Black Swan puts a dark spin on ballet

When you go to see a movie these days, you usually don’t expect it to make you think. However, this is exactly what Black Swan does. Black Swan is a dark psychological thriller that leaves the mind racing and wanting more.

In the movie, the main character Nina (Natalie Portman) is a naive professional ballerina fighting for the main role in the performance of  Swan Lake. However, when she receives the part, she begins to slowly lose perception of reality in a mesmerizing way. As the pressures to keep the role begin to mount, Nina will do whatever it takes to keep the part, turning to a life of psychodrama and sexcapades.

This movie is a wonderful depiction of what the pressures of perfection can do to both the body and mind. It captivates the audience with the utter realism of the challenges which Nina goes through and also terrifies the viewer with the startling madness that unfolds.

Natalie Portman plays her role magnificently. She moves between the roles of an innocent and fragile girl who wants to make the world proud, to a schizophrenic with elaborate hallucinations flawlessly. Due to Portman’s exhilarating performance, the viewer is able to go deeper into the madness surrounding Nina and see the mental instability behind her life and dreams.

This movie was very tastefully done and represented ballet in way that many had never thought of before. Black Swan shows the viewer the pain and torture that ballet stars endure not only physically to be perfect but mentally as well.

Black Swan is a movie that will not soon be forgotten. It is startling and dark in ways that curve your thought and make you wonder. I would recommend this movie to anyone, even if ballet is not an interest, because the psychology behind it will definitely make it one to talk about.