She has Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder leading to the company’s director Tomas to comment that Nina “obsesses over and over, getting each move exactly right.” Nina suffers from Excoriation disorder, a component of OCD, where one constantly picks and scratches at the skin. Nina appears to be suffering from an eating disorder, she is thin, rarely eats, and in a few scenes she is vomiting or attempting to vomit.
There are a few issues in the film which are commonly found in athletic and artistic fields which can provoke a mental breakdown. The film is entertaining and though the plot may be unique in cinema, the unhealthy obsession in ballet and other athletic fields is not. And, it isn’t until she is close to death that she feels she has succeeded on her quest towards perfection. The films ends just as “Swan Lake” does with Nina unintentionally killing herself after a tragic realization. Letting go of her limitations, she gives her best performance impressing the audience and the strict director. By the end, the character finally gains the ability to let go of the restrictions she has put upon herself and allows herself to be consumed and awakened by the black swan. The constant tension between Nina, Lily, and the ballet’s brilliant director Tomas ignites a collapse in her stability and a clash within her identity as she searches for the darkness and grittiness within her naïve and feeble persona. Throughout the dark film, Nina’s mental health severely deteriorates and neither the character or the audience are able to decipher between reality and hallucinations. Rather than embody the hypnotic, free-spirit of the black swan, Nina disappoints the director as she continues to portray fear in failure and perceived flaws in the fragility expected of the white swan. Nina eventually wins the role but she is unable to let go of her constant quest for perfection in a body and mind she sees riddled with imperfections. After new girl, Lily arrives into town from San Francisco, Nina’s perception is conflicted, viewing Lily to be both an enemy out for her role and a role model to the type of loosened up, devious spirit expected of the black swan. Desperate to break through from the Corps De Ballet she auditions for Swan Lake and is initially told although she is perfect for the white swan, (otherwise known as Odette in Swan Lake) she is too sweet and fragile for the role of the black swan (Odile). Nina, a young, beautiful woman with the mind and innocence of a young child, maintains uptight perfectionism and compulsive behaviors in ballet. One of my favorite films, I’m going to review this under the lens of Clinical Psychology. Darren Aronofksy’s Black Swan is a psychological thriller following obsessive ballerina, Nina (Natalie Portman) as she trains for her starring role as both the white and black swan of “Swan Lake” and struggles to hold onto her sanity as the tension rises.
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