Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: SWAN SONG [Nantucket Film Festival 2021 - Virtual]

The aspect of path and worthiness are individual traits usually brought through by a set of circumstances. In "Swan Song" [Narrative Feature], actor Udo Kier, known for a vast array of characters including some very dark ones, finds a real sense of drama and gentleness in the character of Pat Pitsenbarger, based on a real person, while making the persona so uniquely his own. Set and actually filmed in Sandusky Ohio where the real Pat lived and worked as a hairdresser, it a journeyman performance by Kier. He inhabits this character from scene-to-scene with an absolute richness which is not overwrought yet flamboyant, textured and yet freeform, tender and yet brutish. This is buoyed by some great sequences including when he finally finds his old (green) suit and the correct hat. And yet every scene, whether it is in a garden, at the site of his old house, with an old friend on a lake or in his old hangout, always feels very lived-in and authentic. Kier has an unmistakable face and delivery and yet this feels new. A jump rope scene which seems like it must have been improvised just is light and finds its way as well. There is also moments of levity throughout in a movie that is literally about mortality. And yet the dialogue itself as well as those slight moments between the lines speak volumes. On top of this point, the music is apropos and yet classic from Judy Garland to Peggy Lee. Even the most obvious one in "Don't Cry Out Loud" resounds in the journey of this man, who is full of pride yet wallows in doubt, a strong presence who also wants to be told he did a great job. "Swan Song" is a simple story that can only recently be told with the freedom and vivaciousness this has where it can be accessible for all watching it. A-

By Tim Wassberg