I tried to fight it for a while. The pressure, the hype, but eventually I caved. I saw Black Swan (2011). In review, it’s genuinely amazing from start to end. It’ll keep you tight to the edge of your seat for the entire film and shock you so much you’ll be left breathless, or something similarly bereft.
Beautifully shot and brilliantly cast, it’s yet another masterpiece from Darren Aronofki, who’s fast developing the kind of reputation that hasn’t been seen in a director for a while. Every flick of the camera and step of the cast is put together with both precision and abandon mirroring the plot of the film and the story of Swan Lake, in their semi-synonymous form, to the letter.
Natalie Portman is perfect. Literally perfect. Her transformation throughout the film is subtle at first, but soon turns more frenetic building up to the inevitable climax with a command that couldn’t have been predicted from her previous work in Garden State and Star Wars. Closer would be a nearer match, but in Black Swan she has easily gone beyond anything that she has done previously.
She’s become my new favourite actress, especially after hearing her rap on Saturday Night Live. You Tube it, it’s ace.
Black Swan is one of the few films that exceeded the expectations of its hype and has got to be a big shout for an Oscar or two. Mila Kunis and Vincent Cassel are great supports to Natalie Portman’s starring role, making Black Swan a nugget of fractured perfection – cinematically speaking.
Black Swan film review – 5/5
