The Girl in a Swing (1988) Reviews

• Meg Tilly was fantastic

  smatysia2012-11-27

  Well, I liked this one a lot. To be sure, I was not shocked by the big revelation at the end, but I'm not at all sure I was supposed to be. I knew nothing of the film going in, so had no idea I was in for a bit of a ghost story. Meg Tilly was so beautiful. Easy to see why Alan Dresland (Frazer) would fall for her. I thought she utterly nailed this role. The secretiveness, the blossoming love, the creepy aura of something not quite right coming out, well, she knocked all of these out of the park. A lot has been made of her German accent in this role. It sounded fine to me. Granted, I'm a Texan, and speak no German (or Danish) at all.Yes I missed some of her dialogue, but I always miss a little of what people say in accented English. (OK, in a different accent than mine) She was fantastic, and I'm sorry I haven't seen more of her over the years.

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• One of the most amazing performances by an actress in the 1980s

  robert-temple-12011-03-10

  For some mysterious reason which I shall never understand, the inspired and brilliant actress Meg Tilly has never achieved appropriate recognition for her amazing talent. This is one of her finest films, and yet it has never even been released as a DVD. I had to obtain a rare and expensive old VHS video of it, and even that was a 'screening copy for promotional purposes only', so that I wonder if even that was ever properly released. The film also contains what may well have been the finest performance by Rupert Frazer, who subsequently did most of his work for television, and has also been under-appreciated. Meg Tilly's performance in this film is so outstanding that it really is in a category of its own, far exceeding anything one would ever expect to see on screen. The history of the cinema is full of charmers and sirens, and many of the world's most beautiful women are there to be seen by one and by all. But sometimes on very rare occasions, something so special happens, someone so far excels the norm, that it is like a miracle. This is one of those occasions. As Rémy de Gourmont pointed out, the mediaeval poet Goddeschalk made an essential point when he wrote: 'You love in order to make yourself beautiful.' Here this is exquisitely portrayed by Meg Tilly, whose intense and passionate love for Rupert Frazer transforms her and makes her far more beautiful than she would normally be. We can see these physical changes take place in her in front of our very eyes. This is a magical transfiguration, like being witness to an act of sheer witchcraft. The film is excellently and sensitively directed by Gordon Hessler, who is now in his 80s and who retired from directing in 1991. There is excellent support from Nicholas Le Prevost, Lynsey Baxter, Helen Cherry (Trevor Howard's wife, in her last feature film), and others. But this film is essentially a story of love obsession between two people, into which a most devastating tragedy has intruded. The 'girl in a swing' is at the same time both a rare piece of porcelain depicting a girl on a swing, and Meg Tilly herself, whose apotheosis as a kind of incarnation of Aphrodite takes place in the garden when she has been swinging, with nothing on but a hat. There is a supernatural dimension to this film which only becomes clear towards the latter part of the story. Meg Tilly's character has been a girl of mystery from the beginning of the story, and the mystery only deepens and deepens. Rupert Frazer plays a very old-fashioned young Englishman of the sort who does not really exist anymore. He meets her in Copenhagen, she has an obscure or non-existent 'background', but they marry and she moves to England where they live for a while idyllically in his country house. The film is based upon a novel by Richard Adams. Much of it is set in Wiltshire, with several scenes taking place upon the great White Horse which is carved into the hilltop at Westbury, seen several times in magnificent aerial shots, along with lush shots of the sweeping green hills and fields of the West Country. The film has so much atmosphere that it crackles. The film would probably have failed if it were not for the central performance by Meg Tilly, as everything depends upon her being utterly convincing, and not many actresses could have summoned up the magic to become a naiad or dryad right before our bedazzled eyes in the way that she does. This film really is in a category of its own, a classic which has been entirely forgotten, or more probably was never recognised in the first place. How can the bewitching Meg Tilly possibly have been swept to one side as she was in her career, in favour of hordes of inferior actresses? I first saw her when Milos Forman's VALMONT (1989) was released a year after this film, and I thought she was extraordinary then. But this enthralling performance ranks with the greatest portrayals of a mysterious romantic woman in any film, in my opinion. The ultimate mysteries are those of the heart, as this film so magnificently and entrancingly reminds us.

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• only your image trembles in my heart.

  triple82003-08-15

  Possibly one of the most haunting novels I've ever read, the movie while good isn't at all in the same league as the novel. This is the same problem another movie, "The other side of Midnight" had but that was actually better. Girl on a swing would be an awfully tough book to make into a movie and have it be flawless, the book simply was to atmospheric(mostly accomplished by incredible writing that the movie could not match). The main problem of this movie is that it kind of evolves into a horror. This book was never meant to be a "horror", more a combination Romance, thriller, mystery, ghost story all in one. The book is a riveting, heartbreaking piece of work, the movie is merely creepy. Doesn't even begin to capture the essence of Kaithe or Allen, relies more on the fear factor.(I'm not saying it's bad, actually it's good, just not in the same league as the book.) Spoilers :don't read on unless you want to know. The book didn't give anything away, I really, when reading it had no idea what would happen page by page. In the movie you kind of know what Kaithe's "secret" is going to be. Although I was delirious with joy to find the movie version of one of my all time favorite books I wish the compelling dreaminess of the book had been captured and that it had moved me more. I doubt many people would see this movie and call it "remarkable". Yet the book was. It told of the incredible love one man had for this woman and the terrible choice she made that doomed both of them as well as others. You might like the movie better if you don't read the book first but in any event I disagree with many that Meg Tilly didn't do a good job, she did all right. So my overall review is-good movie-amazing book.

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• I haven't read the book

  abacus242003-07-16

  The movie wasn't a masterpiece. But it was worth the time spent watching it. Whether it was intentional or not, the movie's slightly off-kilter tempo and underdeveloped story line gave it an eerie, life-like feeling. The interactions between Karin and Alan reminded me of having an interesting conversation with someone you just met. You spend hours laughing, exploring the world's fascinations and revealing intimate details about yourself, but after the conversation ends, you really can't recall anything about the other person; you're left wanting for more. I suppose because I hadn't read the book I had no expectations about it. To me, the movie was about a man who simply marries uncertainty. Alan never really knew Karin completely. Similar to life, we never really know everything about Karin; where she was from or what was going on inside her head. We had vague glimpses, but nothing concrete. Do you really know your spouse? I mean, really? We are always off-guard; we could never quite grab hold of Karin. I admit the movie was hard to watch, but I had this desire to finish it out. After it was over, I wanted more; like the starving man who eats the meager portions on his plate. He doesn't really care who made his meal or what is in it, but he knows he'll need more of it. Also, about Meg Tilley's much maligned German accent. She didn't deliver the stereotypical Marlene Dietrich or Colonel Klink accent; she sounds like the some of the real Germans I know here in the west side of Germany.

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• Girl in a Swing is a sleeper film of the first water- I'd call it perfect,

  Simon_Bocanegra2005-07-23

  but that would imply Ebert, Maltin, et al. are morons. And that's not what I intend to write about. ;-) This film is one of my favorites because it deals with animistic archetypes as living essences of Nature- and they're all around us all the time, even in our stultified modern lives......invisible to all. It's really perfectly pagan with a dash of the ancient gods, nymphs, etc., which is what the Girl really is- like Venus born of the foam of the Sea- and hints at exactly what Powers lie sleeping within...all of us. Our hero, Alan is a typical well-behaved English plodder, utterly predictable and boring, even a boring name- with only one passion- and it isn't love- or so he thinks. It is for his antique business and finding obscure and rare pieces. Like Ali Baba, he does just that, and somehow unleashes a Genie that in turn will unleash the passionate, loving Man lurking, sleeping in him- which will awaken him from his walking sleep. It's been a good 10 years since I've seen this film. I hope it is available in DVD at some point. It really is a superb piece of work.

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