Greetings,
Last year, I reviewed a fantastic movie called Once. Obviously, I liked it. If you haven't seen it, first, shame. Second, read my review and see it. Or just see it. I'm supportive like that. Now if you did see it and like it, then you will probably enjoy what I am talking about today, a 2011 documentary entitled The Swell Season.
The Swell Season is a doc all about a musical duo called...The Swell Season. Genius. And what does this have to do with the movie, Once? Well, the members of the Swell Season are Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, the stars of that movie. You with me so far? Okay. This film takes us through their journey of dealing with sudden success and their personal relationship.
I suppose you could call it a behind the scenes documentary. We do get to see them preparing for shows and even working on song writing (LOVE!), but we do get a lot of conversations with them, as well as others, about how how they got into music, how they met and how becoming so popular has affected them. I'm not certain of the timeline of the shooting for this documentary, but I'm guessing it was over a couple of years, since it takes us from the beginnings of their major success with Once, which spawned their romantic relationship, to their break up. So...spoilers on that one? Whatever. Anyone interested in watching this probably knows that they are no longer together. I suppose that would be a synopsis of the plot, if a documentary can have a plot, but it's more about what is said and seen here. So let me discuss that.
One of the things I found interesting was finding out how both Glen and Marketa reacted to the fame and why, because they do, at times, feel the same about it, whilst other times they are on completely opposites sides. And sometimes they change sides. So I guess dealing with fame can toss you around your own self quite a bit. Interestingly enough, a lot of these similarities and differences, I think, have to do with the places they are in their lives and their pasts as musicians. First off, Marketa was only eighteen or nineteen when Once was made, so she had to deal with all of this at a very young age. It seems as though she could be a bit intimidated by all the crowds of people gathering just to say hi to her after a show. Never did she seem ungrateful, and she even said that once she got out there and started talking to them, she enjoyed it. But it can be overwhelming, particularly for someone so young who truly was not prepared for this massive amount of popularity. Glen, on the other hand, is much older than Marketa, by nearly twenty years, and he has been performing since he was a teenager. So, whilst this major success was new to him, he did have some more experience dealing with fans, though never as much as he currently is. He knew the feeling of doing shows for a handful of people and then thousands of people. I suppose the lesson of this film is that there is no set in stone way to prepare for this kind of thing. But, again, Glen, like Marketa, never once came across as unappreciative, especially not toward his fans.
I recall taking notice of the way people reacted to Glen and Marketa as they began to exist in the wake of the success of Once. People seemed to really embrace these two, very closely, and after what went down and what was said at the Oscars by both of them (thanks again, Jon Stewart), I was hard pressed to find anyone who didn't like them. And here, we get a closer look at them, and some kind of confirmation, I feel, about our initial response to them. It was just so nice and refreshing to see people who are talented and so passionate about their work get recognition and success for it. These days, it seems as though anyone can get famous for anything or nothing, and a lot of us, I'm guessing, are extremely tired of that nonsense. But with Glen and Marketa we see two amazing artists who truly deserve their success. Bottom line, they just seem like really good people.
So, yes, I am recommending this to one and all, but particularly to those of you who are already fans of Once, and anyone who is a songwriter. This is definitely a movie for us.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
