I’m not a ballet dancer. That’s fairly obvious, especially to anyone who’s ever seen a picture of me. So, there are things about Black Swan that I’m bound to just not understand, the least of which is why anyone would put themselves through that kind of torture. But, I do understand obsession, so I think I grasp the grander theme of it all. Still, after watching the film I was left scratching my head, muttering “I don’t get it?”
Technically, it’s a beautiful film. The dancing, to an untrained eye, is amazing, and it looks phenomenal. Aronofsky’s use of mirrors and reflective surfaces in almost every scene is intriguing, playing on the dual nature Swan Lake itself. And the score, by Clint Mansell, is brilliant. Some of the pieces are taken from Tchaikovsky outright and some are pieces of Swan Lake composed backwards and slightly distorted (something I learned, for sure, not something I actually noticed). Again, playing on the dual/mirror theme of the ballet itself.
But, I was never engaged by the film, or rather, the characters in the film. Nina (Natalie Portman) is so distant and cold that it’s hard to be empathetic towards her. Vincent Cassel’s Thomas (director of the production) never shrugs of the sleaze he’s shrouded with early on. Mila Kunis has flashes of excitement as Lily, but nothing to keep me completely interested in what she was doing or what might happen to her.
But, maybe that’s the point. Maybe it’s a movie about people so far removed from reality that they can no longer function with the slightest bit of normalcy. Or, maybe it’s just a throwback to the more psychological horror films of the late Seventies. Either way, there isn’t enough here for me to praise or condemn. It’s a movie that has obviously found an audience, and I’m glad for it. Directors (and studios) should be rewarded for taking risks, for pushing the envelope. But, in the end I understood Black Swan, I just didn’t get it.
