Girl in a Swing Reviews

Viewers who have not read the Richard Adams (Watership Down) novel upon which this film is based are sure to leave THE GIRL IN A SWING baffled. Alan (Rupert Frazer), a reserved, sexually conservative British dealer in antique ceramics, on a business trip to Copenhagen falls for German secretary Karin (Meg Tilly). He proposes marriage almost immediately, despite the fact that he knows virtually nothing about her. At first she appears indifferent, but finally accepts his proposal. But now the psychological oddities start to show up: he dreams repeatedly of diving underwater to discover a decomposing female corpse. She has a fear of churches, and an unexplained panic connected with a vanishing pillow. After the wedding, life gets more mysterious for the couple, while the film gets more confusing for the audience. It all seems to have something to do with her character's prior, tragic experience with motherhood--but there is also something malevolent in her past which is never articulated. Veteran British filmmaker Gordon Hessler (THE OBLONG BOX, THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD) has taken an oddly sedate approach in tackling the intriguing story, pulling all his punches when he should be pulling out all stops. Rupert Frazer (EMPIRE OF THE SUN) gives a serviceable performance, but THE GIRL IN A SWING would be an exercise in creeping catatonia without Meg Tilly's mysterious and secretive Karin.