Swan Song (film)

• John Gielgud: Svetlovidov
• Richard Briers: Nikita

Swan Song is a British short film, which was created in 1992 under the direction of Kenneth Branagh. At the Academy Awards in 1993 he was nominated for Best Short Film in the category. It is based on Anton Chekhov's one-act play swan song. Location was the London Criterion Theatre.

Action

The 88- year-old actor Svetlovidov was left behind after an evening performance that brought him 16 curtains of his companions in the now empty theater. He muses on the stage of his life he devoted for more than 60 years of his art, first in prestigious theaters, then in vaudeville venues with lousy skits. Suddenly, Nikita, the prompter on. Nikita has no other shelter, so he is sleeping secretly in the theater. The actor talks about the idea and the subsequent shame and notes that he must die soon. The only thing he still give strength, would be the alcohol. Nikita offers him to bring him home, but the actor says he has actually no home, because everything that could make its two rooms in the run-down neighborhood into a home is missing. Nikita tries to cheer him up, but it will fail.

Svetlovidov told from his past, led by his desires and dreams that do not have much to do with the present and in solitude. The prompter fervently defended the theater and their lives against the contempt of the actor. This recalls how he once played King Lear and he begins to claim the second scene of the third act. Nikita assumes the role of Hofnarrs. Arrived out of breath, the actor must sit down again. While Nikita would like to talk about the piece, Svetlovidov wants to continue with some easier, the second scene of the third act of Hamlet, with Nikita in the role of Guildenstern. The recitations and the subsequent compliments Nikitas raise the actor's mood. Now he wants Nikita his interpretation of Romeo's show and although at the moment when he thinks Juliet is dead, but he forgets the text. When he sees that Nikita is crying, he asks for the reason. This answers that Svetlovidov obviously still believes in the power of the theater to be able to be something significant. The actor agrees and points out that it would be only rarely, however, one must simply continue to try as best formulated Othello. He begins to recite from the third scene of the third act. He then invites Nikita to a bottle in his wardrobe a.