Black Swan
Black Swan is a 2010 psychological thriller following Nina Sayers, an amazing ballet dancer who is dying to land the lead in Swan Lake. Nina’s dance company director pushes her to embody the innocent White Swan and the darker, more sensitive Black Swan. The viewers see that Nina is naturally the White Swan while it seems to be harder for her to embody the Black Swan. This presser pushes Nina out of her comfort zone. The fact that she can not nail the Black Swan part starts messing with her mind. As the pressure builds from her very demanding coach, her overprotective mother, and new competition with a very talented dance, Lily, Nina really starts to crumble under the pressure and push herself further than ever. She starts to become incredibly paranoid and begins to lose grip on reality and she is unable to separate herself from the characters she is trying to become. Her obsession with perfection takes a turn for the worse as she has blurred the line between performance and identity.
The theme of duality shines bright in this movie as Nina struggles to embody both the White and the Black Swan in Swan Lake. This symbolizes the split between her innocent side and her darker impulses. Mirrors are shown frequently throughout the film reflecting Nina’s split identity. The film captures the intense and destructive impact of striving to become two opposite roles.
