Culture

Directed by Arren Aronofsky. Hoyts, Rialto 4/5
Darren Aronofsky, who set back the drug consumption of a generation by several years with Requiem for a Dream, has now turned his camera on ballet in Black Swan. Aronofsky certainly did enough to convince me, with my limited knowledge of the art form, that there’s something seriously messed up with putting dozens of young women on a quest for perfection into a physically and emotionally demanding environment. Early on, we see Nina’s (Natalie Portman) inevitable anorexia dismissed in a single shot of her feet while she throws up in a toilet. It’s just part of her daily routine and she has much bigger issues. She’s just been picked to play the Swan Queen in the most famous ballet of all (Swan Lake), but instead of being her triumph, this becomes a nightmare as the director insists she must change from the innocent mummy’s girl to evil seductress, not just on stage but in real life. When Lily (Mila Kunis) starts appearing everywhere, becoming the real life black swan flying in to steal her dreams, Nina gets caught up in her own Swan Lake-inspired paranoia.
It’s a role basically written for Portman and she responds with a flawless performance, with Kunis a great foil as her would-be friend and nemesis. Guys be warned: the much talked about sexual tension between the two goes hand-in-hand with Nina’s descent into self-destruction. This can be hard to watch at times, with the brutal treatment of fingers and nails being particularly nasty. The ending may not surprise those familiar with Swan Lake, although at many points in the film I was genuinely wondering what was real or fake and where the film was going to take us next. Black Swan isn’t really for ballet fans or those looking for two hot girls making out. It’s a twisted thrill ride, and it’s very good.