'Swan Song' doesn't dig as deep as I thought it might have, though it is still a film I found to be intriguing.
It has a fab cast list, with Mahershala Ali producing the goods in the lead role. Naomie Harris, Awkwafina, Glenn Close and Adam Beach also feature. I kinda feel like I wanted to see more of them, though that could just be as actors - rather than their characters, who are shown enough.
This 2021 film holds a lot of heart so it's difficult not to attach yourself to the story, in that regard I particularly enjoyed the ending. It's a slow burn but never drags. 3* for me, it's worth a sit through I'd say.
With an interesting approach, it proposes themes that it doesn't explore, because it chooses romantic sentimentality over existential dystopia, embracing the love story to the detriment of science fiction. It is such a maudlin film that it does not even manage to convey emotions, and loses the opportunity to reflect on the condition of the human being faced with the possibility of going beyond one's own mortality.
Generally wasnt in the best of moods, feeling rather unwell too.. yet decided to watch this. Was as bleak as I expected, however beautifully done. Also asks the viewer a lot of questions.. mainly the question of.. would you do such a thing?
also never has Awkwafina made me sob before until this film.. really was great to see her cast in a role which didn't only lean into her comedic style
A meandering first half gives way to a dynamic, sometimes devastating second. Worth sticking with.
Very slow pace, but beautiful and thought-provoking. I really enjoyed the creative new arrangements of familiar tunes which make up this fabulous gentle soundtrack.
Star Trek V: “They're the things we carry with us, the things that make us who we are. If we lose them, we lose ourselves. I don't want my pain taken away! I need my pain!”
Ship of Theseus meets Schrodinger's cat . . .
Everything the story lacked Mahershala Ali made up for a gazillion times, what an unexpectedly beautiful watch.
Beautifully shot and acted, but less dark or deep than I had hoped. Though many nitpicks lie ahead, I had to rate this highly for the aesthetics and the lush, unrushed pacing.
I have to question the casting of "Awkwafina" in a primarily Black film given she still hasn't answered for building a career on horrendous anti-Black cultural appropriation. Though she did a fine job, her presence was so weird and inappropriate to me that it was intensely distracting. There's a million other WOC who could've crushed that role without the anti-Black baggage.
Spoilers ahead-
I feel like the threat of menace with Jack was dropped out of nowhere. He had a violent outburst and then...nothing? Maybe they intended for us to assume that Jack would end up snapping and hurting the family, but that seems too dark a takeaway for how maudlin the ending was filmed. I can tell you if my spouse threw something across the room, I wouldn't be snuggling in bed with them that same night. The way that was filmed was very menacing and then everyone just acted like it didn't happen? Plus the "foreshadowing" with Jack having not completed his psych evaluation? I'm confused.
The moral quandries introduced are not really explored, and that's a shame. The thought of my loved one dying alone, watching me through someone else's eyes, is so sad. Devastating. Especially considering that's so close to what happened to so many people with COVID. This film didn't hit me like I thought it would. Somehow it didn't fully capture the tragedy of this choice, or the potential betrayal at the heart of it all. It's nonsense to base such a big decision on a throwaway comment from your spouse.
I had a thought at the end what if we saw a future where everyone replaced themselves and then their replacements were all living with each other, all thinking they were originals, forever?
Shout by rigby_eleanor__BlockedParent2021-12-29T21:45:45Z
What an amazing episode of Black Mirror.