Aronofsky again made a very different film than he did before. This time we follow the beautiful but undesirable ballet dancer Nina (Natalie Portman). Nina is too much focussed on perfection and ‘doing well’, pushed in that direction by her overly protective mother. When the top cheographer Tomas (Vincent Cassel!!) choses her for both major parts in his new Swanlake, Nina has to develop passion to get that part right. Tomas tries the hard way, but Nina is also helped by Lily. That is to say, in the highly competative world of ballet Lily’s intentions are not clear. Because of all the pressure Nina starts to loose her mind giving Aronofsky the room for some gruely scenes. Yes this is the entire story in a nutshell, but when you followed the director, you will know that the atmosphere of the film is the reason to watch it. Regarding that atmosphere I must conclude that “Black Swan” is the least of Aronofsky’s films. There were hardly any gooseflesh scenes. The film is again great, but did not give me the feeling of any of Aronofsky’s other films. Perhaps that is why this film seems to have given the director a new audience. We saw the film in a room full of elderly people, who may see the winks to his earlier films.
