Black Swan is about a dancer named Nina (Natalie Portman) who has already cracked under pressure. We don't know when and we don't know where she finally snapped, but the damage had long been accomplished by the time the movie starts. Nina's whole life is ballet. She is the object of perfection, almost like a Snow White complex. Nina is up for the lead in Swan Lake, where the dual roles of perfect, virginal angel, and the black clad seducteress are the headlining attractions. Nina is made for the White Swan, but can she let herself going playing the Black Swan, a completly different charachter and psyche. It's this metamorphisis that brings to mind the old adage "life immitating art".
As I said in the beginning, Nina was already unstable as she deals with psychological issues and being full of paranoia throughout the film. What Black Swan represents is the aftermath after breaking, the abyss in which people swim when they hit the bottom. Here fate was sealed before the studio moniker comes up. That's what is so sad about it.
Natalie Portman deserved her Oscar for this film, hands down. A mesmerizing performance that takes us into Nina's world of trying to balance the two personalities that she must become to be a success. Portman is the key ingredient in this film.
While watching this I was struck by how similar the story compares to Darren Aronofsky's other masterpiece The Wrestler. Both feature two people on the verge in their careers, although when is at the end while the other is at the beginning and the idea that they are willing to self destruct to reach their goals. Aronofsky has created another great film that explores the yearning of the soul and the lengths one will go to succeed in their life.
