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Swan Song

Play trailer 1:57 Poster for Swan Song Released Jul 26 1h 40m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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86% Tomatometer 21 Reviews 80% Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
An immersive, behind-the-scenes look at one of the world's leading ballet companies as it mounts a new production of Swan Lake. Ballet icon Karen Kain, on the eve of her retirement, directs the National Ballet of Canada. The film weaves together intimate scenes of the creative process and the dancers' personal lives.
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Swan Song

Critics Reviews

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Kevin Maher Times (UK) Ballet enthusiasts will, presumably, find plenty of eye candy in this whoppingly unremarkable backstage documentary about eight busy weeks of preparation before the National Ballet of Canada’s production of Swan Lake in 2022. Rated: 2/5 Aug 16, 2024 Full Review Leslie Felperin Guardian McMullan has a light touch with these deeper themes, and edits together the dance sequences seamlessly, tweaking the music in places to give the film an extra modernity. Rated: 3/5 Aug 12, 2024 Full Review Lisa Kennedy Variety Director Chelsea McMullan, along with co-writer and producer Sean O’Neill, have crafted a work that echoes the artform’s grace and rigor, physical demands and details. Aug 12, 2024 Full Review Hayley Croke Loud and Clear Reviews What McMullan is able to do through their filming style is nothing short of revolutionary. We as the audience become a part of the Swan Lake corps. With every breath, every grunt and every bead of sweat captured. Rated: 4.5/5 Oct 25, 2024 Full Review Eileen G'Sell Hyperallergic The dancers we grow to know (and love) in Swan Song are sweating, swearing, soaring women, at odds with conceptions of purity and frailness. Oct 17, 2024 Full Review Victoria Luxford City AM Swan Song does a terrific job of showing the grittier side of ballet, something still dismissed by many as too gentile and cosseted. It may not inspire anyone to pirouette, but you leave the film with a new respect for what the dancers go through. Rated: 3/5 Aug 21, 2024 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Tanya M Watched the original mini-series on CBC Gem. Very moving and honest documentary about the price paid by young artists, in this case ballet, in societies whose governments do not value and sufficiently support them. Get a job in Europe, girls! Lots of scenes of Canada's sweetheart, Karen Kain, keeping the whole thing going, and the magnificent new performing arts hall in Toronto. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 07/31/24 Full Review Read all reviews
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Movie Info

Synopsis An immersive, behind-the-scenes look at one of the world's leading ballet companies as it mounts a new production of Swan Lake. Ballet icon Karen Kain, on the eve of her retirement, directs the National Ballet of Canada. The film weaves together intimate scenes of the creative process and the dancers' personal lives.
Director
Chelsea McMullan
Producer
Sean O'Neill, Christina Carvalho
Screenwriter
Sean O'Neill, Chelsea McMullan
Distributor
Greenwich Entertainment
Production Co
Visitor Media, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Quiet Ghost, Mercury Films Inc., Dogwoof
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jul 26, 2024, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Jul 26, 2024
Runtime
1h 40m
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