Success of Tom Kalin's Swoon

Swoon (1992; Tom Kalin), inspired by the true story of Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold, Jr., has several elements in its favor when the viewer first sits down to watch it. The black-and-white color scheme of the visual images presented draws audience members into the movie’s world of 1920s Chicago. Purposeful placement of anachronistic objects by the filmmakers slightly confuse the viewer and brings them further inside the artistry on display in order to figure out a reason. Additionally, the most important of these elements would be that its narrative approaches territory new for films telling the story of this particular subject matter, namely that it focuses more on the homosexual relationship of the protagonists than the actual murder that they commit. In the end, though, Kalin fails to utilize these elements in a way that makes his movie anything more than merely a massive time suck that most people would hate to have playing in the background while they multitask, much less actually sit down and watch it. The film is boring, plain and simple. The writing and direction of the actors provides the audience with absolutely no reason to invest themselves in these characters, to care about them or their journey. In a film that focuses more on the gay relationship and the mentalities of these two men rather than the straight facts of case, this should be rather easy to do, yet Kalin is unsuccessful in delivery. It may be true that these characters, or rather the real men that inspired them, are the murderers of a child, but that should not prevent the filmmakers from being able to make us devote ourselves to them for the runtime. There is an inherent suspension of belief when checking out a film that makes our brains find solace and acceptance in characters where any sane person surely would not with real men. Take Walter White on AMC’s Breaking Bad (2008-2013), for example. This man is one of the most manipulative, devious, evil motherfuckers that exist. He