Black Swan is more than just a mainstream film: it is art disguised as commercial cinema. Based on the 1875 ballet Swan Lake by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, the film is a modern take on the classic story. It centers around the protagonist, Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman), a ballerina who works in a New York City ballet production company that is preparing for its next season with a new interpretation of Swan Lake by the studio’s director, Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel of La Haine, Elizabeth and Ocean’s 12).

Directed by Darren Afronosky (The Wrestler, Requiem for a Dream), the film shows the intense pressure that surrounds a ballet dancer as well as a feeling of being haunted by your understudy; Nina watches how the company’s previous prima ballerina, Beth MacIntyre (Winona Ryder) is replaced by her and she feels threatened by the presence of newcomer, Lily (Mila Kunis), whom she befriends as well. Things aren’t any easier at home as Nina’s mother (Erica Sayers played by Barbara Hershey) is a failed ballerina who harbours an unhealthy obsession with her daughter’s career.

Swan Lake centers around the metaphor of the white swan, the representation of virtue and innocence (the role is ideal for Nina), which is overcome by the black swan, exemplified by passionate sensuality (ideal for Lily). After bagging the lead role of the Swan Queen, Nina begins to hallucinate, which seems representative of her own inward paranoia and transformation as a person. Nina is forced to confront her darker side which begins to make its appearance slowly and gradually throughout the pace of the film until it appears in its absolution in the final scene.

Shot in the vérité style of filmmaking, the Black Swan carries a dark, brooding atmosphere bordering on the fantastical reminiscent of Afronosky’s previous work. The cinematography by Mathew Libatique is stunning, shot in wide-angle and mostly with a hand held camera. Afronosky’s approach to Black Swan was to adapt an unrealized screen play about the idea of being haunted by an understudy (titled The Understudy, originally set on Broadway). The concept came to him after he attended a performance of Swan Lake and interpreted the relationship between the white and black swan as being similar as such.

Black Swan has been nominated for four Golden Globe awards which include Best Picture, Natalie Portman for Best Actress, Mila Kunis for Best Supporting Actress and Darren Afronosky for Best Director. — Madeeha Syed