DVDs in Review

Black Swan (Darren Aronofsky, 2010)

Title: Black Swan (2010)

Release date: 16 May 2011

Certificate: 15

Format: Blu-ray

RRP: £24.99

Rating: 4/5

Reviewed by Hayley Merrick

Darren Aronofsky's almost documentary-style tale of New York ballet dancer Nina Sayers and her dream to dance in Swan Lake is glittering, mad and most importantly, outstanding.

Natalie Portman plays a harried, weepy and delicate Sayers, an overly mothered character, who lands the dual roles of the black and white swans, Odette and Odile in Swan Lake.

The company's casting director (Vincent Cassel) warns her that the biggest challenge will be playing the character's evil twin, the 'Black Swan' and she will have to find the darker, more sensual side of herself.

The viewer is then taken on a whirlwind journey into the mind of Sayers, as she struggles with the notion and the realisation that she must let go and become the Black Swan; something she has always been told not to do.

We see hallucinations, demonic rival dancers and her tumultuous relationship with her pretty new colleague and nemesis, played by the fantastic Mila Kunis, all through Nina's eyes.

However, our view of everything is distorted by her breakdown, which emerges and intensifies as she struggles to play both swans and to come to terms with her 'evil side'.

Black Swan is hugely enjoyable, once the viewer has let go and immersed themselves into the film. It is exciting, enthralling and scarier than anticipated; you won't know what's hit you.