Skip to main content

Dome Pondering Movie Review: Black Swan (2010)

What is it about? 

A ballet dancer is perfect in portraying White Swan in her role as Swan Queen, but eventually loses her mind in her attempt to become the Black Swan. 

Who is in it? 

Natalie Portman - Nina Sayers

Mila Kunis - Lily

Vincent Cassel - Thomas Leroy

Favorite Scene: 

Nina arrives prior to showtime and eventually has a fight with herself, thus releasing her inner darkside and her struggles with the portrayal of the Black Swan. 

Favorite Quote: 

"I just want to be perfect" 

Review: 

Black Swan is an amazing film in so many ways. The accreditation, Oscar nomination, and public hear-say has been very true - this film is great. The overall plot consisting of battling with two sides of yourself while including the art of ballet is one that is weird, but downright gripping. Quite honestly, a lot of what makes Black Swan remarkable is it's ability to be dark, twisted, and metaphoric. 

Adding to the film is the brilliant work of Natalie Portman as Nina Sayers. Her ability to portray the good girl attempting to please everyone before snapping around the issues and pressure that has consumed her is a tragedy that is reflected well, and is one of the best performances you will ever see. Mila Kunis and Vincent Cassel also help the greatness that was Portman in this film with their performances. 

Also, a review would not be complete if the unbelievable camera work/shots were not pointed out in this film. Mucho kudos to director, Darren Aronofski on this. As you watch, it will be one of the aspects a viewer will notice that adds to the piece. 

Overall, Black Swan is not hype. It is a brilliant movie. Very, very much recommended for everyone. 

Grade: 4.55/5

Labels:

Recently Read

Would You Rather: Questions 121-130

This edition of "Would You Rather" is credited to the NBA Would You Rather NBA Account on Instagram ( See Here ). Adding to the fun, this edition (and possibly future ones) are all NBA basketball questions.  121. Who would you rather have on your favorite NBA team - Giannis Antetokounpo or James Harden?  Seeing how I'm a lifelong suffering Knicks fan, the thought of any of these guys in blue and orange is hard to believe. With that said, I'm taking the Greek Freak for this reason - I enjoy watching him play a bit more. Nothing against Harden who is amazing as well, but at times, the ball sticks and that isn't always fun. Plus, I feel like we haven't yet seen a finished Giannis. 122. Would you rather have Giannis Antetokounpo with no driving ability or James Harden with no Three-Point shooting ability?  This is definitely a weird and unique one, but I'll take Harden. Giannis without his strength doesn't offer much. However, if Harden's d...
Read more

Knicks Postseason 2026, NBA Finals vs. San Antonio Spurs

Part of me is in disbelief that we are here...the other part is raging and ready to go. Four more wins! Let's. GO! So much of this NBA Finals feels poetic, historical, and dream-worthy, for so many reasons, to so many different parties. This includes the NBA office. I'm sure they are loving this matchup for their biggest stage.  While defeating the Spurs does exercise some demons from 1999, I'm not sure I care about that at all. As noted from my thoughts in the Eastern Conference Finals, at this point, just win. Review Thoughts from Round 1 Review Thoughts from Round 2 Review Thoughts from Eastern Conference Finals Just. Win.  I don't care who the opponent is. The narrative that comes with it, or how we do it.  Just. Win. The NBA Cup win seems like whiteboard material for them, yet a serving example for us to match up with them. Again, it doesn't matter. Both teams are completely different beasts since November, through growth and experience.  This all comes down to...
Read more

Sunday Sundown Rundown - 6/7/26

Sunday Sunday Rundown (formerly in the format of "3 Up and 3 Down") is where I share thoughts on three topics that piqued my interest along with my favorite photo from the week.  Artificial Intelligence in K-12 This week, I had the opportunity to talk to two dads who work in K-12 education. One is a teacher, and the other is a tech engineer who provides the digital infrastructure for a school district. What I came away with was that artificial intelligence was being slowly integrated into teachers' everyday lives, with some restrictions. However, the tech engineer gave me real insight (with real-time laptop evidence) of some of the tools being built to automate everything from bus schedules and communications to medical visits and disciplinary processes.  All of that to say, just when you think you understand the power of A.I., there are so many levels to it all .  So many... Sports Media Space With the recent run of my New York Knicks (you can see my comments after ever...
Read more