By George Kozera
After a 50-year career with the National Ballet of Canada (first as a dancer then as the company’s Artistic Director), Prima Ballerina Karen Kain chose Swan Lake as her retirement project. Under the skillful eye of Director Chelsea McMullan, SWAN SONG is an intimate and fascinating Documentary that takes the viewer into the world of Ballet; an artform that gets the cinematic short shrift when compared to other entertainment-based industries. Actress Neve Campbell has signed on as Executive Producer.
Karen Kain has been in the public eye since she received worldwide acclaimed for her performance in Swan Lake in 1971. Her ease and demeanour in front of the camera is impeccable, engaging the audience with the minutiae of choreographing and directing a classic piece. There also is an acknowledgment of the racial diversity within the ballerinas, and a decision for them not to wear the traditional pink tights but show their skin colours. I particularly loved Kain’s story of how Rudolf Nureyev whisked her off to a party where she was overwhelmed with being in the centre of celebrities and bowls of cocaine then taken aside by Andy Warhol who made her pose a certain way, snap a Polaroid and ultimately making her the first Canadian to be immortalized on canvas by the Artist.
Kain is not the only focal point of SWAN SONG. Many young ballerinas talk about their dreams, insecurities, triumphs while we watch their gruelling rehearsals and preparations. The insight provided the Principal Ballerina for this production of the Ballet, Jurgita Dronina, is invaluable as it graphically shows us the toll dancing takes on the body.
I was transfixed throughout SWAN SONG and will admit to shedding a few tears of awe and wonderment.
SWAN SONG screens at TIFF ’23:
Saturday, September 9 at Roy Thomson Hall, 2PM
Monday, September 11 at TIFF Bell Lightbox, 8:30PM
Friday, September 15 at Scotiabank, 1PM
Premiering at TIFF ’23, SWAN SONG gets a new Trailer premiere today! The Film saw Actress Neve Campbell sign-on as Executive Producer recently.
An expanded four-part limited series will premiere on
CBC Gem and CBC TV November 22, 2023
Synopsis:
SWAN SONG immerses viewers inside one of the world’s leading ballet companies as it mounts a legacy-defining new production of Swan Lake, directed by ballet icon Karen Kain on the eve of her retirement. With full access granted to the filmmakers, the verité-driven documentary closely follows Karen Kain and a group of young dancers drawn from across The National Ballet of Canada’s ranks, weaving Swan Lake’s dramatic creation process with intimate scenes from the subjects’ personal lives as they push toward one of the most significant nights in their company’s history. The film’s intimate, character-driven approach chronicles creative conflicts, devastating injuries and personal sacrifices amongst its subjects who, in various ways, confront ideals of race, class and body standards as they navigate a tradition that has historically valued uniformity and compliance.
Directed by: Chelsea McMullan
Produced by: Sean O’Neill
Written by: Chelsea McMullan & Sean O’Neill
Executive Producers: Sean O’Neill, Chelsea McMullan, Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier, Anna Godas, Oli Harbottle, Neve Campbel
Producer: Christina Carvalho
Directors of Photography: Tess Girard & Shady Hanna
Edited by: Brendan Mills
Additional Editing: Sabrina Budiman, John Gallagher
Original Score by: Katie Stelmanis
(Photo/video credit: Visitor Media)
SWAN SONG, a feature documentary that immerses viewers inside The National Ballet of Canada as it mounts a legacy-defining new production of Swan Lake, directed by ballet icon Karen Kain on the eve of her retirement, will make its world premiere at TIFF. Executive producer Neve Campbell is expected to attend the Festival in support of the film, which will screen as part of the Special Presentations program. SWAN SONG is directed by Chelsea McMullan (Ever Deadly, My Prairie Home), who wrote the film with producer Sean O’Neill (Crystal Pite: Angels’ Atlas, LIDO TV). Distributed in Canada by Blue Ice Docs, with international sales handled by Dogwoof, the feature documentary will be released theatrically in Canada on September 22, 2023. The project was developed with CBC and it will air as a four-part limited series on CBC Gem and CBC TV, premiering November 22, 2023.
“This project is deeply personal to me given my longtime admiration for Karen Kain and The National Ballet of Canada, starting with my time as a student at Canada’s National Ballet School,” said Neve Campbell, who joined the project as it entered production and this year celebrates the twentieth anniversary of The Company, the Robert Altman-directed ballet film she conceived of, produced and starred in. “Ballet was my first love, and SWAN SONG beautifully captures the incredible devotion, artistry and sacrifices that dancers make in their pursuit of creating something beautiful and meaningful. I’m so proud of our team and I can’t wait to celebrate the film.”
With full access granted to the filmmakers, the verité-driven SWAN SONG closely follows Kain and a group of young dancers drawn from across The National Ballet of Canada’s ranks, weaving Swan Lake’s dramatic creation process with intimate scenes from the subjects’ personal lives as they push toward one of the most significant nights in their company’s history. The film’s intimate, character-driven approach chronicles creative conflicts, devastating injuries and personal sacrifices amongst its subjects who, in various ways, confront ideals of race, class and body standards as they navigate a tradition that has historically valued uniformity and compliance.
“I’m so pleased that Swan Song will premiere at TIFF, and that the wonderful Neve Campbell is a part of the film’s team. Agreeing to open up the creative process of a brand new production of Swan Lake to a crew of filmmakers was a vulnerable act, to say the least,” says Kain, who stepped into the role of Director for the first time in her nearly 50-year career as a dancer and Artistic Director with her production of Swan Lake. “However, the film’s extraordinary crew made the process far more intuitive than I expected and by the end, it felt as if we were all in it together. I look forward to celebrating the film and everyone involved this fall, most especially the extraordinary artists and staff at The National Ballet of Canada who brought Swan Lake to life.”
“Making Swan Song has been an epic, three-year journey and I’m thrilled to finally be sharing the film with audiences, at TIFF and beyond,” says McMullan. “Collaborating with such a talented, dedicated team to realize a project so ambitious has changed me as a filmmaker, and Neve’s sensitivity and deep understanding of the life of a ballet dancer has enriched our process immeasurably. I want to thank our subjects and The National Ballet of Canada for trusting us with their awe-inspiring work and moving stories.”
SWAN SONG is a Visitor Media production in association with Mercury Films Inc. and Quiet Ghost. It is presented by Blue Ice Docs and Dogwoof. O’Neill produces along with Christina Carvalho. McMullan, O’Neill, Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier, Anna Godas and Oli Harbottle are executive producers alongside Campbell. SWAN SONG was produced in association with CBC, Telefilm Canada, the Canada Media Fund, Ontario Creates, and the Rogers Cable Network Fund. For CBC, Sally Catto is General Manager, Entertainment, Factual, & Sports; Jennifer Dettman is Executive Director, Unscripted Content; Sandra Kleinfeld is Senior Director, Documentary; and Grazyna Krupa is Executive in Charge of Programming, Unscripted Content.
(Photo credit: Tiziano Lugli)
Glenn Close and two-time Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali star in SWAN SONG, coming soon to Apple TV+. Something truly affecting for the Holidays.
Synopsis:
Set in the near future, “Swan Song” is a powerful, emotional journey told through the eyes of Cameron (Mahershala Ali), a loving husband and father diagnosed with a terminal illness who is presented with an alternative solution by his doctor (Glenn Close) to shield his family from grief. As Cam grapples with whether or not to alter his family’s fate, he learns more about life and love than he ever imagined. “Swan Song” explores how far we will go, and how much we’re willing to sacrifice, to make a happier life for the people we love.
SWAN SONG arrives on Apple TV+ December 17, 2021.
(Photo/video credit: Apple TV+)
Review by David Baldwin
Pat Pitsenbarger (legendary character actor Udo Kier) used to be a popular hairdresser in Sandusky, Ohio. Now he lives his remaining years in a nursing home, folding napkins and sneaking a smoke or two when the nurses are not looking. When Pat discovers that one of his former clients has died and that her dying wish was for him to style her hair for the funeral, he escapes the home and sets his sights on rediscovering his roots.
SWAN SONG was one of my most anticipated films going into SXSW, and I was sadly left disappointed after watching it. Writer/Director Todd Stephens has constructed an intensely personal film about a larger than life character (based on a real person), and tells his story through a dream-like haze of memories, grief and regret. His intentions making the film are sincere, but it never feels like he is sure of himself or the story he wants to tell. Instead, he lets the Film meander from scene to scene completely disconnected from each other, bringing in new characters to interact with Pat and add very little to the plot that we cannot already surmise on our own from the things he tells them. Some of the more ghostly characters add a bit of depth to the proceedings, though it never seems clear what Stephens is getting at by adding them into the mix. With the way he stages the Film, perhaps it would have worked better as a Documentary about the real life Pat interspersed with dramatizations? At the very least, it would have made the Film feel more structurally sound.
All of those issues aside, it is still a great delight to see Kier in a rare leading role. He pours his heart and soul into his performance as Pat and has an uncanny knack for ensuring the camera stays focused squarely on him. His character is a little unconventional and a little bit of a caricature of stereotypical gay men. It is borderline offensive in some instances, and so pure and devastating in others. Kier’s weathered facial expressions say so much about Pat that the film around him simply cannot. The Supporting Cast do what they can –Jennifer Coolidge and Ira Hawkins are the two standouts – but no one comes even close to matching the Kier’s strength. His work here is beautiful and it deserved a much better film to house around it.
SWAN SONG screens Thursday, March 18, 2021 starting at 1 PM.
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