By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.8 cats
Director: Todd Stephens
Starring: Ira Hawkins | Jennifer Coolidge | Linda Evans | Michael Urie | Roshon Thomas | Udo Kier
Country: united_states
Year: 2021
Running time: 105
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10832274/reference
Chris says: “‘Veteran cult actor Udo Kier in a rare starring role as a flamboyant retired hairdresser in Sandusky, Ohio’ is all you need to know about this film. It doesn’t matter that he breaks out of his nursing home after he’s asked style the coiffure of his wealthiest former client (Linda Evans) for her funeral, or visits his protege/nemesis Dee Dee (Jennifer Coolidge) or spends a good time dealing with the grief of his lost past and his long-deceased partner.
“No, all these plot detours and convolutions are merely a backdrop to Kier’s performance and presence. Whether demurely smoking More cigarettes, decked out in a sea-green pantsuit, reveling to Melissa Manchester and Robyn songs or fashioning a crown out of an unlikely source, Kier is a gem to behold–fabulous and fearless, commanding yet approachable. For all its flaws and occasional rough edges, he makes SWAN SONG immensely watchable. 3.5 cats
“Screened at the Provincetown International Film Festival”
Julie says: “SWAN SONG was enjoyable. Based on a real character, Pat Pitsenbarger. Pat is invited to do the hair of an old client who has just passed away. So Pat escapes the confines of his nursing home. We go on an adventure with Pat in both real life and down memory lane as he ventures back to his old home town haunts and relationships in Sandusky Ohio. It’s fun and bittersweet. Udo Kier did a fantastic job portraying Pat. I see a best actor nomination for his performance 3.75 cats”
Philip says: “Swan Song feels like Todd’s come full circle from his first film about a high school boy coming out to a film about an elderly gay man trapped in an assisted living facility all alone with nothing left but his More cigarettes. Udo Kier opens his heart and plays Pat effervescently. My only disagreement was with the ending, but it’s Stephens film to create and I enjoyed the hell out of it. 4 cats”
Michael says: “I didn’t see this film until it’s lead actor, Udo Kier, was nominated for a Chlotrudis Award. I was worried that it was going to be one of those formulaic, sentimental films with a barbed tongue that we’ve seen many times before. The set up sure makes it sound that way. An aging hairdresser escapes from a nursing home and travels through his old hometown of Sandusky, OH after a wealthy woman who was once his friend and client, requests that he do her hair for her funeral in her will. Okay, forget the fact that the friend and client in question is plaid by Linda Evans (yes, Krystle of ‘Dynasty’ fame), and that another former friend is played by Jennifer Coolidge, this film succeeds as well as it does because of Kier. It’s rare when an icon of the screen can disappear into a role after such a lengthy and notable career, but Kier does just that. However, he plays a character, and plays him well, but what makes him so appealing is what makes Udo Kier that riveting presence that he is. It all works, beyond expectation, and makes SWAN SONG rise above what could have been rather pedestrian. The writing is very sharp too. 4 cats”