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A psychological thriller set in the world of New York City ballet, BLACK SWAN stars Natalie Portman as Nina, a featured dancer who finds herself locked in a web of competitive intrigue with a new rival at the company (Mila Kunis). A Fox Searchlight Pictures release by visionary director Darren Aronofsky (THE WRESTLER), BLACK SWAN takes a thrilling and at times terrifying journey through the psyche of a young ballerina whose starring role as the Swan Queen turns out to be a part for which she becomes frighteningly perfect. BLACK SWAN follows the story of Nina (Portman), a ballerina in a New York City ballet company whose life, like all those in her profession, is completely consumed with dance. She lives with her retired ballerina mother Erica (Barbara Hershey) who zealously supports her daughter’s professional ambition. When artistic director Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) decides to replace prima ballerina Beth Macintyre (Winona Ryder) for the opening production of their new season, “Swan Lake,” Nina is his first choice. But Nina has competition: a new dancer, Lily (Kunis), who impresses Leroy as well. Swan Lake requires a dancer who can play both the White Swan with innocence and grace, and the Black Swan, who represents guile and sensuality. Nina fits the White Swan role perfectly but Lily is the personification of the Black Swan. As the two young dancers expand their rivalry into a twisted friendship, Nina begins to get more in touch with her dark side with a recklessness that threatens to destroy her. Presented by Fox Searchlight Pictures, in association with Cross Creek Pictures, a Prøtøzøa and Phoenix Pictures Production, BLACK SWAN is directed by Darren Aronofsky from a screenplay by Mark Heyman and Andrés Heinz and John McLaughlin, story by Andrés Heinz. The film is produced by Mike Medavoy, Arnold W. Messer, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin and executive produced by Bradley J. Fischer, Ari Handel, Tyler Thompson, Peter Fruchtman, Rick Schwartz, Jon Avnet, David Thwaites and Jennifer Roth. The creative team includes director of photography Matthew Libatique, ASC (IRON MAN 2), production designer Thérèse DePrez (HOWL), film editor Andrew Weisblum, A.C.E. (FANTASTIC MR. FOX), music by Clint Mansell (THE FOUNTAIN), music supervisors Jim Black (THE WACKNESS) and Gabe Hilfer (THE WRESTLER), ballet choreography by Benjamin Millepied and visual effects supervisor Dan Schrecker. 1
DANCING GOOD AND EVIL: THE STORY The daring and original director Darren Aronofsky (THE WRESTLER, THE FOUNTAIN, REQUIEM FOR A DREAM, π) lures audiences into a haunting, fractured world of delusions, doubles and paranoia in BLACK SWAN, his first psychological thriller. He spins a sensual and chilling tale of a prima ballerina locked in an obsessive battle with dark impulses that slowly engulf her. Academy Award® nominee Natalie Portman (CLOSER) stars as Nina, an ambitious young New York ballet dancer who is after the ultimate double role: the delicately innocent White Swan and the seductively evil Black Swan of the star-making classic “Swan Lake.” She gets the role but is unsure if she can let go enough to embody the dark side of the Swan Queen. As she ascends to new heights with her body, her most deeply buried fantasies, jealousies and nightmares begin to ensnare her mind into the blackest depths causing a dangerous clash with the provocative newcomer who is her greatest rival. Nina quickly becomes all too perfectly entwined with the bewitching and deadly Black Swan. Far from the typical thriller set in a world of crime or haunted houses, Aronofsky’s vividly intimate portrait of a woman unraveling at the very seams of her psyche takes place in the least expected of realms, the artistically electric and physically demanding world of professional ballet. For Aronofsky, it was the perfect place to unfold a visually explosive tale of the obsessive pressure to be perfect. As with THE WRESTLER, the film also gave him a chance to plunge into an unseen world and peel back what makes the people who are driven to sacrifice so much. Although he started thinking about this story fifteen years ago, Aronofsky notes that BLACK SWAN is intentionally a companion piece to his most recent film, THE WRESTLER. While wrestling and ballet might seem like they couldn’t possibly be more disparate worlds, BLACK SWAN dips into moments of sheer psychological horror unlike anything Aronofsky has done before. The two films are tied together by themes of bodily extremes, souls in turmoil and by a filmmaking style that pulls the audience inside the characters’ fascinating inner worlds. “Some people call wrestling the lowest of art forms, and some call ballet the highest of art forms, yet there is something elementally the same. Mickey Rourke as a wrestler was going through something very similar to Natalie Portman as a ballerina,” Aronofsky explains. “They’re both artists who use their bodies to express themselves and they’re both threatened by physical injury, because their bodies are the only tool they 2
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Approved No. 46261 (MPAA Globe) MOT
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