With films like “Pi,” “Requiem for a Dream” and “The Fountain” under his belt, Darren Aronofsky has a penchant for the dark and the strange. His latest movie, “Black Swan,” looks like his signature style at its best.
“Black Swan” is the twisted tale of Nina (Natalie Portman), a New York-based ballerina who has given her life to her craft thanks to her passion for dance and the pressures of her overbearing mother (Barbara Hershey). When her company’s artistic director (Vincent Cassel) replaces the prima ballerina (Wynona Rider) in a production of “Swan Lake,” he offers Nina the lead.
The lead dancer must play the pure White Swan and the sultry Black Swan, and while Nina fits the former, a new dancer named Lily (Mila Kunis) is perfect for the latter. Nina and Lily’s rivalry spirals into a strange and perplexing relationship, one that unleashes a much darker side of Nina that threatens to consume her.
In the midst of box office schlock like “Prince of Persia” and “The Last Airbender,” it’s films like “Black Swan” that remind me why movies are such intriguing things. Based on the trailer, I have absolutely no idea where the story is going to go, and that’s exactly why I like it. The glimpses we get of Portman’s and Kunis’ performances look promising, and Oscar buzz is undoubtedly in this movie’s future.
“Black Swan” is set for a Dec. 1 release.
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Yeah this movie does look dark and interesting. From what I can tell, it does look like they both did enough work to be believable as ballet stars and the dark twistewd nature of the story and their relationship does look interesting…