Darren Aronofsky

-Fox Searchlight

It is called a psycho-sexual thriller, so I admit to laughing a little bit when I saw ladies in their 70s coming into the theater, with their husbands in tow, to see "a ballerina movie".

I'm a big fan of Darren Aronofsky, who expertly directed Requiem for a Dream on a budget of just under $5 million, with Jared Leto (American Psycho, Fight Club) as a heroin addict, along with friends played by Jennifer Connelly (Labyrinth, A Beautiful Mind), and Marlon Wayans (Scary Movie, The Lady Killers), with a sweet-toothed Ellen Burstyn (Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood) in one of the most impressive time-lapse photography sequences in film to date. It showcases some incredible film-making styles, portraying long tracking shots, fast cutting montages, and intense close-ups, all of which seem to have been made for telling stories about high-powered drugs in a messed-up world of gangs and pimps.

Aronofsky's film, The Fountain, with ex-girlfriend Rachel Weisz (The Mummy, Brothers Bloom), and Hugh Jackman (The Wolverine, Australia), is one of my favorites. It's a love story that takes place over a thousand years. It's fragile and sweet and it always leaves me yearning. Aronofsky can spin a story well on screen. Contrary to popular opinion, I was not impressed by The Wrestler, but you can still call me a pretty devoted Aronofsky fan.

I was all too excited to see Black Swan, a story that focuses on an innocent ballerina called Nina, magnified by the beautiful Natalie Portman, who unravels at all her seams while competing against not only other dancers, but herself, for the coveted lead role in a modernist production of Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake."

The supporting cast compliments Natalie Portman's extraordinary performance. A striking Barbara Hershey (Beaches, Falling Down) plays Nina's overbearing but supportive mother. Vincent Cassel (Brotherhood of the Wolf) plays the dance company's director, a french prick called Thomas Leroy. And the sultry Mila Kunis, whom I adore in The Book of Eli, shows another deeper side of her acting abilities and commands the screen in her pivotal, career-turning role as Lily. Winona Ryder may have had a small part in this film, but, as always, she is truly, terrifyingly spectacular.

Aronofsky's directing style is often brutal and uncompromising, I love it. His films are often beautiful, dense, and surreal. He is definitely one of the most hypnotic directors and story-tellers of our time. Teaming up yet again with composer Clint Mansell creating another epic score, setting the mood in Black Swan like a tormented ghost. That right there pretty much describes how I felt after seeing the movie.

ReelHard Score: B-

Content Advisory:
Black Swan is Rated R for strong sexual content, disturbing violent images, language and some drug use.

Sex and Nudity:
One masturbation reference
A woman masturbates, twice.
Heavily implied sexual undertones
Several references to oral sex and sex in general
One somewhat graphic, partially clothed lesbian oral sex scene
One heterosexual sex scene

Gore & Violence:
Ballerina foot/toe injuries
Mother/Daughter arguments/physicality
Various stabbing scenes with copious amounts of blood
The words "fuck" and "cock" are used several times

Drugs & Alcohol :
Cigarette smoking
Ecstasy and Alcohol during a club/rave scene

Other Disturbing Scenes:
Psychological issues
Hallucinations