bar. But this does not matter, the film is a tour-de-force and deserved all the awards and nominations that it recieved, easily one of the best films over the past year.

Written By Eammon Jacobs