Black Swan (2010) - Oscar Winner!

"A witchy brew of madness and cunning...  Manohla Dargis, New York Times
"A world of talent on display here...  Richard Roeper
"a full-bore melodrama, told with passionate intensity, gloriously and darkly absurd.  Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
"...a movie for all seasons, a film that is all things to all people  Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel

Editor's Note New York City ballet dancer Nina (Natalie Portman) enters into an intense battle of wills with a talented and ambitious new arrival (Mila Kunis) who seems intent on edging her out of the spotlight in this supernatural-flavored psychological thriller from director Darren Aronofsky.

	Barbara Hershey
	Mila Kunis
	Benjamin Millepied
	Winona Ryder
	Natalie Portman
	Vincent Cassel
	John Epperson - Co-Star
	Marty Krzywonos - Co-Star
	Sergio Torrado - Co-Star
	Abe Aronofsky - Co-Star
	Charlotte Aronofsky - Co-Star
	Michelle Rodriguez Nouel - Co-Star
	Arkadiy Figlin - Co-Star
	Timothy Fain - Co-Star
	Sarah Lane - Co-Star
	Liam Flaherty - Co-Star
	Tina Sloan - Co-Star
	Kristina Anapau - Co-Star
	Shaun P. O'Hagan - Co-Star
	Sebastian Stan - Co-Star
	Stanley Herman - Co-Star
	Toby Hemingway - Co-Star
	Patrick Heusinger - Co-Star
	Ksenia Solo - Co-Star
	Kurt Froman - Co-Star
	Janet Montgomery - Co-Star
	Marcia Jean Kurtz - Co-Star
	Leslie Lyles - Co-Star
	Mark Margolis - Co-Star
	Deborah Offner - Co-Star
	Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Music Performer
	Matthew Libatique - Director of Photography
	Douglas Crosby - Stunt Coordinator
	Dominick Tavella - Sound Re-Recording
	Clint Mansell - Composer
	Tora Peterson - Set Decorator
	Craig Henighan - Sound Re-Recording
	John McLaughlin - Screenwriter
	Jim Black - Music Director
	Andres Heinz - Screenwriter
	Andres Heinz - Story
	Mark Heyman - Screenwriter
	Jeff Robinson - Post-Production Supervisor
	Gabe Hilfer - Music Director
	Benjamin Millepied - Choreographer
	Christopher Gartin - Co-Star
	Darren Aronofsky - Director

Chicago Sun-Times
3.5 stars out of 4 -- "[T]old with passionate intensity, gloriously and darkly absurd. It centers on a performance by Natalie Portman that is nothing short of heroic..." 12/01/2010

New York Times
"Part tortured-artist drama, BLACK SWAN looks like a tony art-house entertainment. But what gives its a jolt is its giddy, sometimes sleazy exploitation-cinema savvy." 12/03/2010

Washington Post
3.5 stars out of 4 -- "[A] ballet film that captures both the gossamer pink softness of classical dance and the scarier psychological impulses lying just beneath the serene surface." 12/03/2010

USA Today
4 stars out of 4 -- "At the center of this dreamlike story is Natalie Portman's exquisite performance of a troubled ballerina who evolves from timid to seriously unhinged." 12/03/2010

Rolling Stone
3.5 stars out of 4 -- "Aronfsky treats ballet as one of the bleeding arts. And so does his breathtaking star, Natalie Portman, who delivers an all-stops-out performance that will soon be the stuff of legend." 12/02/2010

Hollywood Reporter
"[A] gorgeously shot, visually complex film..." 12/01/2010

Entertainment Weekly
"Darren Aronofsky's backstage ballet thriller BLACK SWAN is lurid and voluptuous pulp fun, with a sensationalistic fairy-tale allure." -- Grade: B 12/24/2010

Box Office
4 stars out of 5 -- "With Natalie Portman dominating the action and exhibiting a screen maturity not seen from her before, this all-stops-out Grand Guignol melodrama exhibits more than enough blood, sweat and tears to score nicely beyond the ballet crowd." 12/10/2010

A.V. Club
"BLACK SWAN is a florid, often lurid, completely enthralling film held in place by a disarming Portman, who rarely leaves the frame." -- Grade: A- 12/02/2010

USA Today
Included in USA Today's "10 Best Films Of 2010" -- "A deeply disturbing psychological thriller..." 12/31/2010

Rolling Stone
Ranked #7 in Rolling Stone's "10 Best Movies Of 2010" -- "[A] fever dream of a ballet thriller..." 12/24/2010

Chicago Sun-Times
Included in Roger Ebert's "The Best Films of 2010" -- "BLACK SWAN uses powerful performances by Natalie Portman and Vincent Cassel to represent archetypal attributes..." 12/16/2010

Total Film
4 stars out of 5 -- "BLACK SWAN is a film obsessed with movement, colours, sets, sound design, Clint Mansell's clanging score and, of course, performance..." 12/30/2010

Empire
4 stars out of 5 -- "Aronofsky pulls off some astonishing visual flourishes....Like THE WRESTLER, BLACK SWAN also showcases Aronofsky's ability to tease career-best turns out of lead actors, in this case Portman." 01/21/2011

Sight and Sound
"[A] film that gives the hair on the back of your neck a serious workout." 02/01/2011

Uncut
4 stars out of 5 -- "[P]rops to Portman, who's in every scene -- and Winona Ryder, brilliant as the neurotic, toxic former prima ballerina." 02/01/2011

New York Post 10 of 10
This eye-popping, inspired and often-demented (in a good way) cross between "The Red Shoes" and "All About Eve" channels horror maestros David Cronenberg, Brian De Palma and Dario Argento. It's also something of a companion piece to Aronofsky's "The Wrestler"...Director Aronofsky triumphs in a high-wire act. He skirts ludicrousness by balancing some truly creepy, bloody stuff with some stunningly beautiful ballet sequences enhanced by digital effects...Cassel, Kunis, Hershey and Ryder are all terrific in the year's best-cast movie. The huge triumph, though, is Portman, a prohibitive favorite for the Best Actress Oscar for her dazzling tour-de-force as the skeletal and tortured Nina....Black Swan," which re-purposes (and sometimes remixes) Tchaikovsky's immortal music to truly striking effect, is my favorite film of the year. Go see it already. - Lou Lumenick

variety 10 of 10
A wicked, sexy and ultimately devastating study of a young dancer's all-consuming ambition, "Black Swan" serves as a fascinating complement to Darren Aronofsky's "The Wrestler," trading the grungy world of a broken-down fighter for the more upscale but no less brutal sphere of professional ballet. Centerstage stands Natalie Portman, whose courageous turn lays bare the myriad insecurities genuinely dedicated performers face when testing their limits, revealing shades of the actress never before seen on film. - Peter Debruge