Black Swan

Aroview: Natalie Portman plays a ballerina losing her grip on reality, not to mention the lead role in a prestigious production of Swan Lake, in this arresting portrait of female psychosis.

Something of a return to the insidious visuals of dir. Aronofsky’s earlier films, while also extending THE WRESTLER’s focus on the physically and emotionally bruised artist, the movie thrills through its sheer belligerence to dazzle, titillate, and shock. Despite a number of eye gouging performances and the skillful threading of disparate genres (gore, melodrama, performance art), less can be said of its risk-taking, or at least what constitutes risk-taking in Hollywood these days. Needless to say, if REQUIEM OF A DREAM was your idea of a visceral horror vision, this will hold your attention; if not, then you may well find it simplistic, sexist, or crass.

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