I was fascinated to see if the collection of Roald Dahl shorts by Wes Anderson would follow the same style as The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and the answer is a very clear 'yes'.
The Swan is about a small boy being attacked by two horrible bullies. It's not a Dahl story I was familiar with and frankly not one I cared for a great deal. Most of Dahl's stories had at least an element of darkness to them but this was simply unremittingly bleak. I struggled to find the entertainment value in the story here at all.
Like Henry Sugar, this feels like somewhere between a man simply sat reading the story to a filmed adaption of it. It kind of has the vibe of your Dad doing all the voices when reading a book. There are relatively few cuts here with the story being told in long sequences as Rupert Friend wanders around what looks like a maze themed on the story.
I have mixed views on this short- the Anderson side of things is superb with the direction and the design being wonderful. I was much less keen on the Dahl side of things, it just wasn't a story that appealed to me.
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