Black Swan
Film: Black Swan
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Cast: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder
Synopsis: Black Swan follows the story of Nina (Portman), a ballerina in a New York City ballet company whose life, like all those in her profession, is completely consumed with dance.
She lives with her retired ballerina mother Erica (Barbara Hershey) who zealously supports her daughter’s professional ambition. When artistic director Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) decides to replace prima ballerina Beth MacIntyre (Winona Ryder) for the opening production of their new season, Swan Lake, Nina is his first choice.
But Nina has competition: a new dancer, Lily (Kunis), who impresses Leroy as well. Swan Lake requires a dancer who can play both the White Swan with innocence and grace, and the Black Swan, who represents guile and sensuality.
Nina fits the White Swan role perfectly but Lily is the personification of the Black Swan. As the two young dancers expand their rivalry into a twisted friendship, Nina begins to get more in touch with her dark side with a recklessness that threatens to destroy her.
Critics: “A ballet movie so majestically lurid it almost creates its own genre; a backstage melodrama set in a dark hall of mirrors.” - Seattle Times
“Visceral and real even while it's one delirious, phantasmagoric freakout.” - New York Times
“ Surreal and wonderfully twisted.” - Washington City Paper
Awards/Nominations: Black Swan has already has already picked up the gong for Best Movie of the Year at the American Film Institute Awards and the London Film Festival Awards.
It has also been nominated for Best Film at the Independent Spirit Awards, Gotham Independent Film Awards and the Washington D.C. Film Critics Association.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Other Nominees:
Tagged in Golden Globes