Black Swan: Movie Review

Ballet is probably considered the highest form of dance as much as the opera is for music. Ballet has that perception that it is high-class, royal and elegant and who could ever doubt that. But still, like all things in life, ballet is still composed of human beings - an imperfect bunch of sentient life that brings more color and complexity in a given setting. "Black Swan" looks to be one dark and psychological film - way different from what we perceive the ballet life is usually. It intrigues us how effective it will be in showing the imperfections in a supposedly perfect form of art. Read on to find out what we think of "Black Swan" after the jump.

Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) has been working hard for years to be the perfect ballerina. One day, Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel), the ballet director, announces that they will have a new production. This will be an interpretation of Swan Lake and will replace the ballet company's current star Beth MacIntyre (Winona Ryder). Nina is short-listed as one of the few who can actually compete for the part of the Swan Queen including newcomer Lily (Mila Kunis). Getting the part of the Swan Queen is no easy task as Thomas expects that the selected ballerina must play both the White Swan and the Black Swan. As Nina struggles to do both parts, the pressure seems to be breaking her perception of what is real and what is not apart.

"Black Swan" just blew our minds away. It is probably one of the most disturbing and most memorable films we have seen in years. It will leave you breathless from the second the film starts and the credits start rolling. What makes "Black Swan" so beautiful is not only the story - which was utterly complex and completely blew us away - but more so on how it was produced. The cinematography and editing brought a mysterious and suspenseful tone all throughout. We have to admit, it was so effective that it became really scary at some point. The acting was as superb as everything in the film. Natalie Portman brought an award-winning performance here while the supporting cast was as good especially Vincent Cassel. "Black Swan" is that rare film that dares to be different and succeeds flawlessly. As the Black Swan in the film, it dares to be passionate and to be free from the bounds of mainstream cinema. It dares to be itself and in this case, it worked.

Rating: 5 reels





Why you should watch it:
- Natalie Portman and the cast was superb
- the story was complex, deep and left us breathless
- the cinematography and production is topnotch making the film really scary

Why you shouldn't watch it:
- might be too dark and disturbing for some people