Review of Swing Kids (1993) by Lmo_2045 — 24 Mar 2016

The three main characters of "Swing Kids" are Peter, Thomas, and Arvid. German boys who are friends and do not like the Hitler Youth(HJ's). They all go to clubs and dance to swing; Jewish; music. Arvid plays the music and is very fond of records. Thomas does not like his parents, and Peter would do anything to protect his mom because he believes his father, who left him, his brother, and mom alone, never loved them.

For the victimization triangle the crime and perpetrators at the beginning and ending of the movie are the Hitler Youth. In the beginning the bystanders are Peter, Thomas, Arvid, and Peter's mom and brother. Victims are Jews and bullied swing kids. Up-standers would be Peter and Thomas when they steal an old ladies radio because a Nazi gave it to her after stealing it from a captured Jew. But by stealing it, Peter had to join the HJ's to keep Nazi soldiers from bugging his family. Thomas also joins to be with Peter, making Arvid mad at them. They promise to continue to go to swing during the night, and to not allow the HJ to separate them. But not all promises can be kept.

Thomas quickly begins to believe everything they learn from the HJ, and he begins to act like a Nazi. He begins to hate Jews and to relieve himself of his father who thinks of him as a worthless, he reports him to the HJ for committing a crime he never really committed. When Arvid and Peter try to tell him he has changed and is no longer the swing kid Thomas he rebels against them. He calls them the wrong crazy Jew lovers. Thomas tells Arvid he is next in line for the Nazis to murder because he's a cripple. Another day Arcid finally let's out why he hates himself for being German. He doesn't want to be a part of the Nazis in any form, and later that day he commits suicide.

Peter has not let himself be taken over by the Nazis like Thomas. He has rebelled against them and gone back to the swing kid Peter. When the HJ's break into the club he's in, he is attacked by Thomas and almost killed. Instead of killing him Thomas controls himself for a second and tells Peter to leave. But Peter decided to stay and be caught, he decides to stand up like his father used to do. Peter's brother stands up with him as Peter is taken by the Nazis.

In the end Peter and his brother move from bystanders to up-standers. Arvid becomes a victim of the HJs, and Thomas becomes a perpetrator. The promise to not be changed by the Nazis and to remain together was not kept, because all three of them moved places on the victimization triangle.