The Song of Sway Lake

I would have watched this just for Elizabeth Pena, who I have loved since I Married Dora.

I am personally grateful they gave a nod to her in the dedications, although her name should have been first -- it was her last film. But, that's just me.

Borrowing the past to make a past of your own to have a future, or even just memories -- I enjoyed the film very much.

THE SONG OF SWAY LAKE

Love a film that walks off the main path and out into the forest. That is not like many of its big, blockbuster cousins. A film with delicate subtley.

This utter gem from Ari Gold is such a film. Evocative and beautiful scenery play a big part in creating a magical feel. The heady soundtrack also is a key player. (Ethan Gold)

We meet Ollie and his slightly erratic Russian friend Nikolai, off to steal a valuable 78 record from his grandmother's lakeside home to make a fortune. Craziness ensues fuelled by drink and freedom. It turns on a coin though when the matriarch of the house returns looking for the same 78. If you love a film with a real story line, a deeper level storyline, you will love this delightful trip of a movie.

Very, very strong performances from all the cast involved. I was very moved by the dance scene towards the end. You may need tissues. Love moves in mysterious ways.

I'd give this a solid 10/10

From the first time it is difficult to say what exactly is meant in the film. Is it about the collector and his search for the record? About how a person finds love? Or is it a story about the past, present and future? Everyone will find in the picture its meaning. The meaning that is close to you. This film immerses you in a world far from the hustle and bustle, where everything lives its unusual and unique life. Light melancholy about summer and childhood, about the time when the world was completely different. The action takes place slowly, giving us a feel for the atmosphere and characters. It doesn't make you bored, it makes you dive into the movie again and again. For me it was a story about the past, a painful and sad past that does not allow me to forget about myself. The story of Ollie, who lost his father-the only person who understood him. He wants to find something special for him. The story of Nikolai, who is looking for wealth, but finds something completely different. He faces the fact that not everything can be stolen. The past cannot be returned, history cannot be rewritten. Each of the characters is afraid to meet with himself, to reveal himself and his feelings for others. You will remember the story for a long time after viewing, go back to it again and find something new. Many thanks to the whole team for this incredible story and emotions experienced during the viewing. Such a vivid and sensual film a great rarity now.

Sway Lake and summer go together like sun and hammocks .. or martinis and olives. Ari Gold's The Song of Sway Lake was actually released on June 21, the first day of summer! Location? A swanky lake house in the Adirondacks -- a dazzling paradise for swell-egant parties of the New York jazz-age upper crust.

Sway. It's not a common word but it conjures up sensual images of hips, dancing, bourbon and Gershwin. It could mean swing, undulate, guide, persuade. From the opening, rather erotic, underwater scene, The Song of Sway Lake blends the dreamy and the realistic, the mystical and the practical, blurring the lines between the ephemeral and the concrete, the past and the now. The first plunge into the lake is both a dip into misty memory and a crisp splash to erase it.

The cinematic period piece makes the viewer feel as if he/she is floating back in time...hearing the silver tones of Ethan Gold's mesmerizing melody, crooned by both John Grant and the Staves (Andrews Sisters reincarnated) is almost like being drawn in by the Sirens -- only we're not in Ancient Greece. We're not even in the 1940's. We're back in the 1990's...but completely sweetened by reminiscence.

In fact, reminiscence permeates the film, from plot to soundtrack. From the opening montage, one feels the pull (dare I say sway) of a time gone by, hovering in a '40's haze. Ethan's music is as haunting as the film - it's a blend of misty and crisp. Cole Porter or Ethan Gold ? The soundtrack title song wafts through the film with charcoal smokiness. I truly can't get the Song of Sway Lake melody out of my head -- nor do I want to. It's totally addictive and liquid like the lake, yet solid like a long-lasting sliver of art, rock or humanity.

As I see it, there are two types of people: those who are nostalgic and those who aren't. Proust nailed it with his Madeleine moment. With Song of Sway Lake, filmmaker Ari gold and twin brother, composer Ethan Gold appear to be members of the former club. A maestro of cinema, Ari paints the screen with wide, elegant brushstrokes of memory, sprinkled with speckles of here-and-now.

Plot? Jazz music collector Ollie Sway (the soul-searching, fiery Rory Culkin), grandson of Charlie (divinely timeless, elegant Mary Beth Peil), the owner of the magical house on Sway Lake, is on a mission to find a valuable record -- the only pressed 78 recording of her wedding song. He enlists his rough-around-the-edges Russian drifter friend (charming Robert Sheehan) to help steal the record from his wealthy grandmother 's estate. There's even a rather enchanting if offbeat, romantic seesaw sway between Charlie and her grandson's comrade. Theme? The tug between grasping tidbits of our past, archiving our detailed lives vs. letting go, living in the present. Style? Eric Rohmer meets Wes Anderson.

The Brazilians think that melancholy and bliss are connected. Perhaps the Gold brothers are part Brazilian --the translucent lake scintillates with the fragility of life and the permanence of death -- the fascination with murkiness and fear of finality.

Ultimately, Song of Sway Lake glistens. Like our lives, it is layered with dissonance and harmony, raw in texture. It is both evocative and haunting.

The aesthetics of the film were amazing, there were some beautiful shots. The plot was straight forward and the characters were fairly fleshed out. Robert Sheehan played a particularly colorful character named Nikolai, who spent a good bit of the movie barely or not at all clothed - so if you're in it for gratuitous Sheehan, you're all set. Overall it was really enjoyable for my friend and I, though we didn't spend much time discussing it after talking about what we thought happened after the ending. As a comparable musical once said, "Look, I know it's not a perfect show...It does what it's supposed to do; it takes you to another world. A little something for when you're feeling blue, you know?" And this film did just that. It's an escape to a warmer, more interesting place of exploration and ultimately growth.