Black Swan

Well, if I needed further proof that critics rarely know what the fuck they're talking about, here's Exhibit X. Black Swan, the latest Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler) film, is a pile of derivative, feverishly-melodramatic drek. It will fill most people's quota for graphic lesbian sex, gratuitous gore and over-the-top silliness, but those desiring quality should look elsewhere.

Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) is a seasoned ballet dancer who yearns for the big time. She lands the lead in a production of Swan Lake, ousting aging prima donna Beth (Winona Ryder) but her director Thomas (Vincent Cassel) fears she doesn't have the passion to play the seductive Black Swan. An additional problem surfaces when talented neophyte Lily (Mila Kunis) catches Thomas's eye, and Nina's success precipitates a rift with her overprotective mother (Barbara Hershey). Finally, Nina goes out of her mind and breaks down, her life becoming intermingled with the character she plays onstage. This not being The Diary of Anne Frank, rest assured this isn't a good thing.

Black Swan is a melange of ideas borrowed from better films. It uses every show biz cliche in existence, with scenes, characters and thematic conceits lifted wholesale from 42nd Street, All About Eve and The Red Shoes: the overly-friendly, scheming neophyte, the demanding director, the interweaving of a performer's life with their character. For some variety and questionable shock value, Aronofsky throws in giallo-esque body horror, weirdo fantasy scenes and some graphic sex. Yawn.

This would be fine had Aronofsky done something interesting with these cliches. After all, there are only so many original ideas under the sun, and a skilled artist can make old elements seem new. Black Swan, however, commits a double sin: not only does it regurgitate bits of other movies, it doesn't even have fun with its material. Everything is in deadly earnest, which is frankly stupid when the story and style is so feverishly overwrought and melodramatic. The sophomoric screenplay supplies mouthfuls of godawful dialogue: "Look how pretty!" says Nina, gaping moronically at a grapefruit. Character development is nonexistent, but to be fair it's hard to develop nonexistent characters to begin with. You can claim it's deliberately campy if you wish, but Aronofsky plays things absolutely straight, resulting in a movie that's nowhere near as fun, clever or dramatically powerful as it thinks it is.

Aronofsky's direction is equally uninspired. A few interesting concepts - Nina transforming into the swan onstage, Nina's mirror-bedecked foyer - are undermined by uninspired camera work, boring blocking and overuse of CGI. Visual ideas pilfered from Dario Argento and Mario Bava flicks (the talking paintings, Nina's mutilation fantasies) come off cheesy and overwrought. It doesn't help that Aronofsky resorts to the most cartoonish symbolism imaginable: ooh, Nina put a black top over her white one! Look her throw her stuffed animals in the garbage! Gag. And what the hell is with the goddamned shaky cam!?! Powell and Pressburger didn't need no shaky cam for their ballet movie!

Natalie Portman is the film's saving grace. Hers is a demanding performance, and Portman manages her character's monstrous personality change and descent into madness, even if the script doesn't. The supporting cast, however, is weak. Vincent Cassel shines in the Anton Walbrook role as the obsessive, sleazy director, but Mila Kunis is a one-note bad girl, Winona Ryder has nothing to do and Barbara Hershey's (The Stunt Man) character is ridiculous.

So yes, Black Swan isn't very good. It's not good horror, it's not good camp and it's not good melodrama. However, it just might make good fertilizer.