WORLD HISTORY 1 -- Mr. Joyce

Naïve yet eternally attractive is the idea that a generation can change the world through its music. New waves in music generally bring with them new attitudes, new swaggers and new conceits. The music is the rallying call, the insider's tongue, the sonic group spirit. It unites a special cadre attuned to its call and seals their bonds of alternativity. This tune is as old as music itself, as predictable as the turn of the seasons. New attitudes then usher in a new-found sense of cultural rebellion. But is cultural rebellion necessarily the same thing as political rebellion? Can the purity of sound be besmirched? Does the beat generate ripples of belonging? Does identity come from the need to belong or the need to rebel or the need to hear what's never been heard? Whether it be Charleston kickers, can-can dancers, jazz cats, Woodstock Nation or Rock-the-Voters, the rebellions aroused by the music are both real and chimerical. All this is a preface to why I like the movie Swing Kids. It can't fully make up its mind about these questions and more. And neither can I. Is music a revolutionary force or is it one of the masses' opiates? Are either/or constructs even appropriate paradigms for answering these questions or does the truth only become visible through various shades of gray? “Swing heil,” as they say in the movie. Some of you will surely think that I am layering too much meaning on this slight movie about a handful of German teens hipped to the swing sounds of 1939. At its worst, this could be another misguided Newsies. Or an Alan Parker movie -- i.e., a movie set in a very specific milieu filmed by one who, in no way, belongs to that milieu and director Thomas Carter being a black man originally from Smithville, Texas might have easily fallen into that category as he set out to depict 1939 Hamburg. Others will want to quibble with the history portrayed in Swing Kids. No doubt a footnote to the Nazi era, the movie is no less valid for its bloodless approach to the Holocaust. In its way, Swing Kids is looking not so much at the specifics of what happened as why and how it happened. It sees the Swing Kids and the Hitler Youth movement as flip sides of the same adolescent need for belonging. Musical wave or political frenzy? The greatest impact of Swing Kids is likely to be amongst youthful audiences who, themselves, are sorting out some of these age-old patterns of rebellion and for whom the Holocaust may be little more than a distant aberration. The movie also illustrates the pitfalls of compromise, how you can't just make one concession without it leading to more. Where does a Swing-Kid-by-day/Hitler-Youth-by-night teen draw the line? At the haircut? The uniform? The goose-stepping? Betrayal of friends? Becoming Death's errand boy? Still, I have to finally admit that I probably am reading more into Swing Kids than the movie can comfortably allow. The script isn't nearly smart enough to live up to its inherent premises and turmoil. In fact, the script is all too often downright clunky though it's saved by vigorous direction (especially in the dance sequences) and performances. To hear this movie you have to listen to the grace notes.