An aging hairdresser (Udo Kier) escapes his nursing home and embarks on an odyssey across his small town to style a dead woman’s hair for her funeral, rediscovering his sparkle along the way.
Legendary German actor, Udo Kier, finally gets his own feature as Pat Pitsenbarger, a former hairstylist who serviced “the socialites of Sandusky, Ohio.” Pat wakes up in a nursing home, to pass the time he folds napkins, smokes cigarillos, and disobeys the nursing staff. These establishing shots astutely capture the mundane existence of a talented person forgotten by the present world.
When Pat is approached by an estate lawyer whose client Rita, a former friend and patron of his salon, he makes a decision. Rita’s dying wish was for Pat to style her hair and make her look fabulous for her funeral. He breaks out of the nursing home in an attempt to fulfill this request. As his adventures cross towns, he is faced with drastic changes to his old familiar places. His story reminds us that trailblazers were necessary for things we now take for things we take for granted or being erased.
Pat’s journey through the past is beyond nostalgia; it’s a monument to loss and queer history. Udo Kier is magnificent, it’s the best thing I’ve ever seen him do, a relatable story of expression and freedom.
“Swan Song” recently had its World Premiere at the 2021 SXSW Film Festival
