Assignment:
(1) Thomas Carter and Jonathan Marc Feldman created a powerful image of Jazz Music and Swing Dancing in 1930's Germany. After watching the Film Swing Kids what and why do you think the Swingjugend gravitated to a style of Music that was, mostly foreign to their culture and awareness?
(2) Why did Thomas Carter, the Director, choose to associate the French Jazz/Swing Artist Jean "Django" Reinhardt, with the crippled character, Arvid, portrayed by Frank Whaley? What, if any, are the ramifications of this pairing between Django and Arvid? Finally, what other historical act did Carter link to the character Arvid in the closing moments of the film?
(3) If you read the references given above, you will realize that both Carter and Feldman amalgamated the history and time-stamps of the Swingjugend in Germany during the late 1930s and 40s. As cinematographers, do you think they had the right to change history for the sake of telling a good story?