A long way from “Star Wars,” Natalie the Union Square. Portman battles inner demons and Mila Kunis, who plays her dance rival — and make-out partner. (
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Natalie Portman in “Black Swan.” (AP)
I’ve given four stars, our highest rating, to four other movies this year. The one I’d most gladly watch again — I’ve seen it three times — is Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan,” a delirious fever-dream of a psychosexual thriller starring Natalie Portman as a ballerina descending into madness in far and away the best performance of the year.
This eye-popping, inspired and often-demented (in a good way) cross between “The Red Shoes” and “All About Eve” channels horror maestros David Cronenberg, Brian De Palma and Dario Argento. It’s also something of a companion piece to Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler” (the unsettling ending is very similar) but far surpasses the earlier film.
“Black Swan” is probably not, however, for nitpickers unwilling to set aside questions of plausibility and immerse themselves in an experience that’s often uncomfortable by design.
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Much of the action takes place in the fevered imagination of Nina (Portman), a neurasthenic 20-something dancer with a thinly disguised version of the New York City Ballet. She begins going to pieces when, much to her surprise and terror, she lands the lead in a “re-imagined” production of “Swan Lake.”
It’s a perfect storm of disaster for the self-mutilating and cripplingly insecure Nina, who lives with her infantalizing single mother, a failed ballerina (Barbara Hershey), in a claustrophobic Upper West Side apartment full of stuffed animals.
Magnifying Nina’s neuroses is Thomas (French actor Vincent Cassel) the company’s imperious and lecherous dance director, who repeatedly expresses doubt about her ability to play the more challenging part of ballet’s dual role — The Black Swan, who tricks the prince into thinking she’s The White Swan.
Thomas encourages Nina to explore her sexuality — preferably with him — to “loosen up.”
This does not sit well with Beth (Winona Ryder), Thomas’ aging lover and prima ballerina who he’s pushing into retirement. Thomas helpfully suggests to Nina that Beth’s self-destructive streak makes her work onstage more interesting.
The greatest threat to Nina’s sanity by far is Lily (Mila Kunis), a sexy, hard-partying newcomer to the company whom Thomas installs as Nina’s understudy. Nina quickly becomes convinced Lily is angling for her job.
In the movie’s most talked-about scene, the two have some steamy girl-on-girl action after Lily gets Nina drunk and drugged the night before a dress rehearsal.
Or is it all a fantasy going on inside Nina’s increasingly paranoid head? Either way, this is one ballet movie that women won’t have trouble getting their guys to attend — even if a lot of it is about women’s issues with aging.
Cassel, Kunis, Hershey and Ryder are all terrific in the year’s best-cast movie. The huge triumph, though, is Portman, a prohibitive favorite for the Best Actress Oscar for her dazzling tour-de-force as the skeletal and tortured Nina.
Director Aronofsky triumphs in a high-wire act. He skirts ludicrousness by balancing some truly creepy, bloody stuff with some stunningly beautiful ballet sequences enhanced by digital effects. Aronofsky is abetted by Matthew Libatique’s cinematography and the choreography by Benjamin Millepied (Portman’s real-life boyfriend, who also plays the hunky “Swan Lake” prince in the movie).
“Black Swan,” which re-purposes (and sometimes remixes) Tchaikovsky’s immortal music to truly striking effect, is my favorite film of the year. Go see it already.
(By the way, my other four-star movies are “Inception,” “The Social Network,” “127 Hours” and “The King’s Speech.”)