Khunnai likes this movie: Black Swan

I've seen Natalie Portman since she was that little girl in Leon the Professional. I really liked her in Leon, and then in Closer. But I've never seen her so dedicated and committed as she was in Black Swan.

I watched the trailer and I told myself that this is a must see. A psychological thriller about a ballerina, immersing herself into the lead role of a queen swan in the ballet Swan Lake. In the process, she has transformed from innocent to evil, and was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Quite formulaic for this genre, I thought, but anyhow, it looked like my kinda movie.

It was my kinda movie, but it even did exceed my expectation. I wasn't expect it to be this gripping, haunting, and affecting. The style and techniques that the movie employed were to make the audience feel the way the lead role feels. We felt insecure, isolated, fearful, pressured of the unknown territory yet tempting to cross over. I felt the handheld camera technique (which made me nauseous at times), how they intentionally played with black & white (Nina always wore white at the beginning, and the minute she started wearing black, we know she has entered into the other side), the hauntingly effective music score, and the deep, dark hallucinations Nina experienced.

To top that, I thought I knew the formula, and how the story would go and end. The story went the way I thought, but yet, it was still able to create such disturbing but involving feeling. And I felt like I couldn't blink up until the very ending scene.

As for Ms. Portman, she has blossomed into such an established actress. In this movie, she made me believe her with her eyes.. and her entire body, not to mention almost all the ballet sequences that she did herself. But more importantly than the dances, she connected to Nina so deep that we believed in her uptight, self-doubt, fragile white swan side in her, as well as willingly followed her when she warped into that ambitious, self-absorbed, raunchy black swan side. Allow me to use Nina's very own word to compliment Natalie on her role in Black Swan, "I felt it. It was... perfect". Thanks for a wonderful acting, I do hope the Academy reward you with something tomorrow.