the black swan: art or artsy?

darren aronofsky’s THE BLACK SWAN is a well-stylized tour de force with natalie portman at its helm. some critics have labeled it as schizophrenic low-camp, while others have praised it as art. both points of view are valid; the two-hour swan song falls into a couple traps on its journey to subconsciously investigate america’s contemporary struggle with identity and self-worth.

aronofsky uses mirrors and reflection at first as a visual motif before they become a cliché part of the film storyline. our protagonist, in a perfect and inspired performance by portman, is required to look at herself often and critically as a ballet dancer. one can imagine she views herself through the perspective of her own mother, a damaged, proud, and lonely individual, and one can safely understand the young ballerina's goals: not to simply dance, but to be recognized for it and gain a role of notoriety in her company. when given the role of the swan queen, we see her begin to explore a newfound identity and acknowledge the existence of her own worth perhaps beyond those of her own mother's goals (she surpasses her mother's own career accomplishments). although this previous act of the movie was necessary to build the audiences vision of aronofsky's nina sayers, the meat of the movie starts here. although nina's personality resists, she ends in succumbing to what is more than a dream role, resulting in her own debatably untimely death.

while the story’s structure is uneven, aronofsky covers this up brilliantly due to expert pacing and story arch placement. one thing remains certain to this audience member: if you don’t mind a crazy trip, you’ll eat up almost every second of this. we are not led to think, “OMG she’s crazy,” and simply leave it at that, but are asked to consider her experience phenomonologically. the result is the best movie experience i’ve had in 2010.