Main Cast: Daniel Schlachet, Craig Chester, Ron Vawter, Michael Kirby, Michael Stumm
Release Year: 1991
Country: US
Run Time: 95 minutes
MPAA Rating: NR
Plot
Tom Kalin directed this cool and aloof black-and-white study of the infamous Leopold and Loeb case, a case told before in two previous films -- Rope and Compulsion. In 1924, in Chicago, Nathan Leopold Jr. and Richard Loeb, two 18-year-olds, kidnapped and murdered the 13-year-old Bobby Franks, immediately killing him and then stuffing his naked body up a culvert. The motive for the crime was simply that they wanted to prove to themselves that they were smart enough to get away with it. The previous film versions downplayed Leopold and Loeb's homosexuality, but Kalin's version plays it up into a psychosexual motif. Loeb (Daniel Schlachet) is the calculating intellectual, while Leopold (Craig Chester), the amateur ornithologist, is the emotional and weak one. In love with Loeb, Leopold is willing to do anything for him, and when Leob uses the withholding of sex as a prompt, Leopold is even willing to commit murder to have his sexual desires satisfied by Loeb. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Review
The term "cold exercise in style" may as well have been invented for this harbinger of the New Queer Cinema of the early '90s. As far as arty exercises go, though, Tom Kalin's debut feature remains an eminently watchable one. Filmed in high-contrast black-and-white and set to an uneasy orchestral score, Swoon is based on the original "trial of the century" -- the one that also inspired Alfred Hitchcock's Rope and Richard Fleischer's Compulsion. Yet by foregrounding what was, to varying degrees, merely homosexual subtext in those earlier films, Swoon refashions the material into an au courant examination of gay identity. Unlike Compulsion, a courtroom drama, and Rope, a taut set piece, Kalin's film delves further into the inner lives of the neurotic Leopold (Craig Chester) and the manipulative Loeb (Daniel Schlachet). Though it details key points in the murder and subsequent investigation, Kalin's script spends more time examining the twisted domesticity and psychological give-and-take of the squabbling murderers. An extended coda follows Loeb through his long prison sentence, lending a sense of scope and reflection to the proceedings, while stylized voice-overs give the entire proceedings the feel of an internal monologue. The script's political overtones may seem dated this far from the age of ACT UP, but they no more detract from the viewing experience than Hitchcock's camera showmanship does from the white-knuckle thrills of Rope. A product of its times, Swoon transcends them with careful craftsmanship and emotional acuity. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
Valda Z. Drabla - Germaine Reinhardt; Oscar Aleman - Press Conference Extra; Ed Altman - Mike Leopold; Isabela Araujo - Venus in Fur Diva; Robert Austin - Allan Loeb; Glenn Backes - James Day; Emanuel Baetich - Press Conference Extra; Robert Beck - Press Conference Extra; Michael Becker - Phrenology Head; Malcolm A. Beers, Jr. - Nathan Leopold, Jr.; Zoe Bissell - Phrenology Head; Dean C. Blanco - Courtroom Extra; Barbara Bleier - Mrs. Loeb; Gregg Bordowitz - Phrenology Head; Catarina Borelli - Courtroom Extra; Peter Bowen - Factory Workman; Judith Boxley - Mrs. Franks; Jill Buchanan - Venus in Fur Diva; Dick Callaghan - Country Workman; Christopher Cangelosi - Little Boy in Park; Barry Cassidy - Courtroom Extra; Brent Charleton - Irving Hartman; David Cheever - Courtroom Extra; Paul Connor - Bobby Franks; Addison Cook - Prison Guard; James Crafford - Courtroom Extra; Douglas Crimp - Prison Mugshot; James Cummings - Interrogation Cop; Mike Diaz - Press Conference Extra; Phelim Dolan - Prison Mugshot; Richard Elovich - Doctor Hulbert; Patricia Fabricant - Phrenology Head; Steven Flum - Courtroom Extra; Mona Foot - Venus in Fur Diva; Robert Funes - Prisoner; Lou Galiardo - Courtroom Extra; Carl M. George - Courtroom Extra; Debra Goodman - Courtroom Extra; Joseph Harding - Courtroom Extra; Christopher Hoover - Elektra Luxe; Ken Howarth - Sven Englund, Chauffeur; Verne F. Hoyt - Night Cop; Andrea Kislan - Phrenology Head; Pamela Koffler - Phrenology Head; Anna Kohler - Courtroom Extra; Heidi Kriz - Courtroom Extra; Gary Lamadore - Interrogation Cop; Ryan Landry - Ivory; Maddy Lederman - Press Conference Extra; Douglas Leland - Prison Guard; Barry Liebowitz - Mr. Franks; Christie MacFadyen - Reporter; Scott K. MacArthur - Courtroom Extra; Julian Marynczak - Workman in Marsh; John McGee - Courtroom Extra; Robert McKanna - Reporter; Jean Claude Monfort - Clinic Doctor; John A. Mudd - Detective Sbarbaro; Dana Nasrallah - Courtroom Extra; Michael Nesline - Clinic Doctor; Craig Paull - Country Workman; Adina Porter - Stenographer; Owen H. Ranft - Prisoner; Robert Read - Clarence Darrow; Bobby Reed - Reporter; Jerome F. Richards - Courtroom Extra; Carlos Rodriguez - Country Workman; John Rowan - Man with Newspaper; Paul Rubin - Father Weir; Elion Sacker - Country Workman; Richard Schechner - Radio Announcer; Emily Sherman - Phrenology Head; Mark Simpson - Bailiff; Natalie Stanford - Susan Lurie; Philip Stanton - Gene Lovitz; Hobson Sturtevant - Courtroom Extra; Stanley Taub - Mr. Loeb; Tanya Taylor - Press Conference Extra; Emmitt Thrower - Country Workman; Elizabeth Towson - Courtroom Extra; Trash - Venus in Fur Diva; Trasharama - Venus in Fur Diva; Richard R. Upton - Clinic Doctor; Robert Vazquez - Prisoner; Alex Vean - Prisoner; John Ventimiglia - Prison Guard; Pepe Vives - Night Detective; William Walters - Clinic Doctor; Ray Wasik - Mean Prison Guard; Eric J. Wiggins III - Country Workman; Nashom Wooden - Venus in Fur Diva; Burt Wright - Warden; Daniel Haughey - Ornithologist; Todd Haynes - Phrenology Head; James Lyons - Prison Mugshot; Nina Port - Phrenology Head; Lauren Zalaznick - Phrenology Head; Paul Schmidt - Judge Caverly; Jim Crawford - Prison Barber; Robert Sullivan - Night Desk Officer
Credit
Peter Wentworth - Associate Producer, Daniel Haughey - Casting, Tom Kalin - Co-producer, Jessica Haston - Costume Designer, Tom Kalin - Director, Sheldon Kahn - Editor, Tom Kalin - Editor, James Schamus - Executive Producer, Lauren Zalaznick - Executive Producer, James Bennett - Composer (Music Score), Jim Crawford - Makeup, Therese DePrez - Production Designer, Ellen Kuras - Cinematographer, Denny Vachlioti - Producer, Christine Vachon - Producer, Tom Kalin - Screenwriter
Swoon is an independent film written and directed by Tom Kalin, released in 1992. It is an account of the 1924 Leopold and Loeb murder case, focusing more on the homosexuality of the killers than other movies based on the case. It starred Daniel Schlachet as Loeb and Craig Chester as Leopold.
1992 Berlin International Film Festival - Caligari Film Award, Best Feature - Tom Kalin
1992 Sundance Film Festival - Cinematography Award (Dramatic) - Ellen Kuras, nominated for Grand Jury Prize
1993 Independent Spirit Awards - Nominated for Best Cinematography (Ellen Kuras), Best Director (Tom Kalin), Best First Feature, and Best Male Lead (Craig Chester)
1992 Gotham Awards - Open Palm Award - Tom Kalin
1992 Stockholm International Film Festival - FIPRESCI Prize for Best Feature, Audience Award
1993 Fantasporto - Directors' Week Award - Tom Kalin
