Black Swan

Last evening I eventually got the chance to watch The Black Swan by Darren Arnofsky. Keeping the famous ballet theme Swan Lake on the back ground, it was an inward journey through the subconscious of the ballet dancer Nina, unravelling the duality of her persona and self. Arnofsky used a metaphorically rich diction, though a tad clichéd, of mirrors, reflections, and dark and lonely corridors, in his pursuit of revealing the subconscious of a girl, who grew up in an emotionally straight-jacketed environment, under her mother’s overbearing personality. The signs of self doubt and self-destruction were telltale in Nina: the self inflicted wounds, bruised cuticles, the foetal position while sleeping, the frightened eyes, picking the scabs to the point of bleeding. Her choice of lonely corners in corridor while waiting for her turn during rehearsals, her frightened eyes and startles when spoken to, her communication to others without looking into their eyes (rather looking through the reflections) clearly depict her alienation from the environment. She has been denied of the necessary stimuli to reach her adulthood and she still falls into sleep to the lullaby tune of a musical box, and keeps her stuffed toys in her bedroom for company. She has been kept locked in a forced childhood of obedience and so-called innocence by her lonely mother, who always reminds Nina of her necessary sacrifices to rear her. In the process she gets trapped in the superimposed persona of an innocent, good girl, one who is a steadfast perfectionist of the tasks given to her without any question or seeking incentive. That made her excellent in portrayal of the role of the white swan, this being just an extension of her existing self. But when the situation demanded her to play the diametrically opposite image of her well groomed persona, the black swan, an emotional storm broke lose and it shattered her into pieces. The discovery and gradual transformation to the other side of her immaculate self, the discovery of lust and sinful seduction within her own psyche, getting into the skin of the black swan, which culminated into eventual suicide (here also she used a shard of the mirror), or rather the demolition of her literal white swan persona in which she remained trapped for so many years, was the quintessential plot of the movie. Natalie Portman is superb, and her subtle emotional shifts and trips are unparallel, but I just loved the coquettish portrayal of Lilly, the black swan, by Mila Kunis. A wholesome movie that makes you delve into the deeper layers of consciousness and realization.

Hey guys, if you like to watch serious performances, go for the movie. It's the best performance till date by Natalie Portman. The story revolves around a belle dancer who give her every part of her to characterize white swan as well as the evil twin black swan. If you like no nonsense movies, i would prefer you to watch the movie. :)