Swoon (1992)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Tom Kalin

Writers:

Hilton Als (collaborating writer)
Tom Kalin (writer)

Release Date:

25 September 1992 (UK)

Genre:

Biography | Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Was it a crime of passion? Or a passion for crime?

Plot:

The true story of gay lovers, Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold Jr. who kidnapped and murdered a child in the early 1920s for kicks...

Plot Keywords:

1920s | Dry Hump | Homosexual | Murderer Duo | Dead Children

Awards:

6 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Daniel Schlachet	...	Richard Loeb
Craig Chester	...	Nathan Leopold Jr.
Ron Vawter	...	State's Attorney Crowe
Michael Kirby	...	Detective Savage
Michael Stumm	...	Doctor Bowman
Valda Z. Drabla	...	Germaine Reinhardt
Natalie Stanford	...	Susan Lurie
Isabela Araujo	...	Venus in Furs Diva
Jill 'Spanky' Buchanan	...	Venus in Furs Diva
Nashom Benjamin	...	Venus in Furs Diva / Mona Foot (as Mona Foot)
Trash	...	Venus in Furs Diva
Trasharama	...	Venus in Furs Diva
Nashom Wooden	...	Venus in Furs Diva
Peter Bowen	...	Factory Workman
Ryan Landry	...	Ivory

Runtime:

82 min | Spain:94 min | Sweden:92 min | UK:80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:Open (rating surrendered: 1992) | USA:R (original rating: 1992)

Filming Locations:

Central Park, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

American Playhouse

Trivia:

Both of the real killers of the story, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, appear in archival footage sampled in the film. These scenes, and most of the other footage in the film, was provided by the Chicago Historical Society.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: Characters use telephones with Touch Tone dialing-systems and other modern devices, even though the film is set in the early 1920's. The placement of such anachronistic objects was deliberate on the part of the filmmakers.

Movie Connections:

References A Clockwork Orange (1971)

intriguing, puzzeling and yet satisfying film

"Swoon" is an enigmatic, sometimes almost inaccessible film that I continue to find oddly emotionally satisfying, even after having seen it at least a dozen times. An intentionally chaotic jumble of images and brilliance, speckled with anachronisms, sly winks at the camera, stock footage and allegorical sound affects, the film functions more like an avante-garde stage play than a typical movie- and yet it remains very cinematic, very engaging despite being occasionally cryptic, and very emotionally powerful- even surprisingly romantic in places- even though there is clearly a satiric and dry bent to the director's vision. Like a good Hal Hartley film, there is an intelligent handling of deep, dark emotions here, and for it's direct but never sensational treatment of massochism and obsession, I am incredibley thankful and eternally enlightened- I sort of wish would-be auteurs of the psychosexual (i.e. David Lynch) would take a cue from this strange but excellent little movie.