Swoon

It feels like a period documentary and the story is the story of Leopold and Loeb - A terrifying portrait of two real life killers who killed without passion or reason just to prove they were above the law. The period details are beautifully drawn but where it lacks is in the actor's faces. They appear rather than participate fully. There is a detachment in their portrayal that kept me at a safe distance and I could admire it with my head but I couldn't connect with my heart. The opposite of what happened to me with 1958's Compulsion - I was riveted by Dean Stockwell. I believed and understood just by looking into his eyes.

This is the third film on the case I've seen and it certainly has merits of its own. There was no grandstand acting here, no over-acting for the Academy Awards or anything like that. I actually found the acting quite adequate unlike some others. It was downplayed, true, but sufficient. Let's remember that these people were not the norm for their time - or for any time. They were bigger than life, or at least they thought they were. The cinematography and staging were wonderful with so many scenes "unbalanced" in their composition. The cutting too was uneasy but uneasy on purpose. The characters were not portrayed as likable and, no, an intolerant society was not set up for blame. There is much going on here - certainly more meets the eye on first viewing.

Swoon tells the story of Leopold and Lobe with homosexuality constantly in mind, because it was important (or at least everyone at the time it actually happened believed it was important). This film points out how the trial focused on their homosexuality, using authentic court transcripts, despite the murder having nothing to do with sexual orientation. This mirrors Michael Foucault's History of Sexuality regarding the policing of sexuality. Thought-provoking.

Although a bit confusing at times, a movie worth watching once. Perhaps do a bit of research on the background of the case to supplement the film.

Director Tom Kalin took the Leopold and Loeb murder case of the 1920s, which already had been the basis of such films as "Rope" and "Compulsion," and filmed the sordid episode as an exercise in style with flashes of homo-erotic imagery. In his film, "Swoon," Kalin does not flinch from either the murderers' ethnic background or their sexual orientation, although the part that either aspect of their makeup may have played in the crime was not explored. Utilizing haunting black-and-white cinematography by Ellen Kuras, documentary footage from the period, and an often-melancholy score by James Bennett, Kalin fashioned a strangely fascinating look at the aimless lives of two young men with too much money and too much time.

Although the two youths are lovers in the physical sense, their partnership seems to have been born more of boredom than passion. Their lovemaking has eroticism, but it lacks fire. The pair performs more like two bored schoolboys passing a rainy afternoon pleasuring each other than like two men with deep emotional ties. Tragically, this passionless attraction spawns what appears to be an equally passionless crime. The plot to kidnap and murder a young boy seems to have been born of the same boredom that gave rise to Leopold's and Loeb's erotic desires. The two young men have no emotion either before or after the murder, although there is a flash of zeal on the killer's face during and shortly after the murder. The men's demeanor throughout the interrogation and trial suggests a complete lack of, not only remorse, but also comprehension that they have taken a human life. The duo bicker about the details of the crime as though they were trying to recall what they ate for breakfast. The men are distanced not only from the crime, but also from any semblance of humanity.

Appropriately, the sharp light and shade contrasts in the stark photography at times make the film resemble a silent horror film, because "Swoon" is a horror show at its core. These two men are like monsters that were created without souls and that lie in wait until idle thoughts prompt them to fill their empty hours with crime. The languid air that pervades the film underscores the tedium of their existence. Kalin tracks the two men to the ends of their lives and leaves the viewer with an ambivalent feeling about whether or not justice was ever served. Like "In Cold Blood," however, "Swoon" focuses on and almost celebrates the two killers, while the innocent young victim is reduced to a nearly anonymous figure. Thus, "Swoon" is often a difficult film to watch, yet, despite lingering and disturbing thoughts afterward, Kalin has fashioned an intelligent, intriguing work that merits attention.

Anti -hollywoodian to a fault ,"swoon" is the most realistic account of the ghastly murder of a child by two brilliant students ,inspired by Nietzsche, convinced that their IQ place them beyond good and evil .It was the first time the story of those monsters had been transferred to the screen as it really was :

-In "rope" (1949) ,the victim was a young man

-in "compulsion" (1959) ,the plot was sweetened by the presence of bland lovers ( Martin Miller and Diane Varsi) and a long Christian plea by lawyer Orson Welles .

Don't get me wrong ;both Hitchcock's and Fleischer's works were great, ahead of their time ,when the Hayes Code was still applying. They are much more palatable than Tom Kalin's 'remake" , in stark black and white , with the unbearably violent murder of the little boy .

The dominant character (John Dahl in "rope" , Bradford Dillman in "compulsion" ) is less obvious ,but the gay relationship is explicit -whereas it was only suggested in the previous versions-

Indeed,so horrendous were the chances taken by Tom Kalin that ,with any lesser talent ,the result could have been disastrous , rejecting his work into the porn gay film ghetto whereas it is genuine art house cinema .

The questioning , perhaps inspired by French Nouvelle Vague cinema vérité (archival footage is shown towards the end),may disconcert the viewer .That such a harrowing screenplay succeeds artistically without falling into the trap of sentiment is due to the director's feeling for sparseness which does not allow any conventional sentimentality ( no compassionate lawyer , both parents hardly appear ) but it inspires its vital despair .

The trial turns so improper in its depiction of the sexual practises that the women are requested to leave the courtroom ; and for the first time , the movie does not end with the trial or the arrestation ,but spans ,in an admirably succint style the criminals' whole life .MM Chester and Schlachet give performances which will make your hair stand on end , both deadpan , ruthless...but a pure love at a time the society was intolerant ,and the awful massacre of the innocent.