Darren Aronofsky doesn’t hold back. This comes in strong and continues to whip everything into an increasingly intense frenzy. It’s dazzling and a big risk to stage the entire experience like one unending climax. By the time Black Swan gets to the finale, I’m wrung out, but it’s an exhilarating beating.
The performances match the visuals with melodrama. This doesn’t bother me because the whole film is a waking nightmare. There’s no defining moment you can spot to as the point where Nina (Natalie Portman) has descended in madness or where her nightmares have entered her reality. The film opens with a nightmare and there are horror moments right up front even though she’s clearly still in control.
I like trying to see through Nina’s point-of-view to figure out if Lily (Mila Kunis) really is out to get her because I’m pretty sure all of it is part of the director’s plan to push Nina into being as good a Black Swan as she is a White one. Natalie Portman is very hard to cast correctly, but this is as good as she can be. Perfection, indeed.
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