The latest film by Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan, offers another psychological odyssey for his main character in which a return to his/her original state has little probability. In the case of Black Swan, it is the journey of Nina Sayers (played incredibly by Natalie Portman. The director of a ballet company based in New York City, Thomas Leroy (played fiendishly well by Vincent Cassels) is directing a new production of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake where the same ballerina will perform the roles of the Odette (the white swan) and Odile (the black swan) instead of using separate dancers. Thus begins the journey of the frail and timid Nina Sayers. Leroy resorts to various measures to coax out the Black in Nina. The use of black and white costuming and set design and production aids brilliantly as the plot moves along; including a glimpse into a room at Leroy's apartment that is decorated in chromatic colors, with a Rorschach inkblot poster for good measure (a little psychological nod to the character and his motive).
Since the film centers around Tchaikovsky's ballet, naturally music plays a key and prominent role throughout the film. We open with Nina alone on stage with a bright white spotlight shining down on her. The music playing is that of the prelude to the ballet, and hence the prelude to her journey. If you are unfamiliar with the ballet, relax. Nina announces this after she wakes from her dream. Not only is the coordination of the music as it appears in the ballet correspond with the function of the film, but the action presented in this brief prelude offers a taste of imagery to come. The best visual component of the film for me was having the cameraman immersed in the dance scenes. And this was not executed using a Steadicam. The camera work is jostling and jerky, but its close proximity to the actors and dancers providers the viewer with a perspective rarely experienced in ballet.
The score by Clint Mansell, who has collaborated with Aronofsky on all of his major motion pictures, uses quotations and borrowings from the ballet to represent the isolation and psychological state of Nina. The isolation is accomplished through the use of a solo piano with brief borrowings from the ballet that either correspond with the swan depicted by Nina or through aligning the plot of the film with that of the ballet. Kudos go to the entire music production crew for using and editing the orchestral performance of the ballet to heighten the psychological journey. There are certain portions of Swan Lake that sound broodish, plaintive, and ominous on their own, but how and where they are incorporated into the film brought new life and energy to them. One scene i particular that was musically and visually striking came when Nina danced the Odile coda requiring the dancer to perform the celebrated 32 consecutive fouettés, as shown here:
At this point in the film, Nina transforms into the Black Swan in spectacular fashion.
Darren Aronofsky comes through with another great journey into a realm where delusion and reality are blurred, and the amazing process of getting there. A Best Director nod is well deserved. Natalie Portman will certainly receive nominations and wins for her performance. And I would like to see some accolades come Vincent Cassels way as well. I highly recommend Black Swan.
