The foundation of Dostoevsky's literature, the base behind character behaviors, is that within us, there is always another alter-ego living, breathing and waiting to be or not be dangerously released. "The Double", Dostoevsky's short novel, takes that theme as the central storyline, where the protagonist (Golyadkin) battles with his double, with existence, with reality. He says: ""I am alone, I thought, and they are everybody " . When Aronofsky read "The Double" and subsequently saw a ballet production of "Swan Lake" - this was the inception of a beautiful idea that I am so very thankful was brought to life on screen. "The Black Swan" is about that double living within us, the one that inhabits all the intensity, genious and madness. But with the intensity comes danger. Without her double, Nina Sayers (played masterfully in a victimized, fearful style by Natalie Portman), could have not executed the bloody and dark beauty of the Black Swan. Nina's dreams of perfection, metamorphosed into nightmares of fear and horror, have cannibalized reality. They have gradually, slowly, ballet step by step, skin layer by skin layer, taken over her angelic self and driven her to pure, beautifully expressed and executed madness. There are a lot of triggers that make Nina fall into this spiraling paranoia trap. The biggest internal trigger is her own psyche, feeding it all with fear, seeking purity and perfection. But the external triggers were not exactly angelic, hence were also instrumental for the destructive beauty that followed. The autocratic, merciless, idolized and perverted head coach and orchestrator, Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel), wanted Nina to search deep inside her and release her inner demons so she can better demonstrate the part of the black swan. The pure opposite newcomer ballerina (Lily, perfectly casted by placing Mila Kunis - a similar type to Natalie but just the opposite, hence unattainable), positioned as an alternate, epitomizes everything Nina isn't. Relaxed, unconstrained by any fears, naturally naughty but not demonic, not obsessed with the dreams of perfection. Lily is a perfect springboard for Nina to project her demons of jealousy, rivalry, fear of becoming replaced, becoming obsolete in the ballet world which is her whole world. Nina's mother, played by a scary Barbara Hershey, is obsessively holding the grip of her daughter's ballet talent, wanting it to take them both to ballet stardom and perfection. And thereby gradually losing the grip on reality and on the human element of her daughter's life that needs to be lived also imperfectly to be real. The retired ballerina, Beth MacIntyre (played by the "retired" Winona Ryder), in an instant becomes forgotten and an ex-lover. And a hospitalized mad woman. If she was portrayed as a wise strong ballerina, ready to exit the ballet world, but enter other dimensions of life, perhaps this could inject some sense into her designated ballet heiress (the next Swan - Nina Sayers) - so proudly stated by the head director Thomas. But all she projects into Nina's psyche is more and more fear. Fear of not being able to follow her steps perfectly, but with an original twist, so that she herself doesn't become replaced and forgotten too fast. Natalie's acting is swimming in fear throughout the performance (with one exception - the ending scene when she surrenders fully). Even when she is given the main part of the Swan Lake, the new prima ballerina, she delivers the news to her mother, hiding in the bathroom, with tears (blended with joy and fear). Aronofsky's production delivered perfection - in casting, acting, choreographic, imaging and taking us up and down the spiraling beauty and madness. He views "The Black Swan" as a companion piece to "The Wrestler" (2008), where Micky Rourke also had to constantly battle with his inner and outer demons. Not only in the content, central theme, characters struggles, the ending, but also the Wrestler and the Black Swan hold intentional similarities in their filming techniques. Both Rourke and Portman were so very frequently filmed from the back, reflecting a quasi cinema verite / documentary style, following the characters' steps literally.
Reality is relative and the way it pirouettes and what image it projects in the mirror depends on which swan we are feeding in our minds.
