Movie : Black Swan

Depressing. Confusing. Mental madness.

Well, this is a psychological thriller after all. The theme? Ballet. The backdrop? New York. The issue? The talent to play the Swan Queen in the upcoming 'Swan Lake' production.

It's dark, and deep. And at times, intimately sensual. We get to see the main character here is Nina, a talented ballerina from a prestigious company in New York. Thomas LeRoy, who is producing a new version of the classic and famous Swan Lake, is looking for a new star for the main role, to replace the aging veteran star, Beth. Nina, among others, attended the audition and is selected for the production. But for playing the Swan Queen, it's another story. Thomas thinks that Nina is perfect for the innocent White Swan but lacking the energy for the devious seductress in Black Swan.

So, for those who are unfamiliar with Swan Lake, don't worry, we will be educated about it in the movie. For simplicity, let me just say, a princess is turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer and the only way she can be human again forever is a faithful eternal love. When a prince falls in love with her, the sorcerer sends another disguised as the princess to trick the prince and succeeded, thus, the spell remain unbroken and the swan princess will forever be a swan. The only way to break free is by being dead, so the princess kills herself. There's more to this story but in the movie, it stops at this point. For the story's purpose, the same ballerina should play both swans, that's why the selected ballerina should be able to act for both characters.

Back to the movie, we get to see that Nina has a competitor for this role, Lily. We also can see that Nina has some issues with herself and always having hallucinations, which at times are really scary. She lives with her mother who seems to be overly protective (whether that's the effecting reason of her being 'crazy' or the affect from her being 'crazy', I don't know..). Sometimes, I wonder who has more unstable mind here, Nina or her mother.

Anyway, in the end, after getting the role, dealing with her hallucinations, and being a perfectionist, she masters both roles, especially the Black Swan. But will she able to do it all on the real stage? As her hallucinations becoming more elaborate and real, can she differentiate it from the real world? Can she save herself from ..... herself? We will have all the answers and we will know Nina's level of appreciation for her role in the Swan Lake at the end of the movie.

Deep. Dark. Depressing. Maybe causing a little suffocation..