Tom's Life Bits

“Black Swan” is the dark and electric tale of a ballerina teetering between perfection and madness, two conditions that act out an electrifying pas de deux in the virtuoso hands of director Darren Aronofsky.

Aronofsky submerges us deep into the world of a major New York ballet troupe, where rivalries and ambition are as common as tutus. At the center of our story is Nina Sayers (rapturously played by Natalie Portman), who hits her steps with robotic perfection. Her personal development seems caught in adolescence, as evidenced by the frilly pink bedroom of the apartment she shares with her mother (Barbara Hershey), a former dancer pushing Nina to have the kind of career she (the mother) was denied.

The ballet group’s driven artistic director, Thomas (Vincent Cassel), is staging a new version of “Swan Lake” and is at odds about whom to cast in the lead. His temperamental star, Beth (Winona Ryder), is too old for the part, and Thomas nudges her toward retirement. Thomas knows Nina can handle the role of the virginal White Swan — but can she show the passion needed to portray her evil doppelgänger, the Black Swan?

Nina gets the part, but through the grueling rehearsals she still has trouble evoking her dark side. A sexy new dancer, Lily (Mila Kunis), seems to Nina to be a career threat and an object of desire. Lily befriends Nina and tries to help her loosen up with a wild night on the town. But Nina’s mind, obsessed with the “Swan Lake” legend and her part in it, starts to fracture ­— until the line between reality and hallucination becomes jagged and unfixed.

The story plays out with the fierce emotions of grand opera, and Aronofsky brings those tension and passions to the boiling point. Visually, he bores in on Nina’s expressive face, while also adding the voyeuristic touch of often surrounding Nina with mirrors that reveal more than just a reflection.

As he did with “The Wrestler,” Aronofsky takes a tag-teamed script (credited to Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz and John J. McLaughlin) and opens up a view inside a venue of physical performance, where people push their bodies to insane levels for the enjoyment of their audiences.

But “Black Swan” more closely compares to Aronofsky’s 1998 debut, “Pi,” as both movies show their main characters driven to madness (including extreme body horrors) in pursuit of an unattainable type of perfection, whether it be a mathematical theorem or the ultimate dance performance.

The supporting players perfectly capture the movie’s archetypes: Hershey, as the maternal protector, Cassel, as the strict disciplinarian, Ryder, as the washed-up diva, and Kunis, as the temptress (particularly in the much-talked-about sex scene with Portman).

Portman, who took ballet as a child and endured a year of ballet training before filming, nails the angular body movement and grim determination of a prima ballerina. Her performance, both physically demanding and emotionally incendiary, captures Nina’s innocence and her gradual unraveling.

When the final bows are taken for “Black Swan,” Aronofsky will get his share of applause, but it’s Portman who deserves the cheers and the standing ovation.