Black Swan
Academy Award × 1
Rent/Purchase
A committed dancer struggles to maintain her sanity after winning the lead role in a production of Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake."
What critics thought
Aronofsky's psychological thriller won broad critical approval, with Natalie Portman's performance singled out even by detractors, but the film's lurid melodrama and horror-movie excess divided opinion sharply — some found the theatricality thrilling, others found it preposterously overwrought. Professional ballet dancers largely rejected its portrayal of their world as clichéd and exaggerated, adding a real-world dissenting voice to the critical debate.
“it's not entirely satisfying; but it's infused with the director's usual creative brio, and it has a great dark gleaming look”
Kurt Loder·Reason
“It's a mesmerising psychological ride that builds to a gloriously theatrical tragic finale as Nina attempts to deliver the perfect performance.”
Mike Goodridge·Screen Daily
“[Black Swan] is an instant guilty pleasure, a gorgeously shot, visually complex film whose badness is what's so good about it. You might howl at the sheer audacity of mixing mental illness with the body-fatiguing, mind-numbing rigors of ballet, but its lurid imagery and a hellcat competition between two rival dancers is pretty irresistible.”
Kirk Honeycutt·The Hollywood Reporter
“lazy ... featuring every ballet cliche going”
The Guardian
Genres
Drama, Thriller
Cast & Crew
DirectorDarren Aronofsky
StarringNatalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder
ComposerClint Mansell
Black Swan
Academy Award × 1
A committed dancer struggles to maintain her sanity after winning the lead role in a production of Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake."
What critics thought
Aronofsky's psychological thriller won broad critical approval, with Natalie Portman's performance singled out even by detractors, but the film's lurid melodrama and horror-movie excess divided opinion sharply — some found the theatricality thrilling, others found it preposterously overwrought. Professional ballet dancers largely rejected its portrayal of their world as clichéd and exaggerated, adding a real-world dissenting voice to the critical debate.
“it's not entirely satisfying; but it's infused with the director's usual creative brio, and it has a great dark gleaming look”
Kurt Loder·Reason
“It's a mesmerising psychological ride that builds to a gloriously theatrical tragic finale as Nina attempts to deliver the perfect performance.”
Mike Goodridge·Screen Daily
“[Black Swan] is an instant guilty pleasure, a gorgeously shot, visually complex film whose badness is what's so good about it. You might howl at the sheer audacity of mixing mental illness with the body-fatiguing, mind-numbing rigors of ballet, but its lurid imagery and a hellcat competition between two rival dancers is pretty irresistible.”
Kirk Honeycutt·The Hollywood Reporter
“lazy ... featuring every ballet cliche going”
The Guardian
Genres
Drama, Thriller
Cast & Crew
DirectorDarren Aronofsky
StarringNatalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder
ComposerClint Mansell
Rent/Purchase