Black Swan (2010)

Natalie Portman plays Nina, a ballerina who's worked tirelessly to be perfect and who desperately wants to dance lead in Swan Lake. The only thing holding her back is her inability to allow herself to be anything other than perfection...which means that her dancing lacks a danger and looseness the director desires for the role. I'm not a dance fan and the style about which I know the least is probably ballet, but the cinematography of the movie somehow lends its eye to the viewer. I could see how Nina's moves were more sharp than beautiful and I loved the way Portman wore the determination all over her face. The more desperate she became to nail her moves, the more uncomfortable I was.

The story as a whole was disorienting in the best of ways. Tricks that would normally make me nuts -- like a camera spinning around its subject -- were at home here, furthering the vision rather than distracting from it. The final dance, especially, was magnificent. The more I think about what I saw, the more impressed I am.

A-