This movie won the “Best Picture” of 2011 Oscar Academy Award and Natalie Portman won the “Best Actress.” The movie displays the dark side of the competitiveness in the arts/dancing world – the back-stabbing and literally killing for the central role. The schizophrenic state of the main character kept the audience guessing what really happened: is this happening to her or her mother? First it was the bleeding on the back, the nail-pulling, the wild drinking and lesbian sexual escapade before the big performance, then the final act to reclaim her “Black Swan” role.

I never watched or knew the story of the “Swan Lake.” This movie perturbs my interest about this ballet piece. Acting out the two extreme roles and their emotions could be very difficult. But most of all, I came away feeling drained from a woman locked in the pursuit of perfection and at the end paid for it with her life. The movie progression painted a deteriorating state of her mind, dragging the audience with it. Very powerful. I wouldn’t want to watch it again as the first time already etched into my memory.