Black Swan | A

"I just want to be perfect," whispers a haunting female voice over a music box playing music from Tchaikovsky. Aspiring dancer Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman, V for Vendetta) struggles to distinguish herself in the eyes of ballet director Thomas (Vincent Cassel, Ocean's Thirteen), who is hesitant to cast her as lead ballerina in the company's upcoming recital. Swan Lake, insists Thomas, demands a dancer able to embody both the black and the white swan, both the passionate and the precise. However, Nina's impeccable technique proves her peerless for only half the role. At first, the arrival of free-spirited newcomer Lily (Mila Kunis, That 70's Show) further aggravates Nina in her situation, but in the fight to shed her inhibitions and explore her darker side, Nina realizes Lily is less the competition than the perfect companion. The transformation from the White to Black Swan comes painfully and at great cost, but Nina gradually overcomes her ambivalence in pursuit of perfection.

Like its central subject of ballet, Black Swan is a spectacle completely focused on the performance of its female lead — a role Portman plays beautifully. Nina's tortured psyche is an imploding structure, made threatening by the immersive experience delivered by deliberate writing, sound-editing and cinematography. Of course, playing the part of Nina — both highly skilled ballet dancer and complex psychological character — could not come easily. Portman began training a year ahead of filming to dance the part, and it shows — at least to an untrained eye. No plié or pirouette betrays her persona, which is a remarkable feat considering the difficulty of ballet and the fact that she performs almost all of the choreography herself. Aside from the dancing, Portman's portrayal of Nina at all stages of her terrifying transfiguration leaves nothing left to desire.

Black Swan is not, by any measure, an easy movie to sit through; certain scenes, motifs and sounds will make you squirm, wince or cringe. The discomfort is a device designed to coerce the viewer into experiencing instead of sympathizing. Its persistent application effectively forces the viewer into her pointe ballet shoes, rendering most discussions concerning reality versus fantasy moot. In other words, pinpointing which events are real and which are imagined is utterly pointless, because the blurry line in between is the point.

Dark, disturbing and detailed, Aronofsky's latest macabre creation is a highly worked narrative brought to life by Portman showcasing a new height of acting prowess. Aronofsky's auteur directing style will never be for everyone, but the rate at which he develops his craft virtually ensures his place as one of the influential directors in contemporary American cinema.