Teens have been rebellious for all of time, apparently. The "swing kids" in the movie are German teens between the ages of 14-18 who grow their hair out long and go out dancing all night in swing clubs and live by their motto: "Swing Heil". Obviously teens being rebellious is dangerous enough but the swing kids are engaging in the celebration of American culture, even much of the music they listen to being recorded by African-American and Jewish artists. You understand where I'm going with this. It is very dangerous but they're teenagers and have to have what they're told they can't. So let's get into this:
Our two leads, friends Thomas (a young Christian Bale) and Peter (a young Robert Sean Leonard), are members of the swing kid group and are later forced to join the Hitler-Jungen ("Hitler's Youth" or "Hitler's Boys" in English) and being teenagers they comply but at night still continue to sneak out to go dancing. Let's just say this doesn't turn out well, for anyone. Thomas begins to enjoy the feeling of the swastika on his arm and Peter begins to question his own morals as well as his friends. There's a quite incredible scene shared by the two toward the climax of the film where they get into a heated argument over those said morals. It's really interesting to me to really see what that program did to kids. Thomas was only there because he had to be and was getting into fights and mocking the Nazis early in the film, only to become one in the end.
The friendship between is probably the strongest part of the movie. The second being the gorgeous choreography. I don't know, maybe it's the musical theatre nerd in me but I'm just a sucker for a good dance sequence. And this movie has plenty! Now here comes the part of the show where I address all the problems and in all honesty, I was surprised at the amount of hate this film received. It even made it on legendary critic Roger Ebert's most hated movies list. Let me say it right now, this movie is not bad. Maybe it's not the best, maybe you don't like it, but I'm still quite confused as to why it's hated as much as it is. The biggest problem I hear with it (besides the lackluster script) was that it was too tame. It does feature characters getting beaten up badly (you do see blood for those scenes) and characters dying, one character must even deliver the cremated ashes of those who were considered enemies of the state door to door! It is PG-13 and would've received an R rating had it been as gruesome as many critic's wanted. But it's not really about the Holocaust. It's a story about expression and trying to survive and stay true in a world where that's virtually impossible to do. And that is one of the strengths of the movie
Usually missed opportunity films leave me feeling cheated out of my money or just plain miserable or frustrated. Some even make me wonder why I ever watched movies and make me ashamed that I watch/review them in my spare time. This one is interesting. Question of the day that usually determines how I rank movies: will I watch it again? I...don't know. Knowing myself, I probably would, mostly for the swing sequences. Verdict: I don't think this movie was very bad, nor was it very good. I liked it unironically which should mean it's good, right? I actually don't really know. Ah, well, I thought it was all right. It's still a riveting and interesting story that I'm glad I've seen. It earns itself a solid seven out of ten. Think I might as well give it that.
Our two leads, friends Thomas (a young Christian Bale) and Peter (a young Robert Sean Leonard), are members of the swing kid group and are later forced to join the Hitler-Jungen ("Hitler's Youth" or "Hitler's Boys" in English) and being teenagers they comply but at night still continue to sneak out to go dancing. Let's just say this doesn't turn out well, for anyone. Thomas begins to enjoy the feeling of the swastika on his arm and Peter begins to question his own morals as well as his friends. There's a quite incredible scene shared by the two toward the climax of the film where they get into a heated argument over those said morals. It's really interesting to me to really see what that program did to kids. Thomas was only there because he had to be and was getting into fights and mocking the Nazis early in the film, only to become one in the end.
The friendship between is probably the strongest part of the movie. The second being the gorgeous choreography. I don't know, maybe it's the musical theatre nerd in me but I'm just a sucker for a good dance sequence. And this movie has plenty! Now here comes the part of the show where I address all the problems and in all honesty, I was surprised at the amount of hate this film received. It even made it on legendary critic Roger Ebert's most hated movies list. Let me say it right now, this movie is not bad. Maybe it's not the best, maybe you don't like it, but I'm still quite confused as to why it's hated as much as it is. The biggest problem I hear with it (besides the lackluster script) was that it was too tame. It does feature characters getting beaten up badly (you do see blood for those scenes) and characters dying, one character must even deliver the cremated ashes of those who were considered enemies of the state door to door! It is PG-13 and would've received an R rating had it been as gruesome as many critic's wanted. But it's not really about the Holocaust. It's a story about expression and trying to survive and stay true in a world where that's virtually impossible to do. And that is one of the strengths of the movie
Usually missed opportunity films leave me feeling cheated out of my money or just plain miserable or frustrated. Some even make me wonder why I ever watched movies and make me ashamed that I watch/review them in my spare time. This one is interesting. Question of the day that usually determines how I rank movies: will I watch it again? I...don't know. Knowing myself, I probably would, mostly for the swing sequences. Verdict: I don't think this movie was very bad, nor was it very good. I liked it unironically which should mean it's good, right? I actually don't really know. Ah, well, I thought it was all right. It's still a riveting and interesting story that I'm glad I've seen. It earns itself a solid seven out of ten. Think I might as well give it that.