I recently watched the movie and thought it wasn't half bad. Although it was often rather psychologically disturbing and dramatic, as I am sure was intended.
The movie tells the story of a ballerina desperately wanted to play the part of the Swan Queen in a new production of Swan Lake. Of course she does get the part but along with it come some peculiar events - or so it seems - start happening.
She is faced not only with the pressure of playing the lead in a ballet but also peer pressure, her mother, and most importantly her self. She is so determined to be perfect that in fact this ends up being her hamartia (her tragic flaw) which in the end actually kills her.
The production requires Nina (Natalie Portman) to play both the innocent and virginal White Swan as well as the sensual seductress that is the Black Swan. Nina is the perfect candidate for the role of Odette, the Swan Queen, with her precise movements and innocence; it'd the part of Odile, the dark and sensual twin Nina has trouble adapting to. Although when Nina is introduced to Lily, a new found dark side starts to appear in Nina. Also Nina's feelings for the Director, Thomas Leroy, become apparent as the film progresses.
Nina is too much of a perfectionist and needs to lose herself in the character of Odile, whom Lily is more like. That is to say, Lily makes up the 'black swan' to Nina's 'white swan.' Then one night Lily takes Nina to a club and, after not being able to persuade Nina to take ecstasy, she spikes her drink. The night then ends with Nina having and argument with her mother as she had only gone out with Lily as a way of rebelling against her suffocating mother; Nina then barricades the door to her room and her and Lily have sex. During this Nina starts hallucinating and sees herself instead of Lily. The next morning as Nina rushes to the studio - late because she'd over slept - she finds out Lily never actually went back to her place. Nina had in fact only imagined having sex with Lily.
Nina's hallucinations become worse during rehearsals and at home, which leads to a violent fight with her mother after which she passes out. Concerned about Nina's erratic behaviour, her mother tries to prevent her from attending the opening performance, but Nina forces her way through and insists that she can dance. Lily and Thomas are puzzled about her appearance since Nina's mother had called saying she was sick. The violence showed by Nina towards her own mother shows us that there has been a dramatic change - Nina is becoming scarily more and more like the evil Odile.
The first act goes well until Nina is distracted during a lift by a hallucination and the Prince drops her. Nina then returns to her dressing room a bit shattered. Inside she sees Lily dressed as the black swan and getting ready to go on stage. This infuriated Nina so much that she shoves her into the mirror and with a shard of glass stabs her. Nina then hides the body in the bath room and prepares to go on stage as the black swan. She gives an incredible performance - at one point even growing black wings - and as she comes of stage she is congratulated and plants a surprise kiss on Thomas. She then returns to her dressing room only to realise that she hadn't killed Lily but her self. When she fights, and eventually kills 'Lily' she is actually fighting off the 'white swan' of her personality, and inevitably herself. It is a fight not between two rivals, but Nina's own pressure and need for perfection.
She then goes on stage one last time as the swan queen, for the dramatic scene where Odette kills herself because of the heart break caused by seeing her evil twin seduce the prince. And as she jumps to her death, Nina is left bleeding on the stage as the curtains fall. The film closes with Nina staring up at the stage lights, whispering, "I felt it – Perfect – It was perfect," as the screen fades to white and the audience chants her name.
Nina had been trying so hard to be perfect that she didn't even notice her darker side emerging and eventually consuming her in all its hatred until she herself is left dying.
http://www.ijustwanttobeperfect.com/
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