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     I can't help but feel a little biased about this film. Darren Aronofsky is by far one of my favorite directors working today, and I'd be lying if I said Natalie Portman wasn't one of the best actresses currently in the biz. Shortly following the release of The Fountain, Black Swan was announced, but fell through at Universal so Aronofsky went ahead to create The Wrestler instead. Finally, after several years of budgetary issues, Black Swan has been completed and treated to a limited theatrical release. With all of the film festival buzz and my personal feelings about everyone involved with the project, I couldn't have been more excited to see this film. Thankfully, it lives up to the hype.

     Black Swan is another work of genius to add to Aronofsky's near perfect library. In The Wrestler he developed the idea of personal sacrifice for the creation of art by delving into the world of washed up professional wrestlers, but Black Swan takes this theme into the realm of professional ballet and goes off the deep end with it. Nina (Natalie Portman), a ballerina recently cast as the lead in the ballet, Swan Lake, can't seem to get a grip on either her role as The Swan Queen in the production or as a functioning young professional in day to day life. From the onset it is clear that Nina has some issues with paranoia and obsessive behaviors that have the potential to become a serious concern. Her overbearing, ex-ballerina mother (Barbara Hershey) controls her like an angelic puppet in order to fill the void left from not having her own successful career in dance. As a result of Nina's inability to fully mature, her director, Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel), sees her as the perfect graceful and innocent White Swan, but doesn't know if she can be the cunning and sexual Black Swan that The Swan Queen role requires. After some deliberation, Leroy makes fellow ballerina, Lily (Mila Kunis), Nina's understudy. Nina becomes obsessed with the idea that Lily is trying to replace her, even as they start to develop a precarious friendship. She starts to see horribly disturbing things happening around her that she believes are real. Her schizophrenic transition from her mother's “sweet girl” to the sexually charged Black Swan is an extraordinarily dark and chilling decent.

     The film is an odd bird. It's been described as a psychosexual thriller, and I've found that this description is actually quite accurate. The film prods into the, “What is reality?” realm while following a character desperately trying to find herself in her stage character through sexual means and self reflection. Not coincidentally, the film's set is stuffed with mirrors. Like The Wrestler, Black Swan is filmed with a hand held, often shaky, camera giving the film a very personal feel while adding to the uncomfortable building intensity of the story arc. Aronofsky is known for his ability to pull astounding performances from his actors, and he is no different with Portman. After an entire year of intense ballet training, Portman remarkably deceives the untrained eyes of a non-dancer while taking her character on an emotional roller coaster spanning the entire emotional spectrum over the course of the film. Her performance is nothing short of pure brilliance. Portman's haunting portrayal married with Matthew Libatique's intimate camera work and Aronofsky's twisted vision have coalesce into one hell of an intense thrill ride.

     It's hard to watch Black Swan and not think about the classic ballet film, The Red Shoes, but they stand on the same plain of excellence. Aronofsky has once again created an outstanding, emotionally draining character study, but in a new and interesting way not yet seen from the director. With the film getting so much buzz, its market has expanded resulting in a full US theatrical release, so if Black Swan hasn't graced a theater near you yet, it should be on its way soon. I highly suggest you see it in theaters, as it's not everyday an art house film like this gets the attention it deserves, and it doesn't hurt letting the production companies know you appreciate it by giving them a few of your hard earned dollars. This is one of the years best. Don't hesitate.

--Jordan Smith