Black Swan (film)
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''Black Swan'' is a 2010 American
psychological horror Psychological horror is a genre, subgenre of horror fiction, horror and psychological fiction with a particular focus on mental, emotional, and Mental state, psychological states to frighten, disturb, or unsettle its audience. The subgenre freque ...
film directed by
Darren Aronofsky Darren Aronofsky (born February 12, 1969) is an American Filmmaking, filmmaker. His films are noted for their surreal, dramatic, and often disturbing elements, frequently in the form of psychological realism. His accolades include a Golden Lion ...
from a screenplay by Mark Heyman, John McLaughlin, and Andres Heinz, based on a story by Heinz. The film stars
Natalie Portman Natalie Hershlag{{efn, Some Hebrew sources claim that her birth name was "Neta-Lee Hershleg" ({{langx, he, נטע-לי הרשלג) and later, her first name was Americanized to "Natalie". {{Cite news , last=Shamir , first=Oron , date=August ...
in the lead role, with
Vincent Cassel Vincent Cassel (; ; born 23 November 1966) is a French actor. He has earned a César Awards, César Award and a Canadian Screen Awards, Canadian Screen Award as well as nominations for a European Film Awards, European Film Award and a Screen Ac ...
, Mila Kunis,
Barbara Hershey Barbara Lynn Herzstein, better known as Barbara Hershey (born February 5, 1948), is an American actress. In a career spanning more than 50 years, she has played a variety of roles on television and in cinema in several genres, including Wester ...
, and
Winona Ryder Winona Laura Horowitz (born ), known professionally as Winona Ryder, is an American actress. Having come to attention playing quirky characters in the late 1980s, she achieved success with her more dramatic performances in the 1990s. Ryder's L ...
in supporting roles. The plot revolves around a production of
Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular ...
's ''
Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoje ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, links=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failu ...
'' by the company of
New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company's fir ...
. The production requires a ballerina to play the innocent and fragile White Swan, for which the committed dancer Nina Sayers (Portman) is a perfect fit, as well as the dark and sensual Black Swan, which are qualities better embodied by the new rival Lily (Kunis). Nina is overwhelmed by a feeling of immense pressure when she finds herself competing for the role, causing her to lose her tenuous grip on reality and descend into madness. Aronofsky conceived the premise by connecting his viewings of a production of ''Swan Lake'' with an unrealized screenplay about understudies and the notion of being haunted by a double, similar to the folklore surrounding doppelgängers. Aronofsky cites
Fyodor Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian and world literature, and many of his works are considered highly influent ...
's '' The Double'' as another inspiration for the film. Aronofsky also considered ''Black Swan'' a companion piece to his film '' The Wrestler'' (2008), with both films revolving around demanding performances for different kinds of art. He and Portman first discussed the project in 2000, and after a brief attachment to
Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...
, ''Black Swan'' was produced in New York City in 2009 by
Fox Searchlight Pictures Searchlight Pictures, Inc., formerly known as Fox Searchlight Pictures, is an American arthouse film production and distribution company, which since 2019 is owned by Walt Disney Studios, a division of the Disney Entertainment segment of the ...
. Portman and Kunis trained in ballet for several months prior to filming. ''Black Swan'' premiered at the 67th Venice International Film Festival on September 1, 2010, and had a
limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few cinemas across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...
in the United States starting on December 3, before opening in
wide release In the motion picture industry, a wide release (short for nationwide release) is a film playing at the same time at cinemas in most markets across a country. This is in contrast to the formerly common practice of a roadshow theatrical release in ...
on December 17. Upon release, the film received positive reviews from critics, with praise toward Aronofsky's direction and the performances of Portman, Kunis, and Hershey. It also emerged as a major commercial success at the box-office, grossing $329 million worldwide on a $13 million budget. The film received five nominations at the 83rd Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director (Aronofsky), with Portman winning Best Actress; it also received four nominations at the 68th Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture – Drama and Best Director (Aronofsky), with Portman winning Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama. In 2021, Portman's performance was included in ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
''s list of the best film performances of the 21st century.


Plot

Nina Sayers, a young dancer with the
New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company's fir ...
, lives with her overprotective mother, Erica, a former
ballerina A ballet dancer is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet. They rely on years of extensive training and proper technique to become a part of a professional ballet company. Ballet dancer ...
. The company is opening the season with
Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular ...
's ''
Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoje ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, links=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failu ...
''. After forcing the current prima ballerina, Beth, into retirement,
artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogu ...
Thomas Leroy announces he is looking for a new dancer for the
dual role A dual role (also known as a double role) refers to one actor playing two roles in a single production. Dual roles (or a larger number of roles for an actor) may be deliberately written into a script, or may instead be a choice made during produc ...
s of the innocent and fragile White Swan, Odette, and the sensual and dark Black Swan, Odile. Nina
audition An audition is a sample performance by an actor, singer, musician, dancer or other performer. It typically involves the performer displaying their talent through a previously memorized and rehearsed solo piece or by performing a work or piece gi ...
s and gives a flawless performance as Odette, but fails to embody Odile, causing Thomas to dismiss her. The next day, Nina asks Thomas to reconsider. He forcibly kisses her and she bites him and runs out of his office. Later, Nina is surprised to find she has received the lead role. At a
gala Gala may refer to: Music * ''Gala'' (album), a 1990 album by the English alternative rock band Lush * Gala (singer), Italian singer and songwriter *'' Gala – The Collection'', a 2016 album by Sarah Brightman * GALA Choruses, an association of ...
celebrating the new season, an intoxicated Beth publicly accuses Nina of providing sexual favors to Thomas in return for the role. The next day, Nina hears Beth had been hit by a car; Thomas believes she was attempting
suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...
. Nina visits Beth in the hospital and is distraught to see her injured legs; it is clear she will never dance again. During rehearsals, Thomas tells Nina to observe a newcomer, Lily, who has a physical resemblance to Nina but also an uninhibited quality Nina lacks. Nina has
hallucinations A hallucination is a perception in the absence of an external stimulus that has the compelling sense of reality. They are distinguishable from several related phenomena, such as dreaming ( REM sleep), which does not involve wakefulness; pse ...
and finds scratch marks on her back. One night, despite Erica's objections, Nina accepts Lily's invitation to go out for drinks. Lily offers Nina an ecstasy capsule, which Nina reluctantly accepts. While intoxicated, Nina flirts with men at the bar and Lily as well. After the two dance at a
nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...
, they go back to Nina's apartment and have sex. The next morning, Nina wakes up disoriented and alone and realizes that she is late for rehearsal. At rehearsal, Nina sees Lily dancing as Odile and confronts her about their sexual encounter. Lily denies that it happened and mocks Nina for fantasizing about her. Nina becomes convinced Lily intends to replace her, especially after learning that Thomas has made Lily her alternate. Nina's mysterious injuries and hallucinations grow more severe, leading to an incident where she believes she is transforming into Odile. Erica grows concerned about her well-being and attempts to prevent Nina from performing on opening night. After a physical confrontation with her mother, Nina arrives at the theater, where she finds Lily preparing to take the stage as Odette because Nina has been absent. Nina convinces Thomas to allow her to take back her role. Towards the end of the ballet's second act, Nina is distracted by a hallucination and loses her balance during a lift, causing Prince Siegfried to drop her, infuriating Thomas. Nina returns to her dressing room and finds Lily preparing to play Odile. She confronts her and Lily appears to transform into a
doppelgänger A doppelgänger ( ), sometimes spelled doppelgaenger or doppelganger, is a ghostly double of a living person, especially one that haunts its own fleshly counterpart. In fiction and mythology, a doppelgänger is often portrayed as a ghostly or p ...
of Nina. The two fight, breaking a mirror. Nina stabs her doppelgänger with a shard of glass, killing her and breaking the illusion. Nina hides Lily's body and takes the stage. She dances flawlessly as Odile and seemingly begins to turn into a black swan, her arms covered in feathers. Amidst a standing ovation from the audience, Nina surprises Thomas with a passionate kiss. In her dressing room, Nina resumes the Odette tutu and white swan makeup, but is interrupted by Lily, who congratulates Nina for her performance. Nina sees the mirror is still broken, but all other evidence of the stabbing is gone, including the body. She looks down and pulls a piece of glass from her abdomen, realizing she stabbed herself and not Lily. Despite her injury, she dances the final act of the ballet with blood gradually seeping through her costume. The show ends with her jumping from the set onto a hidden mattress to simulate Odette throwing herself off a cliff. Everyone erupts in thunderous applause while Thomas, Lily, and the other dancers gather to congratulate Nina backstage. Thomas eventually realizes Nina is bleeding and shouts for help, asking Nina what happened. Nina calmly replies: "I felt it. It was perfect. I was perfect," as the screen fades to white.


Cast

During the closing credits, the major cast members are credited both as their film characters as well as their corresponding characters from ''
Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoje ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, links=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failu ...
''. *
Natalie Portman Natalie Hershlag{{efn, Some Hebrew sources claim that her birth name was "Neta-Lee Hershleg" ({{langx, he, נטע-לי הרשלג) and later, her first name was Americanized to "Natalie". {{Cite news , last=Shamir , first=Oron , date=August ...
as Nina Sayers / White Swan / Odette, a ballerina for the NYC ballet who strives for perfection while struggling with stress and various traumatic issues * Mila Kunis as Lily / Black Swan / Odile, an experienced ballerina transferred to the company and seen as a threat to Nina *
Vincent Cassel Vincent Cassel (; ; born 23 November 1966) is a French actor. He has earned a César Awards, César Award and a Canadian Screen Awards, Canadian Screen Award as well as nominations for a European Film Awards, European Film Award and a Screen Ac ...
as Thomas Leroy / The Gentleman, the sexual crazed Artistic Director *
Barbara Hershey Barbara Lynn Herzstein, better known as Barbara Hershey (born February 5, 1948), is an American actress. In a career spanning more than 50 years, she has played a variety of roles on television and in cinema in several genres, including Wester ...
as Erica Sayers / The Queen, Nina's overprotective mother and a retired ballerina *
Winona Ryder Winona Laura Horowitz (born ), known professionally as Winona Ryder, is an American actress. Having come to attention playing quirky characters in the late 1980s, she achieved success with her more dramatic performances in the 1990s. Ryder's L ...
as Elizabeth "Beth" MacIntyre / The Dying Swan, a star prima ballerina who was forced into retirement *
Benjamin Millepied Benjamin Millepied (; born 10 June 1977) is a French dancer and choreographer, who has lived and worked in the United States since joining the New York City Ballet in 1995, where he became a soloist in 1998 and a principal in 2002. He has als ...
as David Moreau / Prince Siegfried, Nina's dance partner * Ksenia Solo as Veronica / Little Swan, a ballerina who was originally Thomas's first pick for the lead in Swan Lake * Kristina Anapau as Galina / Little Swan * Janet Montgomery as Madeline / Little Swan * Sebastian Stan as Andrew / Suitor * Toby Hemingway as Tom / Suitor * Sergio Torrado as Sergio / Von Rothbart *
Mark Margolis Mark Margolis (, ; November 26, 1939 – August 3, 2023) was an American actor known for his portrayal of the character Hector Salamanca in ''Breaking Bad'' (2009–2011) and '' Better Call Saul'' (2016–2022). His performance in ''Breaking Ba ...
as Mr. Fithian / Patron * Tina Sloan as Mrs. Fithian / Patron


Production


Conception

Darren Aronofsky Darren Aronofsky (born February 12, 1969) is an American Filmmaking, filmmaker. His films are noted for their surreal, dramatic, and often disturbing elements, frequently in the form of psychological realism. His accolades include a Golden Lion ...
first became interested in ballet when his sister studied dance at the High School of Performing Arts in New York City. The basic idea for the film started when he hired screenwriters to rework a screenplay called ''The Understudy'', which portrayed
off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
actors and explored the notion of being haunted by a double. Aronofsky said the screenplay had elements of ''
All About Eve ''All About Eve'' is a 1950 American Drama (film and television), drama film written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. It is based on the 1946 short story (and subsequent 1949 radio drama) "The Wisdom of E ...
'' (1950),
Roman Polanski Raymond Roman Thierry Polański (; born 18 August 1933) is a Polish and French filmmaker and actor. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Roman Polanski, numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, three Britis ...
's ''
The Tenant ''The Tenant'' () is a 1976 French psychological horror thriller film directed by Roman Polanski from a screenplay he co-wrote with Gérard Brach, based on the 1964 novel of the same name by Roland Topor. The film stars Polanski, Isabelle Adj ...
'' (1976), and
Fyodor Dostoyevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian literature, Russian and world literature, and many of his works are consider ...
's novella '' The Double''. The director had also seen numerous productions of ''Swan Lake'', and he connected the duality of the White Swan and the Black Swan to the script. When researching for the production of ''Black Swan'', Aronofsky found ballet to be "a very insular world" whose dancers were "not impressed by movies". Regardless, the director found active and inactive dancers to share their experiences with him. He also stood backstage to see the
Bolshoi Ballet The Bolshoi Ballet is an internationally renowned classical ballet company based at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russia. Founded in 1776, the Bolshoi is among the world's oldest Ballet company, ballet companies. In the early 20th century, it ca ...
perform at the
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5  ...
. Aronofsky called ''Black Swan'' a companion piece to his previous film ''The Wrestler'', recalling one of his early projects about a love affair between a wrestler and a ballerina. He eventually separated the wrestling and the ballet worlds as "too much for one movie". He compared the two films: "Wrestling some consider the lowest art—if they would even call it art—and ballet some people consider the highest art. But what was amazing to me was how similar the performers in both of these worlds are. They both make incredible use of their bodies to express themselves." About the psychological thriller nature of ''Black Swan'', actress Natalie Portman compared the film's tone to Polanski's 1968 film '' Rosemary's Baby'', while Aronofsky said Polanski's '' Repulsion'' (1965) and ''The Tenant'' (1976) were "big influences" on the final film. Actor Vincent Cassel also compared ''Black Swan'' to Polanski's early works and additionally compared it to David Cronenberg's early works.


Casting

Aronofsky first discussed with Portman the possibility of a ballet film in 2000, and he found she was interested in playing a ballet dancer. Portman explained being part of ''Black Swan'', "I'm trying to find roles that demand more adulthood from me because you can get stuck in a very awful cute cycle as a woman in film, especially being such a small person." Portman suggested to Aronofsky that her good friend Mila Kunis would be perfect for the role. Kunis contrasted Lily with Nina, "My character is very loose ... She's not as technically good as Natalie's character, but she has more passion, naturally. That's what inalacks." The female characters are directed in the ''Swan Lake'' production by Thomas Leroy, played by Cassel. He compared his character to
George Balanchine George Balanchine (; Various sources: * * * * born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze;, Romanization of Georgian, : April 30, 1983) was a Georgian-American ballet choreographer, recognized as one of the most influential choreographers ...
, who co-founded
New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company's fir ...
and was "a control freak, a true artist using sexuality to direct his dancers". Portman and Kunis started training six months before the start of filming in order to attain a body type and muscle tone more similar to those of professional dancers. Portman worked out for five hours a day, doing ballet, cross-training, and swimming. A few months closer to filming, she began choreography training. Kunis engaged in cardio and Pilates, "train ngseven days a week, five hours, for five, six months total, and ... was put on a very strict diet of 1,200 calories a day." She lost from her normal weight of about , and reported that Portman "became smaller than I did." Kunis said, "I did ballet as a kid like every other kid does ballet. You wear a tutu and you stand on stage and you look cute and twirl. But this is very different because you can't fake it. You can't just stay in there and like pretend you know what you're doing. Your whole body has to be structured differently." Georgina Parkinson, a ballet mistress from the
American Ballet Theatre American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is a classical ballet company based in New York City. Founded in 1939 by Lucia Chase and Richard Pleasant. Through 2019, it had an annual eight-week season at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center) in the spr ...
(ABT), coached the actors in ballet. ABT soloists Sarah Lane and María Riccetto served as "dance doubles" for Portman and Kunis, respectively. Dancer Kimberly Prosa also served as a double for Portman. She stated: "Natalie took class, she studied for several months, from the waist up is her. Sarah Lane, a soloist at ABT, did the heavy tricks, she did the fouettés, but they only had her for a limited time, a couple of weeks, so I did the rest of whatever dance shots they needed." In addition to the soloist performances, members of the Pennsylvania Ballet were cast as the
corps de ballet In ballet, the ''corps de ballet'' (; French language, French for "body of the little dance") is the group of ballet dancer, dancers who are not principal dancers or Soloist (ballet), soloists. They are a permanent part of the ballet company and ...
, backdrop for the main actors' performances. Also appearing in the film are Kristina Anapau, Toby Hemingway, Sebastian Stan, and Janet Montgomery.


Development and filming

Aronofsky and Portman first discussed a ballet film in 2000, after the release of ''Requiem for a Dream'', though the script had not yet been written. He told her about a love scene between competing ballet dancers, and Portman recalled, "I thought that was very interesting because this film is in so many ways an exploration of an artist's ego and that narcissistic sort of attraction to yourself and also repulsion with yourself." On the decade's wait before production, she said, "The fact that I had spent so much time with the idea ... allowed it to marinate a little before we shot." The screenplay ''The Understudy'' was written by Andres Heinz; Aronofsky first heard about it while editing his second film '' Requiem for a Dream'' (2000) and described it as "''All About Eve'' with a double, set in the off-Broadway world." After making '' The Fountain'' (2006), Aronofsky and producer
Mike Medavoy Morris Mike Medavoy (born January 21, 1941) is an American film producer and business executive. He co-founded Orion Pictures and currently serves as chairman and CEO of Phoenix Pictures. He previously held leadership roles at TriStar Pictures a ...
had screenwriter John McLaughlin rewrite ''The Understudy''; Aronofsky said McLaughlin "took my idea of ''Swan Lake'' and the ballet and put he storyinto the ballet world and changed the title to ''Black Swan''." When Aronofsky proposed a detailed outline of ''Black Swan'' to
Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...
, the studio decided to fast-track development of the project in January 2007. The project "sort of died, again" according to Aronofsky, until after the making of '' The Wrestler'' (2008), when he had Mark Heyman, director of development of Aronofsky's production company Protozoa Pictures, write for ''Black Swan'' "and made it something that was workable." By June 2009, Universal had placed the project in turnaround, generating attention from other studios and specialty divisions, particularly with actress Portman attached to star. ''Black Swan'' began development under Protozoa Pictures and Overnight Productions, the latter financing the film. In July 2009, Kunis was cast. Fox Searchlight Pictures distributed ''Black Swan'' and gave the film a production budget of $10–12 million. Principal photography was achieved using Super 16 mm cameras and began in New York City toward the end of 2009. Part of filming took place at the Performing Arts Center at
State University of New York at Purchase The State University of New York at Purchase, commonly referred to as Purchase College or SUNY Purchase, is a public liberal arts college in Purchase, New York. Established in 1967 by Governor Nelson Rockefeller, SUNY Purchase is one of 13 compr ...
. Aronofsky filmed ''Black Swan'' with a muted palette and a grainy style, which he intended to be similar to ''The Wrestler''. Aronofsky said: Cinematographer Matthew Libatique shot the film on
16 mm film 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical Film gauge, gauge of Photographic film, film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 mm film, 8 mm and 35mm movie film, 35 mm. It ...
.


Musical soundtrack

The non-original music featured in ''Black Swan'' consists of music by
Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular ...
featuring performances on-screen and in the soundtrack by violinist Tim Fain and a track of
electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...
dance music by English production duo
The Chemical Brothers The Chemical Brothers are an English electronic music duo formed by Ed Simons and Tom Rowlands in Manchester in 1992. They were pioneers in bringing the big beat genre to the forefront of pop culture. Originally known as The Dust Brothers, th ...
. It marks the fifth consecutive collaboration between Aronofsky and English composer Clint Mansell, who composed the original score for the film. Mansell attempted to score the film based on Tchaikovsky's ballet but with radical changes to the music. Because of the use of Tchaikovsky's music, the score was deemed ineligible to be entered into the 2010 Academy Awards for Best Original Score. The Chemical Brothers' music, which is featured prominently during the club scene in ''Black Swan'', is omitted from the soundtrack album.


Release

''Black Swan'' had its world premiere as the opening film at the 67th Venice Film Festival on September 1, 2010. It received a standing ovation whose length '' Variety'' said made it "one of the strongest Venice openers in recent memory". The festival's artistic director Marco Mueller had chosen ''Black Swan'' over '' The American'' (starring
George Clooney George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor, filmmaker, and philanthropist. Known for his leading man roles on screen in both blockbuster and independent films, Clooney has received numerous accolades, including two Ac ...
) for opening film, saying, " twas just a better fit ... Clooney is a wonderful actor, and he will always be welcome in Venice. But it was as simple as that." ''Black Swan'' screened in competition and is the third consecutive film directed by Aronofsky to premiere at the festival, following '' The Fountain'' (2006) and ''The Wrestler''. ''Black Swan'' was presented in a sneak screening at the
Telluride Film Festival The Telluride Film Festival (TFF) is a film festival held annually in Telluride, Colorado, during Labor Day, Labor Day weekend (the first Monday in September). The 51st Telluride Film Festival, 51st edition took place on August 30–September ...
on September 5, 2010. It also had a Gala screening at the 35th
Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...
later in the month. In October 2010, ''Black Swan'' was screened at the New Orleans Film Festival, the
Austin Film Festival Austin Film Festival (AFF), founded in 1994, is an organization in Austin, Texas, that focuses on writers' creative contributions to film. Initially, AFF was called the Austin Heart of Film Screenwriters Conference and functioned to launch the c ...
, and the
BFI London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival held in London, England, in collaboration with the British Film Institute. Founded in 1957, the festival runs for two weeks every October. In 2016, the BFI estimated that around 240 fe ...
. In November 2010, the film was screened at
American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...
's AFI Fest in Los Angeles, the
Denver Film Festival The Denver Film Festival is held in November, primarily at the Denver Film Center/Colfax, in Denver, Colorado, now the Anna and John J. Sie FilmCenter (Sie FilmCenter). Premiere events are held in the Buell Theatre and Ellie Caulkins Opera House ...
and Camerimage Festival in
Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Kuyavia. Straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its bank (geography), left-bank tributary, the Brda (river), Brda, the strategic location of Byd ...
, Poland. The release of ''Black Swan'' in the United Kingdom was preponed from February 11 to January 21, 2011. According to ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'', the film was considered one of "the most highly anticipated" films of 2010. The newspaper then compared it to the 1948 ballet film '' The Red Shoes'' in having "a nightmarish quality ... of a dancer consumed by her desire to dance".


Home media

''Black Swan'' was released on
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
and
Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
in Region 1/Region A on March 29, 2011. The Region 2/Region B version was released on May 16, 2011.


Reception


Box office

''Black Swan'' had a
limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few cinemas across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...
in select cities in North America on December 3, 2010, in 18 theaters and was a surprise box office success. The film took in a total of $415,822 on its opening day, averaging $23,101 per theater. By the end of its opening weekend it grossed $1,443,809—$80,212 per theater. The per location average was the second highest for the opening weekend of 2010 behind ''
The King's Speech ''The King's Speech'' is a 2010 historical drama film directed by Tom Hooper and written by David Seidler. Colin Firth plays the future King George VI who, to cope with a stammer, sees Lionel Logue, an Australian speech and language ther ...
''. The film is Fox Searchlight Pictures' highest per-theater average gross ever, and it ranks 21st on the all-time list. On its second weekend the film expanded to 90 theaters, and grossed $3.3 million, ranking it as the sixth film at the box-office. In its third weekend, it expanded again to 959 theaters and grossed $8,383,479. The film went on to gross over $106 million in the United States and over $329 million worldwide.


Critical response

''Black Swan'' received positive reviews from critics upon release, with praise toward Aronofsky's direction and the performances of Portman, Kunis and Hershey. Review aggregator
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
gives the film an approval rating of 85% based on 318 reviews, and an average rating of 8.20/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Bracingly intense, passionate, and wildly melodramatic, ''Black Swan'' glides on Darren Aronofsky's bold direction—and a bravura, tour-de-force performance from Natalie Portman." At
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, which assigns a
weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...
score out to reviews, the film received an average score of 79 out of 100, based on 42 critics, indicating "generally positive reviews". In September 2010, ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'' reported that based on reviews from the film's screening at the Venice Film Festival, " 'Black Swan''is already set to be one of the year's most love-it-or-hate-it films."
Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic, film historian, and author. He is known for his book of film capsule reviews, '' Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide'', published from 1969 to 2014. Maltin was the film criti ...
, on his blog ''Movie Crazy'', admitted that he "couldn't stand" the film, despite highly praising Portman's performance.
Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...
described the early response to the film as "largely positive" with Portman's performance being highly praised. ''
The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...
'' reported that "the film divided critics. Some found its theatricality maddening, but most declared themselves 'swept away'." Kurt Loder of ''
Reason Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing valid conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, religion, scien ...
'' called the film "wonderfully creepy", and wrote that "it's not entirely satisfying; but it's infused with the director's usual creative brio, and it has a great dark gleaming look." Mike Goodridge from ''
Screen Daily ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company which also owned '' Broadcast''. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involv ...
'' called ''Black Swan'' "alternately disturbing and exhilarating" and described the film as a hybrid of '' The Turning Point'' (1977) and Polanski's films '' Repulsion'' (1965) and '' Rosemary's Baby'' (1968). Goodridge described Portman's performance, " heis captivating as Nina ... she captures the confusion of a repressed young woman thrown into a world of danger and temptation with frightening veracity." The critic also commended Cassel, Kunis, and Hershey in their supporting roles, particularly comparing Hershey to Ruth Gordon in the role of "the desperate, jealous mother". Goodridge praised Libatique's cinematography with the dance scenes and the psychologically "unnerving" scenes: "It's a mesmerising psychological ride that builds to a gloriously theatrical tragic finale as Nina attempts to deliver the perfect performance." Kirk Honeycutt of ''
The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' gave the film a mixed review. He wrote, " 'Black Swan''is an instant guilty pleasure, a gorgeously shot, visually complex film whose badness is what's so good about it. You might howl at the sheer audacity of mixing mental illness with the body-fatiguing, mind-numbing rigors of ballet, but its lurid imagery and a hellcat competition between two rival dancers is pretty irresistible." Honeycutt commended Millepied's "sumptuous" choreography and Libatique's "darting, weaving" camera work. The critic said of the thematic mashup, "Aronofsky ... never succeeds in wedding genre elements to the world of ballet ... White Swan/Black Swan dynamics almost work, but the horror-movie nonsense drags everything down the rabbit hole of preposterousness." Similarly, in a piece for ''
The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...
'', Rob Kirkpatrick praised Portman's performance but compared the film's story to that of '' Showgirls'' (1995) and ''
Burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.
'' (2010) while concluding ''Black Swan'' is "simply higher-priced cheese, Aronofsky's
camembert Camembert ( , , ) is a moist, soft, creamy, surface-ripened cow's milk cheese. It was first made in the late 18th century in Camembert, Normandy, in northwest France. It is sometimes compared in look, taste and texture to brie cheese, albe ...
to SteveAntin">Steve_Antin.html" ;"title="'Burlesque'' director Steve Antin">SteveAntin's Cheddar cheese">cheddar. ''Vulture'' Kyle Buchanan also noted the similarities of the film's plot to the widely derided ''Showgirls'', and said that the director Darren Aronofsky "owes a feather-tip to Paul Verhoeven's exploitation classic more than [he] might be willing to admit". The film has been criticized for its portrayal of ballet and ballet dancers. Upon the film's release in the United Kingdom, ''The Guardian'' interviewed four professional ballet dancers in the UK:
Tamara Rojo Tamara Rojo Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 17 May 1974) is a Spanish ballet dancer. She was the English National Ballet's artistic director and a lead principal dancer with the company between 2012 and 2022. She was previously a principa ...
, Lauren Cuthbertson, Edward Watson, and Elena Glurjidze. Rojo called the film "lazy ... featuring every ballet cliche going." Watson felt that the film "makes alletlook so naff and laughable. It doesn't show why ballet is so important to us—why we would want to try so hard."
The Canadian Press The Canadian Press (CP; , ) is a Canadian national news agency headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Established in 1917 as a vehicle for Canadian newspapers to exchange news and information, The Canadian Press has been a privately-held company, pr ...
also reported that many Canadian ballet dancers felt that the film depicted dancers negatively and exaggerated elements of their lives but gave Portman high marks for her dance technique. In an interview with the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'', Gillian Murphy, a principal dancer with
American Ballet Theatre American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is a classical ballet company based in New York City. Founded in 1939 by Lucia Chase and Richard Pleasant. Through 2019, it had an annual eight-week season at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center) in the spr ...
praised the visual elements of the film but noted that the film presentation of the ballet world was "extreme."


''Perfect Blue''

Several critics noted striking similarities between Satoshi Kon's 1997
anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
film '' Perfect Blue'' and Aronofsky's ''Black Swan''. In response to comparisons between ''Perfect Blue'' and ''Black Swan'', Aronofsky acknowledged the similarities in 2010, but denied that ''Black Swan'' was inspired by ''Perfect Blue''. Kon noted in his blog that he had met with Aronofsky in 2001.


Costume design

Amy Westcott is credited as the costume designer and received several award nominations. A publicized controversy arose regarding the question of who had designed 40 ballet costumes for Portman and the dancers. An article in the British newspaper ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' suggested those costumes had actually been created by Rodarte's Kate and Laura Mulleavy. Westcott challenged that view and stated that in all only 7 costumes, among them the Black and White Swan, had been created in a collaboration between Rodarte, Westcott, and Aronofsky. Furthermore, the corps ballet's costumes were designed by Zack Brown (for the American Ballet Theatre), and slightly adapted by Westcott and her costume design department. Westcott said: "Controversy is too complimentary a word for two people using their considerable self-publicising resources to loudly complain about their credit once they realized how good the film is."


Controversy

ABT dancer Sarah Lane served as a "dance double" for Portman in the film. In a March 3 blog entry for ''
Dance Magazine ''Dance Magazine'' is an American trade publication for dance. It was first published in June 1927 as ''The American Dancer''. ''Dance Magazine'' is currently part of Dance Media, led by longtime arts publisher Joanna Harp as president, and has mu ...
'', editor-in-chief
Wendy Perron Wendy Perron is an American dancer, choreographer, and teacher who was the editor-in-chief of ''Dance Magazine'' from 2004 to 2013. She is the author of ''Through the Eyes of a Dancer, Selected Writings'', published by Wesleyan University Press ...
asked: "Do people really believe that it takes only one year to make a ballerina? We know that Natalie Portman studied ballet as a kid and had a year of intensive training for the film, but that doesn't add up to being a ballerina. However, it seems that many people believe that Portman did her own dancing in ''Black Swan''." This led to responses from
Benjamin Millepied Benjamin Millepied (; born 10 June 1977) is a French dancer and choreographer, who has lived and worked in the United States since joining the New York City Ballet in 1995, where he became a soloist in 1998 and a principal in 2002. He has als ...
and Aronofsky, who both defended Portman, as well as a response from Lane claiming that she has not been given due credit.


Top ten lists

''Black Swan'' was on many critics' top ten lists for 2010. * 1st – Caryn James, IndieWire * 1st – Drew McWeeny, HitFix * 1st – Noel Murray, '' A.V. Club'' * 1st – James Rocchi, '' MSN'' * 2nd – Keith Phipps and
Nathan Rabin Nathan Rabin () is an American film and music critic. Rabin was the first head writer for ''The A.V. Club'', a position he held until he left the ''Onion'' organization in 2013.
, '' A.V. Club'' * 2nd – Andrew O'Hehir, '' Salon.com'' * 2nd – Claudia Puig, ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...
'' * 2nd – Lou Lumenick, ''
New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...
'' * 3rd –
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
,
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...
* 3rd – Rene Rodriguez, ''
Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by McClatchy, The McClatchy Company and headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Founded in 1903, it is the fifth-largest newspaper in Florida, serving Miami-Dade, Broward County, Fl ...
'' * 3rd – Harry Knowles,
Ain't It Cool News Ain't It Cool News (AICN) is an entertainment news website founded by Harry Knowles and run by his sister Dannie Knowles since September 2017, dedicated to news, rumors, and reviews of upcoming and current films, television, and comic book proj ...
* 4th – Tasha Robinson, '' A.V. Club'' * 4th – Gregory Ellwood, '' HitFix'' * 5th – James Berardinelli, Reelviews * 5th – FX Feeney, Village Voice * 5th –
Christy Lemire Christy A. Lemire (née Nemetz; born August 30, 1972) is an American film critic and host of the movie review podcast ''Breakfast All Day''. She previously wrote for the Associated Press from 1999 to 2013, was a co-host of '' Ebert Presents at ...
,
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
* 5th – Elizabeth Weitzman, ''
New York Daily News The ''Daily News'' is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Tabloid (newspaper format ...
'' * 5th – Richard Brody, ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'' * 6th – Mary Pols & Glenn Kenny, '' MSN'' * 7th –
Peter Travers Peter Joseph Travers (born June 27, 1943) is an American film critic, journalist, and television presenter. He reviews films for ABC News and previously served as a movie critic for ''People'' and ''Rolling Stone''. Travers also hosts the film i ...
, ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'' * 8th – Peter Knegt, '' Indiewire'' * 8th – Mick LaSalle, ''
San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...
'' * 8th – Betsy Sharkey, ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' * 8th – Simon Abrams, '' Village Voice'' * Top 10 (listed alphabetically) – Steven Rea, ''
Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...
'' * Top 10 (listed alphabetically) – Pete Hammond, '' Boxoffice Magazine'' * Top 10 (listed alphabetically) – Joe Williams, ''
St. Louis Post-Dispatch The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' is a regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is the largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area by circulation, surpassing the '' Belleville News-Democra ...
''


Accolades and awards

''Black Swan'' appeared on many critics' top ten lists of 2010 and is frequently considered to be one of the best films of the year. It was featured on the
American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...
's 10 Movies of the Year. On January 25, 2011, the film was nominated for five
Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
s (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing), with Portman winning Best Actress.


References


External links

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