Swing Kids (1993)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Spencer S

  
  Just listen to the premise and you can clearly deduce your enjoyment of this film: teenagers in Nazi occupied Germany rebel through their obsession with swing music. On the one hand, it does have historical implications , uses accurate information to draw a clear picture of how… More
  Just listen to the premise and you can clearly deduce your enjoyment of this film: teenagers in Nazi occupied Germany rebel through their obsession with swing music. On the one hand, it does have historical implications , uses accurate information to draw a clear picture of how fearful the populace was of their government, and the assimilation of the peoples into a regime. On the other hand, most of the film strays from swing music altogether and instead delves into the role the Nazis took in indoctrinating their youth to believe in the Reich over decency. We're presented with three main characters: Peter, Thomas, and Arvid. All enjoy swing music, though Arvid is a cripple who plays the guitar with the band, and the others dance with gusto in a local club. None of them feel direct sympathy for the Jews, but do feel hatred for the Hitler Youth, who constantly beat up swing kids and hold raids on clubs. Peter, our main character, is pushed into joining the Youth through coercion, and Thomas does also for solidarity. The film veers into the true nature of the party, brining Peter's inner struggle to the service. This section of the film drags quite a bit, focusing more on fear and strong persuasion to discount freedom. The performances by Leonard, Bale, and Whaley were each singularly unique, and complimented each other. Still, their characters were too casually perfect for the formula needed: one is deadset against, one is conflicted, and one readily follows. It's too neat for me. Besides all that, the characters speak in Harlem slang, use the phrase "Swing Heil", and speak of swing music as an obsession, nothing else surely making any of them happy like it. This wouldn't have been so strange if all the characters weren't speaking English, when it's set in Germany, and the main evil doer played by Kenneth Branaugh didn't have a British accent. It was too much fluff in a film that should have been more about teenage rebellion, and less about taking society down with dancing, because that's all the movie is: dancing. Too strange for my blood.

• Elvira B

  
  Typical film you catch on a Thursday morning on Hallmark or something. Troublemaking kids love jazz and swing in Nazi Germany... then they're forced to become Nazi Youth Militants or something and tragedy ensues. Christian Bale is definitely a promising actor here -OK I am biased… More
  Typical film you catch on a Thursday morning on Hallmark or something. Troublemaking kids love jazz and swing in Nazi Germany... then they're forced to become Nazi Youth Militants or something and tragedy ensues. Christian Bale is definitely a promising actor here -OK I am biased since he's one of my favorite actors, but his performance is one of the truly entertaining things about the film. Robert Sean Leonard does a decent job, if only it did not resemble his character in Dead Poet's Society. A different, less typecast of a lead would've done the film some good. Amusing, good music and choreography, that's all!

• Curtis L

  
  A guy cuts his wrists with a record. The best parts are christian bale turning oh so nazi, and the dancing and music is great. The acting needs some help, as does the dialog. In fact, we could do without robert sean leonard all together.

• Byron B

  
  A great movie! Excellent performances. Explores the question, Why do people become so filled with hate. A man like Hitler capitalized on the German people's need to feel superior, but he was supported and financed by the upper class who had reached such an excessive level of… More
  A great movie! Excellent performances. Explores the question, Why do people become so filled with hate. A man like Hitler capitalized on the German people's need to feel superior, but he was supported and financed by the upper class who had reached such an excessive level of extravagance. Many people wanted to eliminate outside influence because they thought purely German culture was the only culture worth furthering. There was a dangerous nationalism that said everything had to be for the 'fatherland'. And this movement gained muscle from the youth. Young men who felt inadequate, who felt they were never good enough to earn the love of their fathers started finding purpose in the Nazi propaganda. Young men whose fathers had been snatched away for questionable ideas and acquaintances, who questioned if their fathers loved them less because they let themselves be taken away found a replacement father in the 'fatherland'. Young men who thought they were superior to cripples and Jews and people of other cultures who seemed strange to them discovered power in the praise and things they were given. Who knows what other reasons led to so many people being filled with hate or complacency at this moment in history. Robert Sean Leonard's inner turmoil is vividly portrayed as he comes to fully realize the extent of the Nazi's evil acts and discovers that his father loved him more rather than less by speaking out against the terrible things he saw developing years earlier. Frank Whaley as the consummate artist who is not fit for the Hitler Young and therefore doomed to become a target for their crushing force is touching as well. And Christian Bale as the spoiled rich kid who is always insulting and boisterous yet craving positive feedback is tragic as the one who too easily absorbs the hateful messages and can't see clearly until it is too late. The Swing Heil ending is a little corny, but the music and dancing throughout the movie is great to watch and listen to. Swing music takes on such a symbolic deeper meaning for appreciation of diversity and an outlet for a strong passion and love.

• Mike T

  
  Fascinating premise, but sloppy execution. The music and the dancing is great, but the cliche-swamped screenplay provides us with no character motivation or story structure. Disappointing.

• Henrik S

  
  Pretty unsinpired movie portraying the fate of a bunch of "Swing Kids" in Nazi Germany. The movie feels as if the producers were intrigued by the idea of making a movie about the swing kids but refused to put any more effort into the creative development of the movie,… More
  Pretty unsinpired movie portraying the fate of a bunch of "Swing Kids" in Nazi Germany. The movie feels as if the producers were intrigued by the idea of making a movie about the swing kids but refused to put any more effort into the creative development of the movie, blandly stretching its appeal out over the whole feature and thus making it feel shallow and unsatisfying in the end. The cast is somewhat likeable, Robert Sean Leonard deserved a better fate as actor instead of being stuck on House MD, people had high hopes for after he stole the show on Dead Poets society but nothing ever came of it. Christian Bale, what can I say, he shows one more why he is one of the greatest actors of our time and his talent is sparkling off the screen. The rest of the cast (including a subtle Kenneth Branagh) is average. I must say, I always get confused with movie set in non-American countries being so throughroughly American, some actors speak with German accent, others don't, some things are written in German, others aren't, a lacklustre production. As I said before, the story is build around the idea of the Swing Kids, but is nothing out of the ordinary, same old boring stuff you have seen in all the other movies. Bad guys, good guys, bla bla bla. The swing dancing is nice to look at but the swing segements, as well as the general portrayal of the swing scene lack focus and love for detail and you will usually find yourself switching off during the segemtns, all in all, the actor's passion for the swing is very unbelievable. I'd say good effort, but it wasn't. I'd say nice that someone looks at a rather undocumented phenomenon of German history, but that is both not the case and has not been the intention by the producers, who were simply looking to exploit it and turn it into some jazzy (literally) movie event, bah. Way below par, two stars for Christian Bale, set design and costumes but that - is - it. Stay away from it Henrik

• Leo L

  
  A favorite! Love the music featured in the film!

Read all 7 featured audience ratings