Black Swan (2010)
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A ballerina's descent into madness as she competes for a lead role in a production of Swan Lake.
The story
The film follows a production of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake by the company of New York City Ballet, led by Artistic Director Thomas Leroy. The production requires a ballerina to play the innocent and fragile White Swan, for which the committed dancer Nina Sayers is a perfect fit, as well as the dark and sensual Black Swan, which are qualities better embodied by the new rival Lily. Nina is overwhelmed by immense pressure when she finds herself competing for the role, causing her to lose her tenuous grip on reality and descend into madness.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Nina Sayers, a dancer with the New York City Ballet, is cast in the dual roles of White Swan and Black Swan for a production of Swan Lake. While she is a perfect fit for the White Swan, she struggles to embody the Black Swan, leading to a rivalry with a newcomer, Lily. As Nina faces intense pressure and begins to experience hallucinations and physical injuries, her grip on reality slips. After a series of escalating incidents, including a physical confrontation with her mother and a mysterious encounter with Lily, Nina becomes convinced she is transforming into the Black Swan. On opening night, after a confrontation with Lily, Nina believes she has killed her rival and takes the stage. She performs flawlessly but realizes she has actually injured herself. The film ends with her performing the final act while blood seeps through her costume, declaring her performance perfect.
- First release year
- 2010
- Runtime (minutes)
- 108
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Darren Aronofsky
- Writers
- Mark Heyman · screenplay; John McLaughlin · screenplay; Andres Heinz · screenplay; Andres Heinz · story
- Cast and characters
- Natalie Portman · Nina Sayers; Vincent Cassel · Thomas Leroy; Mila Kunis · Lily; Barbara Hershey · Erica Sayers; Winona Ryder · Elizabeth "Beth" MacIntyre
- Genres
- psychological horror; thriller
- Themes
- obsession; identity; duality
- Tone and mood
- intense; disturbing; unsettling
- Setting
- New York City, contemporary period.
- Premise and plot tags
- ballet; psychological thriller; doppelgänger
- Source material / true-story basis
- The Understudy
- Reception
- The film received widespread acclaim from critics, with praise toward Aronofsky's direction and the performances of Portman, Kunis, and Hershey. It was also a major commercial success.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 85% · scale: percentage · review count: 318
- Production trivia
- The film was inspired by the notion of being haunted by a double and Dostoevsky's The Double.; Portman and Kunis trained in ballet for several months prior to filming.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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