"I'm perfect"  --  the lead in Swan Lake

     Perfect is a fit word for the sprawling, melodramatic new masterpiece from Darren Aronofsky.  The film is about madness, athletic and artistic rigor, ballet, substance abuse, and all the other obstacles that make it tough to reach the top of the ballet dance scene.

     I must confess my dreams have been haunted by this new film from master filmmaker Aronofsky.  This is a surreal film that, at best, calls to mind Guillermo del Toro's Mimic and Alejandro Jodorowsky's Santa Sangre.  This is a disturbing work about a ballet dancer, Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman), who has from a young age been pulled and prodded to be the best dancer possible -- no matter what the cost.

     The cost is physical injury and worrisome sores...  painful hangnails and itchy, crawly skin.  This endurable pain is compounded by substance use, which makes matters worse.  The popular though problematic illegal drug Ecstasy, which has been used in the past for marriage counseling, makes matters more surreal and unsettling. 

     The story concerns Nina's struggle to be chosen as the lead in Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake.  This is a daunting role that calls for her to be the Swan Queen as well as the evil doppelganger the Black Swan.  There is quite a bit of interest in this role. 

     Nina wins the role in the production and replaces a prima ballerina (Winona Ryder) who is the usual choice for the lead role in all of this company's productions.  Much sourness is endured.  Much champagne is sipped at the party welcoming the Portman character into the ranks of the finest ballet company in New York, and arguably, the world.

     The company's director (Vincent Cassel) is a tough one to please.  He is a blunt director who works quite rigorously at keeping the level of craft at its highest.  The Portman character gets her feelings hurt and perhaps her heart broken in a way by this stern director.  Though creating a lasting work of theater is what keeps her coming back for more.  By the end, she exclaims "I'm perfect." 

     The much-discussed scene of lesbianism in the film is brought on due to the introduction of some Ecstasy smuggled to New York from San Francisco.  The Portman character's understudy (Mila Kunis) tempts her with a tablet that she has concealed in a pack of cigarettes.  The Kunis character says "Have you ever rolled before?"  Rolling is slang for being under the influence of MDMA (Ecstasy).  They dance the night away at a nightclub the night before the big day.  Some dudes hit on them and they both think that the guys are hot.  The two go back to the Portman character's apartment and make love in a haunting scene.

     Barbara Hershey is really fine in the picture and figures heavily as the Portman character's mother who is a tad overbearing and was once a dancer herself.  She bakes a cake for her daughter, who is dieting to make weight, and the ballerina takes a taste from off her finger and then throws the cake in the trash.  The Hershey character just wants what is best for her daughter and disapproves of having company on the night before the ballerina's big day.  Nina opted to try Ecstasy instead of getting restful sleep; it's kind of like needing to rest before a big test. 

     Aronofsky laces his film with dream sequences and the logic of the picture is tantalizing.  This film definitely merits another viewing.  At Telluride, Aronofsky said that the first three minutes symbolize the essence of the film.  "The film deftly balances grace with terror" (Annette Insdorf).        

Tags: Film Review

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