Trailer Tuesday: Black Swan

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You can think of psychological thriller Black Swan as director Darren (Requiem for a Dream) Aronofsky's sister film to his highly acclaimed The Wrestler. It's not so much that the films are thematically similar - the guys in The Wrestler share a supportive brotherly bond; in Black Swan it's all about vicious female rivalry - but if The Wrestler explored the macho, muscled world of pro-wrestling, Black Swan immerses itself in the grace and femininity associated with ballet and ballet companies. For the record, Aronofsky has himself also outlined some similarities between his two films, both of which are about performers who entertain, and express themselves, by pushing their bodies to their physical limits.


Black Swan is gearing up to be one of the must-sees of the American Autumn and Winter movie season - a period typically associated with quality, highbrow cinema after the mindless blockbusters released March through August.

Black Swan stars Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Winona Ryder and Barbara Hershey. As the trailer establishes, the film centres on Nina (Portman), a New York City ballerina, who lives and breathes her art. Years of dedication and sacrifice seem to finally be paying off when Nina is chosen to replace her company's prima ballerina (Ryder). However, almost immediately Nina faces tough competition from new dancer Lily (Kunis), who lacks Nina's effortless grace and perfectionism, but makes up for it in terms of her intuitiveness and blatant sensuality. Suddenly Nina isn't necessarily first choice for the season opening production of Swan Lake, which requires a female lead who can convincingly dance both the "good" white swan and "bad" black swan. Despite the rivalry, a twisted friendship develops between Lily and Nina - while at the same time Nina starts to unravel due to stress, paranoia and the exploration of her dark side.


Black Swan had its world premiere at the 2010 Venice Film Festival last week on 1 September, where it received a standing ovation and heaps of praise. Right now Portman - who, along with Kunis, underwent extensive ballet training for months prior to filming - looks like a forerunner for the Best Actress Oscar at next year's Academy Awards.

I don't watch nearly as many "arty," pedigreed films at the cinema as I should - normally because they're in limited release in South Africa, and only screening at cinemas painfully remote for me. However, I can say now that without doubt I'll be making an effort to see Black Swan, regardless of where it's showing. Some of my favourite movies have been about professional rivalries - Amadeus, The Prestige - and Black Swan seems to be definitely in that cinematic vein.

Also, judging by the trailer, Nina's descent into psychosis will be pretty damn unsettling, if beautifully shot. And I'm always drawn to uncomfortable, unnerving movies! Out of interest, Black Swan has already been compared to Polanski's Repulsion and David Cronenberg's early work. And personally I'm getting a strong The Piano Teacher vibe from it as well.

Black Swan enjoys a limited release in the United States from 1 December. It's unclear when the film will open in South Africa but I'd estimate it to be sometime between February and April 2011, given that's normally the time when awards season heavyweights reach our shores.

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