Movie Talk -- Black Swan (2010)

Under the directorial genius of Darren Aronofsky, Natalie Portman stars as ballerina Nina in Black Swan (2010). The movie is set in contemporary New York City, where Nina dances under domineering Ballet Director Thoma.

Black Swan is a hall of mirrors; everywhere Nina goes, she is confronted with her reflection. There are mirrors all over the apartment she shares with her overbearing Mother.

In the first scene of the movie, Nina dreams of dancing the Swan Queen, the lead role in the Tchaikovsky piece that her ballet studio will be opening their season with. Nina's mother tells her she deserves the role becuz she's

"the most dedicated dancer in the company."

When after a failed audition, Nina goes to Thoma's office to ultimately convince him to give her the role, the mirrors are there too, reflecting them both.

"In 4 years," Thoma says, "every time you dance I see you obsessed getting each and every move perfectly right, but I never see you lose yourself, ever. All the discipline, for what?"

Nina says:

"I just want to be perfect."

On the subway between home and work, Nina often gazes at her foggy reflection in the glass. The way the camera angles play out as Nina leaves the subway station early in the movie speaks volumes visual-poetically about the dancer and the way she approaches her art. First there is a narrow partial gaze up the subway stairwell with sunshine refracting in the lens, as if from a first-person POV. Then the camera cuts to a face-on shot of Nina walking straight toward the camera. Then the shot cuts to the back of her head and shoulders, walking along the sidewalk, her form blocking out much of the surroundings. The vibe I get from the cinematography is of an artist who is very much embodied but also self-enclosed, even constricted.

The movie as a whole has a very tactile quality, with detail shots of Nina cracking her toes as she gets out of bed,for example, or of Nina crunching the toes of her dance shoes in rosin as she prepares for practice.

This quality really becomes emphatic with the various ruptures in Nina's body and especially skin that happen as the movie progresses and she transforms into an embodiment of both the white and the black swans.

The broad sweep of this movie is Nina's simultaneous descent into personal madness and ascent into artistic genius, and how the role of the Swan Queen is the mirror between the two.

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