Black Swan!!!

The psychological thriller , 'Black Swan' from director Darren Aronofsky, is a disturbing tale of a young, frigid ballerina named Nina (Natalie Portman) who struggles to become the perfect dancer at a prestigious New York City Ballet Company. When veteran dancer Beth Macintyre (Winona Ryder) decides to retire, Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel), the director of the company must cast his production of 'Swan Lake' with a new Swan Queen. The stress, pressure and anxiety begins to stir when new comer, Lily (Mila Kunis) joins the company. Does Nina's life begin to spiral downward or does she practice til she makes perfect?

If I had one word to classify this film it would be 'insane.' Aronofsky mastered the art of creating a raw, twisted story that unfolds in an alarming way. I enjoyed the film, but I have to admit I still don't know if I thoroughly understood it. It was at times very confusing and hard to follow. The audience learns that Nina is a perfectionist. She strives to be the perfect dancer. She lives with her mother, Erica (Barbara Hershey) who is an ex dancer. She unfortunately had to give up dancing to have Nina. She is very controlling and very protective of Nina.

The characters portrayed in this film are incredible. Natalie Portman was truly remarkable in the role of Nina. She is capable of portraying a sweet, innocent Nina as well as a jealous, malicious Nina. Mila Kunis delivers a fine performance as well, but I definitely wish she had a bigger role. The trailers and previews give the illusion that she has a major role; however her role is quite minor. Major or minor, her performance was great.

The storyline in this film was interesting, but I wish they had explained a whole lot more. There are events that occur throughout the film that leave the audience somewhat bewildered. I love how the story is about ballet, because when I personally think of ballet I think of elegance, high class grace and utter respect. This film, extinguishes a peek inside one elegant dancer's life that is actually a gritty, disturbing piece of art that doesn't personify what I had thought of something as graceful as ballet.

I highly recommend this film to anyone who enjoys Natalie Portman's work. She is absolutely brilliant in it and she deserves recognition. It is a little gory and some scenes are a bit graphic so they are hard to watch and it also contains sexual situations. If you have seen 'Black Swan' share your thoughts but try not to give too much away!!!