Film - Black Swan

I saw the 11:45 am showing of "Black Swan" today. I'd seen reviews for it earlier this fall in "Wired" and "Rolling Stone" magazines, and watched Natalie Portman talk about it on "Letterman", and I was hoping to go into Boston to see it during it's initial limited release. However, my lack of funds ($7 to park at Alewife, etc...) made it financially unwise. So I waited until after the holidays (and school vacations) for the general release. What a great film.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect, as it had been weeks since I'd read anything about it, but it was a pretty gripping tale. I always enjoy stories that take place in New York City, because it's such a big place, that many films could be 'taking place' at the same time, and the characters would never run into one another. Subways always make me think along those lines, with so many people passing through the tunnels and trains at any given moment, that there is probably an interesting story for each one; yet it is impossible to experience but the tiniest fraction of them.

Anyway, without spoiling anything, It is a tense mix of strong personalities that drives this dark tale. Natalie Portman is amazing in her dual roles of White Swan and Black Swan. At times she is as fragile as a porcelain doll, and at others she shows flashes of steel that demonstrate her growth and maturation underneath the oppressive gaze of a mother (played convincingly by Barbara Hershey) who gave up a similar dream to nurture her daughter's. Mila Kunis embodies the fresh & exuberant face of the hungry ingenue nipping at the heels of the established Portman. Throw in the driven company leader played by Vincent Cassel, who strives to bring out the passion he can sense within Portman, in order to get her to bring her best to the role of the Black Swan. I am pleased that the ending was not given away in the media, for it was unexpected until the last few minutes. For such a gripping story, it was $5.75 well-spent, no question about it.