Swing Kids (1993)

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Movie
German title Swing kids
Original title Swing kids
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1993
length 112 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Thomas Carter
script Jonathan Marc Feldman
production Mark Gordon ,
John Bard Manulis
music James Horner
camera Jerzy Zieliński
cut Michael R. Miller
occupation

Swing Kids is a film drama by director Thomas Carter that tells the story of three teenagers who are part of the swing youth . It is a 1993 production by Hollywood Pictures .

action

The film is set in Hamburg in 1939. The National Socialists outlawed swing music. The "swing kids" Thomas, Arvid and Peter have so far managed to escape the Hitler Youth . They visit dance halls and listen to their favorite music. As an apolitical group, they try to stay away from the organizations of the Third Reich . They usually only have contact with the Hitler Youth through raids in their dance halls. This changes when Peter and Thomas try to steal a radio. Peter is caught and can only avoid punishment through family contacts with Gestapo officer Knopp. However, he now has to join the Hitler Youth. It is particularly explosive for the family that Peter's father was in prison because he had obtained false passports to take Jews and politically persecuted people out of the country and died as a result of torture after his release. Out of friendship, Thomas also joins the Hitler Youth. This bothers Arvid, who is slightly handicapped. There is discord within the group.

Arvid's friends, increasingly influenced by the Nazis , think he has changed. In the beginning it works to combine HJ and Swing, but Thomas in particular can be influenced by the Nazis. Arvid recognizes the imminent danger of war and tries to address this in a café. He then commits suicide at home . Peter later realizes his mistake and no longer attends Hitler Youth meetings. The conflict between him and Thomas expands. At the end of the film, the two fight each other during a raid. Peter is arrested. Shortly before the car drives off, however, Thomas raises his arm as if giving a Hitler salute and shouts: "Swing Heil!"

background

Although the action takes place in Hamburg, the filming took place mainly in Prague . The film was released in German cinemas on May 27, 1993.

criticism

The film received a restrained to negative response from the film critics. The American review collection Rotten Tomatoes gave it an average rating of 4.6 / 10. Nevertheless, the film fulfilled an important function in the introduction of the swing revival in the mid-1990s, especially through its sometimes spectacular Lindy Hop dance scenes , also through multiple references in the film dialogue to swing greats such as Benny Goodman , Django Reinhardt and Count Basie .

The lexicon of international film sees the film as a “mixture of musical film and dramatic development history; The historical background remains stereotypical, but thanks to excellent actors, a lively and differentiated picture of the loyalty conflicts that run through friendships and families and ultimately destroy them is created. "

“Thomas Carter takes little account of chronology and historical facts in his plea for individuality and freedom of expression. The young stars Robert Sean Leonard, Christian Bale and Frank Whaley ensure speed and agility, ” says the internet portal kino.de.

The review by Georg Seeßlen on Filmzentrale.com states: "SWING KIDS is one of those interestingly unsuccessful films that make us curious about the 'right' film on the subject."

Film music

The original music for the film was composed by James Horner .

In addition, numerous swing pieces can be heard in the film. Some of these were re-recorded for the film, by the Swing Kids Orchestra under the direction of Dick Hyman :

Some of these are original titles from the 1930s (titles marked with * are not included on the soundtrack CD for the film):

Choreography of the Lindy Hop scenes

The professional swing dancer and choreographer Ryan Francois, UK, who was also responsible for the dance scenes for Idlewild and Malcolm X, choreographed the swing dance scenes. He was aware that the aerials (lifting figures) had never been danced on dance floors in this way, they were pure performance figures. Because of their spectacularity, he built them in anyway and thus contributed to the fact that the swing dance experienced a revival.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Swing Kids at Rotten Tomatoes , accessed November 29, 2010
  2. Swing Kids. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed June 1, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  3. Swing Kids on kino.de. Retrieved November 29, 2010.
  4. Swing Kids . On: Filmzentrale.com . Retrieved October 14, 2013.