Black Swan

Ballet ranks along with bull fighting as one of the most unnecessary things ever created by human civilization. I don't know anything about ballet. The music is pretty and the dancing is fine, but I can't imagine a more ridiculous reason for people, dancers, to put their bodies through unspeakable torture. But to each his own; for all I know art may be the only thing worth putting your body through that kind of hell. It's absurd, but everything is absurd.

“Black Swan” is about the pressures faced by a young dancer, and how she copes with her perfectionism. This movie is brutal. At first it's hard to read. At first, it seems like it lies somewhere between drama, melodrama, and cheesy "lifetime channel movie" drama. Natalie Portman starts out very shy and slowly the reasons for her inner turmoil surface. As the movie goes on you feel as stressed out as her character. Equally as compelling is Mila Kunis, whose natural charm and funniness can’t be contained. I don't want to spoil anything but I found the ending to be incredible. It zigs and zags in a disturbing way. The whole movie is nauseating, frankly. I had no problem with the arm cutting scene in “127 Hours,” that was nothing compared to this film. At the end I felt like I had ridden a roller coaster, my stomach was upset for a good half hour afterwards. The film deals with obsessive perfectionism very well. It is quite disturbing; more than a few parts reminded me of “Psycho.”

Darren Aronofsky is good but restrained. This film lacks any of the humor or heart of the wrestler, in my opinion a far better movie about a person abusing themselves for entertainment. One of the most amazing things is the soundscape which is full of swan noises, honks and flapping wings, etc, all under the extraordinary music of Swan Lake. For weeks I've heard this movie described on the radio as a "psycho-sexual thriller", whatever the fuck that means. Yeah, it's got sex, and madness, but thrilling? I prefer stomach churning. Still it's an effective movie, and I can't think of a more deserving actress this year when award season rolls around.