A Trip to Swadades (2008)

This feature length film (shot on black-and-white super-16mm) tells the story of a 74-year-old ex-professor who, after many years of living away from Philadelphia, the city where he came of... See full summary »

Director:

Daniel Kremer

Writer:

Daniel Kremer (screenplay)

Stars:

William Cully Allen, Stephen Hatzai, Daniel Kremer

Cast

Credited cast:
William Cully Allen	...	Grocer
Stephen Hatzai	...	Claude Schoonover
Daniel Kremer	...	Man Outside Shvitz
Gregory Lytle	...	Young Ezra
Naoko Masuda	...	The Strange Minstrel
Kenneth McGregor	...	Doobie
Katya Quinn-Judge	...	Woman in the Dream
Matthew Savoca	...	Young Schweitzer
Robert Swenson	...	Schweitzer Haas
Glenn Walsh	...	Ezra Haas

Storyline

This feature length film (shot on black-and-white super-16mm) tells the story of a 74-year-old ex-professor who, after many years of living away from Philadelphia, the city where he came of age, returns to visit his hermit brother who has perfected his freakish steel-trap memory. As a result, however, his apartment has become an unlivable and unsanitary place. He goes out to find some cleaning supplies, only to find himself lost in a city he no longer knows. By shear happenstance, he bumps into an old friend, a world-class cut-up, who takes him to a place of importance to their past. Schweitzer, there, realizes he must reconcile with the brother he has not spoken to and has refused to understand for most of his life.

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Plot Keywords:

memory

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Taglines:

The only thing he ever planned was how to get away, how to stay there...but never how to get back.

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 May 2008 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$75,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

ConFluence Films, Thustlebird Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

65 min

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The title of the original script was 'The Skin Interpreter'. Writer-director Daniel Kremer disliked it and changed the title to A Trip to Swadades when he encountered the Portuguese word "saudades" in reading Jorge Luis Borges. The word "saudades" (meaning "intense longing and nostalgia for a thing of the past"), coincidentally, is production designer Paul Sylbert's favorite word. Sylbert is fluent in the Portuguese language.

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Quotes

[repeated line]
Claude Schoonover: Schweitz'... good old Schweitz'!

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Crazy Credits

There is no orchestral score, just a man whistling a tune as the opening credits play over archive 8mm footage of the characters' past.

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Connections

Features John Doe, Dynamite (1941)

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Soundtracks

"This Heart of Mine"
Performed by Fred Astaire
Music by Harry Warren
Lyrics by Arthur Freed

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