Few movies today seem to be made entirely and purposefully for film. Often, the stories we are told in those one-to-two hours we sit in the theater could be told through other mediums, be it a play, a short story, a novel, a comic book, a soundtrack. Very seldom do we come across films that take such full advantage of the nuances of the medium in such a way that we cannot imagine receiving the story in any way but a feature film. But that is exactly what “Black Swan” does: it takes advantage of film as an art form, and the result of director Darren Aronovsky’s vision and efforts is, in a word, a masterpiece.

“Black Swan” tells the story of ambitious ballerina Nina Sayers, delivered by a stark and stunning Natalie Portman. The film opens and closes with dance, centering around a production of the classic “Swan Lake,” and Aronovsky portrays with uncomfortable accuracy the masochistic world of ballet, literally embodied in Portman’s emaciated frame. Yet the ambition of “Black Swan” is far greater than a movie about ballet, just as Nina’s ambition goes beyond landing the lead role; both aim for perfection and pursue it unapologetically.

Aronovsky’s vision is fearless, painted in shades of black, white and red. His command of the visual is as strong as his cast’s command over our emotions, each playing their role to a T. Mila Kunis portrays Lily, the tattooed, cheeseburger-chomping, free-spirited ballerina opposite Portman’s prim and proper Nina. The relationship between the two predictably parallels the relationship between the Black Swan and White Swan in Swan Lake, but unpredictably spirals into a hot and hallucinatory sex scene that left everyone in the theater – male and female alike – breathless. Vincent Cassel’s performance as Thomas, the seductive and commanding ballet director, and Winona Ryder’s portrayal of formerly great, retiring ballerina Beth are also deserving of accolades; and at the center of it all is Portman’s Nina, whose determination spills into the realm of the insane.

Like any work of art that examines the world of art, the film carries tri-fold resonance – it echoes the director’s struggle with his film, the actress’s struggle with her character and the ballerina’s struggle with her performance. Aronovsky, Portman and Nina all demand perfection from their art, and if one film came close to that elusive goal in 2010, it was “Black Swan.” Perfection is its goal, and perfection it achieves in its own perversely beautiful, deeply disturbing way.