Swan Song
I made the decision to watch Swan Song. Why? I’m not really sure. I like Mahershala Ali and I’ve heard very good things about his performance in this movie so when I saw it was available to watch on Apple TV+ I was like, “Eh. Why not?” For those who have no idea about this film, Mahershala Ali’s character is going to die. (we never find out what he is actually sick with)
the film follows him as he grapples with the decision to use new technology to implant his personality and memories into a clone of him that will take his place and make it so that his family doesn't have to mourn his death. The cast is rounded out with Naomie Harris, who plays his wife, Awkwafina, who plays a character who has been through what Mahershala Ali’s character is going through before, and Glenn Close, who plays his doctor.
I am not going to discuss too much of my thoughts on the story because I thought it was kind of ludicrous. I mean, I think human life is much too complex to be copied into a clone. Even though technology is becoming quite advanced, I do not believe it will ever get advanced enough to create clones that pass for humans. That is just my belief, though. Watch in 50 years, cloning will be a normal, everyday occurrence and I’ll have to eat my words. The heart was there, though. The emotions of the story still got to me even though the minutiae of the story is a little nonsensical, in my opinion.
I heard that this is one of Mahershala Ali’s best performances, and I have to agree. His other, Oscar-winning performances have been more nuanced and you can feel that the characters he is portraying have some real depth to them; even if he doesn’t come right out and say something, you can feel that sentiment just underneath the surface. This performance is more outwardly emotional. You can see and feel his struggle throughout the film. I personally like that but there is something special about actors that can successfully portray a subtle character. The love and passion he had for his family was completely believable. With some actors, I watch and just don’t see the chemistry or believe that they really love each other in real life. This was not a problem here, though. Mahershala Ali and Naomie Harris have perfect chemistry! They look like they belong together.
This leads me to Naomie Harris. I HAVE HEARD NOTHING ABOUT HER PERFORMANCE! Zero. zilch. I don’t get why. I thought it was great! I thought she acted well as a mother, she acted sexy and appealing as a romantic partner, she had excellent chemistry with the actors that played across from. I don’t get why no one would talk about it. It had some of everything.
I did not love Glenn Close’s character in this film. I was surprised because I normally love Glenn Close in just about everything. I don’t know what it was. No, I do. She was too serious. She was too serious but in a content way. She was one of those people who psychologists probably think are really interesting but who I am just annoyed by. They are dealing with problems that are so emotional for people yet they don’t seem to have any emotion. Or empathy. I just want to grab people like that by the shoulders, shake them, and scream, “Show me that you’re human!!” But, you know, upon further thought, if she truly felt her emotions, she could probably only do her job of helping the clinically ill for like a couple years before she got emotionally exhausted.
Surprisingly, I did not love Awkwafina’s character in this movie either. She doesn’t really have a backstory, she is just there. Since she is not the main character in the story, it makes sense that her background did not get delved into too much, but I felt like I did not care about her character as much as I could have if she had been explored more. Whatever, she played her part of the advice-giving patron fine regardless.
I thought that the color scheme was very in keeping with the tone of the film. The use of more subtle hues and the use of more natural colors as well as the near-constant grey sky reinforced the solemnity of this film and this story.
In conclusion, I liked this movie. I didn’t love it. You can watch it for free via Apple TV+. I don’t see myself watching it again, but if you love heart wrenching films and/or you love Mahershala Ali, by all means, watch it. It’s not bad, you won’t be sad that you watched it.
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