Black Swan

The opening scene of Black Swan is perfect. In it, our heroine Nina (Natalie Portman), dances by herself. There's no crowd, no instructor, no parents. Just Nina, dancing alone in a black void. It's a perfect intro to the movie and her character. It says that Nina is stuck in an endless pirouette, a dance that she will never escape.
I love movies like Black Swan. Movies like Fight Club , The Matrix, or The Sixth Sense. They're the kind of thrillers that make you question your reality. Because, in the end, reality is only an interpretation of what our brain sees. We trust that our brain is reliable, and is giving us accurate information, but we only see things from our own perspective. What we consider "normal" may be completely different from what someone else thinks it is.
The story is that Nina is a dancer in NYC. She has just landed the lead role in a production of Swan Lake. However, she has to play two roles- a pure White Swan and its ugly twin, the Black Swan. Her instructor thinks she is perfect for the White Swan, because her dancing is technically flawless. He doesn't know if she can play the more evil/rebellious Black Swan, because he thinks she isn't feeling it. What is awesome about this, is that the story of Swan Lake brilliantly echoes what's going on in Nina's life. Throughout the film she tries to surrender herself to the Black Swan. Because she's been so sheltered her whole life, it's not something that comes naturally to her. By the film's end, you can really see how becoming the Black Swan is both liberating her and killing her at the same time. Some people just can't handle their dark side.
Aside from all the internal struggle stuff, there's more going on here. This film is also about the crazy amounts of pressure that gets put on athletes. They put themselves through so much striving for perfection, but any sane person will tell you that perfection is impossible. You should only try to be your best. That's not a message that sports (or anything competitive) tells you. They usually tell you to win at all costs, and if you don't, you're not trying hard enough. It's sad, because you have to wonder how many screwed up athletes there are trying to achieve something they can't.
On the technical side of things, the film looks amazing. I read somewhere that director Darren Aronofsky shot the whole movie was shot with a hand held camera. Normally I would say that's not a great idea- I find the "shaky camera" stuff to be very distracting. However, I didn't even notice it here, so that's another thing about how good this film is. The score is great too, and I also read that it is a variation of the actual Swan Lake score, which is the production they're doing in the film. The cast is great, too. Natalie Portman easily gives the best performance of her career. Mila Kunis does a great job playing Lily, the rebellious counterpart to Nina's character. Winona Ryder is also fantastic as a dancer who is retired before she's ready, as dancers apparently don't get long careers.
This film is fantastic. It plays out kind of like a dark and twisted fairy tale. That's interesting, because the original fairy tales we know were dark and twisted before being watered down for children. I really have no complaints at all, and would argue that this is one of the best films of the year.