The Swan

A young boy relentlessly bullied by two older boys finally finds the strength to escape his tormentors. The pair of cruel older boys, who enjoy shooting songbirds in the hedgerow and ultimately kill the titular bird while it's nurturing its young are so repulsive that they drift into caricature (as perhaps was the intent, as they are figments of the narrator's memories). Like Anderson's other recent Dahl interpretations, 'The Swan' is a stagy, borderline surreal, meta-production that puts style far ahead of content. The cast is great, as is the intricate imagery, so I enjoyed the short despite the disagreeable and mean-spirited cruelty that permeates the story.

I didn't realize that this was coming out so soon after Henry Sugar.

Shorts are a great way for the casual observer to get acclimated to Wes Anderson without overwhelming the viewer. Production design and set decoration are typically cool and quirky. Rupert Friend gives a fun performance.

I wish The French Dispatch would have been released the same way that these Roald Dahl shorts are coming out. It's much more manageable. They can be collected into one bigger film but they stand alone very nicely. Wes Anderson is clearly a big fan of Dahl and takes great care to present the stories in a way that honors both story and author.

Interesting, engaging and calmer than I would've thought. Rupert Friend is wonderful since being in Homeland awhile ago, it's great that he's had multiple roles in Wes projects! I love this one superb scenery as always and quite well made! Only a little about a Swan. The field is great, writing is smooth, and these Wes shorts are complex a lot to take in. Not a lot needs to be said but I'll try a nice mix of southern, action, storytelling, and somber. Not sure how anyone could hate on Wes projects except Rat Catcher that one was very peculiar even most the movies are all fantastic pieces of cinema.

'The Swan (2023)' is perhaps the most stripped-back of Wes Anderson's four Roald Dahl shorts, with only one real major character and a more relaxed approach to the intricate stage-like design that each entry in this pseudo series makes distinct use of. It really feels like Rupert Friend is reading you a story - occasionally altering his pitch, timbre and accent to do the voices of the various characters - and, in its own way, feels strangely intimate. The story itself, although presented with a certain level of twee whimsy, is incredibly bleak and culminates with an ending that hits you like a truck. It's a case of tell more than show, but the aesthetic is specifically designed to accommodate this and it actually makes some moments feel potentially more potent than they would have in more traditional fare. It's a compelling effort overall that moves at a solid pace and has a tangible emotional impact that sneaks up on you but leaves you speechless as the credits roll.

Part of Anderson's clutch of Netflix adaptations, and the second I saw after Henry Sugar. Stylistically it follows much the same Jackanory vibe of a singular narrator simply reading the story aloud surrounded by cinematic flourishes. Rupert Friend manages the breakneck staccato delivery with spellbinding intensity. Dahl's dark little satirical stories fit Anderson's mild sarcasm rather well and the all-encompassing aesthetic gels it fantastically. The rail tracks becoming stairs are an amazing flourish and it is hypnotic but I can't help but wonder if these stories could do with more space to breathe. There's an element of self consciousness behind the speed and artifice that takes away a little. Otherwise, very much dig it.