warfilmman
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Swing Kids
Swing Kids - 1994
Contains Spoilers
Criticised on its release for its American accents, Swing Kids is both a funny, touching film about friendship and at the same time a scary vision of youths becoming Nazis. It is about the Swing Kids, teenagers in 1939 Berlin obsessed with Benny Goodman and Django Reinhardt, who wear British clothes and speak Harlem jive talk. They consist of Robert Sean Leonard, Christain Bale, Frank Whaley and a pre-ER Noah Wyle. If you’ve seen the film TAPs, or Lord of the Flies, Swing Kids takes a similar journey, of youth losing their morals and declining into savagery. At first the kids are happy to just dance and listen to banned 78s and avoid the Hitler Youth, but when two of them join the Hitler Youth (as was compulsory), one (Christain Bale), slowly falls for the Nazi ideology. Only Frank Whaley playing a crippled jazz-guitarist sees the Nazis for what they are, and after being beaten up by the Hitler Youth and having his treasured records broken he takes his own life. Robert Sean Leonard meanwhile has not only his friends to worry about, but his mother (Barbara Hershey) who is being courted by sinister Kenneth Branagh a smiling Gestapo officer.
Though Christain Bale and Robert Sean Leonard are the stars, for me it is Frank Whaley as the doomed jazz-fanatic who steals the show. From The Freshman through to When Trumpets Fade, Broken Arrow and other films, Frank is a young actor who should be given the chance to take on lead roles.
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2/12/2005, 3:16 am
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GaryStiegers
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Re: Swing Kids
Thanks for this review I had not heard of it before. Is it available on DVD does anyone know?
Gary
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2/13/2005, 2:35 pm
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TCUNC76
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Re: Swing Kids
Yes Gary, it is out on DVD and has an good soundtrack to the film as well. Try amazon.com they should have it!
TC!
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2/14/2005, 5:30 am
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