Darren Aronofsky covered in Black.

If there is such thing as a heaven, Darren Aronofsky just guaranteed his place with a big white mansion and a Rolls Royce in the garage. Reasons don't lack, but I can say he has blown many people's minds with many of his movies. Detail: he was born in 1969, incredible. For those who haven't watched an Aronofsky movie this winter, take my advice and start from the beginning of his career, arising in Pi(which I am ashamed to say I haven't seen), then sweeping Requiem for a Dream off the list(a very big chunky must), then understand how he can be mischievous with The Fountain, although the acting is better than the directing, considering Hugh Jackman's best performance, in my very own opinion, and of course, the glorious as always, Rachel Weisz. To finish off well, watch The Wrestler, to pump up the blood in your veins and brain and when you're all done with all of these amazing pieces, do please drop by a movie house to watch his devious new masterpiece, Black Swan, which is the movie that made me want to talk about Aronofsky in this post, in first place.

As well as The Fountain, Black Swan can be considered a movie for actors. The casting, by Mary Vernieu, was almost impeccable, mainly because of our chosen swan queen. It is hard to find words that would describe an actress like Natalie Portman. I have always believed that every ten years, a muse is born in the world of film. The 2000's are Natalie's, without a shadow of doubt. Not only for her committed and flawless performance in Aronofsky's view of the play Swan Lake, but also in her past career. Natalie can be portrayed as something close to perfection these days. She speaks fluent English, Hebrew and knows a decent amount of German and French. She was born in Jerusalem, which makes her very interesting, in my opinion. She studied psychology in Harvard, graduated with honors and mocks about it, saying she would smoke pot everyday. She started ballet when she was four years old and she moves gracefully. Her voice is very suave and she looks stunning even with her head shaved. Besides all of that (as if it wouldn't be enough), she has been in great movies, which I can only remind you of, dear readers. Here they are: The Professional, Cold Mountain, Garden State, Closer, V for Vendetta, Paris, Je T'aime, The Darjeeling Limited, New York, I love you(where she also directs), The Other Boleyn Girl, Brothers and many other great films(not counting the ones that are being released this year or many others that I have watched and liked). Natalie is intelligence, talent and beauty all mixed together in a woman. In Black Swan, she brings it all up with a fine and elegant performance that I haven't seen from any other actress this past decade. Not even Marion Cottilard, who has earned many well deserved awards for Olivier Dahan's La vie en Rose has reached the high top where Natalie is in accord to the critics, the public and the artists.

Now that I have tried to put my deep appreciation for Portman's work (and it is indeed appreciation, because when an actress sees a performance like hers, it just brings inspiration and certainty about how our art can be so gorgeous) in this post, I can start talking about the movie itself, despite the fact that the movie would not be as stunning if Natalie was not in it. Proof of that is Mila Kunis. I am a big fan of her work in That 70's Show. In fact, it is the only television show that I actually take time to watch. Mila plays Jackie, this annoying little prick who is always talking about money and futile things. She does a great job at that and looks gorgeous in every movie I have seen her in. In Black Swan, I thought, I really thought I would see her grown up and different from the annoying little prick she always plays. Since the movie is considered a dark and at the same time, delicate piece, I expected a little more professionalism. Black Swan is a psychological thriller that transcends any foolish figures of speech or image. It is a movie of pauses, of deep topics. Mila's character, Lily, portrays competitiveness. To me, her part was washed off by Natalie's performance. Mila was not terrible, but she did not change a bit from any of her other characters I have seen and it did not go well with what the movie was trying to achieve. That for me, is hard to watch. Now, talking about acting, Winona Ryder comes back to the big screen with a very small but wonderfully played part. She is deeply committed and very powerful in her own way, which I always liked about Ryder. She has her own style, and it works very well, mainly for Black Swan. I can't say much more about the acting in this masterpiece, the big parts were just genius.

Turning your heads back and admiring the backstage work, I would also like to point how the whole crew of sound, lightning, set design, screenplay, production and art direction did a splendid job. As well as for the special effects, dance preparation, make up and costume design. All very pleasing and fresh. As for the direction, I only pray to the heavens that Aronofsky will continue his path into the great world of amazing filmmaking so we can keep watching his wonderful work and be inspired by it every single time. I bow down to Black Swan. The amazing story, the perfect acting, the superb directing and all of it I haven't pointed out. I haven't watched such a good movie made in our days in a long time. I wonder now if it will be possible to count in two hands the awards this wonder is going to win. I can't wait to watch it again.