I've seen this movie twice now, and although I've enjoyed it both times, I'd be lying if I claimed to fully understand it. Darren Aronofsky has always had a penchant for the abstract - look at π and The Fountain if you want some real head-scratchers - but he's certainly also got some serious chops. If I had to classify this movie, I'd call it a psychological thriller of sorts, which is just right up his alley. In fact, this could be the most Darren Aronofsky movie in Darren Aronofksy's repertoire. It's about a manic-obsessive young woman with a suffocating mother, it has fun with trick photography and nightmarish effects, not everything happening on screen is happening in the real world, and the main character is essentially a were-swan.
But as much as it's an Aronofsky film through and through, the movie itself will always belong to Natalie Portman. Holy shit, did she earn that Oscar. The cast around her is tight and solid - there isn't a weak link in the chain - but I'd posit that Portman gets as much screen time as the rest of the main characters combined. And in a movie fairly light on expository dialogue and background stories - which only adds to the murkiness of the plot, by the way - it's never unclear what's going on in the main character's deranged mind. Well done, Natalie. You've come a long way from being Zach Braff's manic pixie dream girl.
Look into this one if you have the opportunity to do so. Even if the story and thematic content ain't your cup of tea, at least you'll walk away with a deeper respect for ballerinas.
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