AllMovie

Fresh from the success of Henry V and Dead Again, British actor/director Kenneth Branagh recharged his creative batteries with a 23-minute short subject. Swan Song is a faithful adaptation of a one-act play by Anton Chekhov. John Gielgud stars as an aging actor who, while sitting alone in a darkened theatre, ruminates on his checkered past and his uncertain (and perhaps unlikely) future. Richard Briers costars as Gielgud's sounding board. Filmed on location at London's Criterion Theatre, Swan Song was nominated for a "best short subject" Academy Award.