The Swell Season balances gentle sentiment with darkness
Let’s establish at the top: Glen Hansard, despite his striver’s image, has made it.
The Irish singer-songwriter starred with Czech musical partner Marketa Irglova in the popular 2006 film Once, playing street characters not unlike their real selves. sacoche louis vuitton And Hansard continues to gain fame from his part-true back story as the quintessential Dublin busker trying to get his music out to the world.
He may shout-sing his folk-based lyrics in concert halls as if still trying to impress passersby on the sidewalk, and he may grimace with each verse like the anti-star that he is.
Yet the beautiful, tepid documentary The Swell Season, which follows Hansard and Irglova for three years mostly on tour, finds the duo riding their new rise in fame, especially after winning an Oscar for the song Falling Slowly, from Once.
The appeal of Once was the apparent integrity of its story. Its low-budget style matched its earnest, folksy music. With Hansard and Irglova playing the leads, the line between fiction and fact was fine, if not blurred altogether in the minds of some fans. That ambiguity remains part of Hansard and Irglova’s package appeal.
The two have continued to record and perform successfully together as The Swell Season, originally the title of Czech writer Josef Skvorecky’s 1975 novel. Meanwhile, their semi-based-on-reality characters in Once have been adapted for a new musical headed for Broadway.
Somehow though, the strivers’ story has stuck. When audiences greet the duo at the stage door, the aw-shucks are constant. The unrequited love between the fictitious characters in Once turns out in the documentary The Swell Season to have sparked a real romance between Hansard and Irglova. In fact, they knew each other well before filming Once, from Hansard’s days visiting the Czech Republic.
Hansard met Irglova, a classically trained pianist, while spending time with her family. Nearly two decades apart in age, they began collaborating musically. They clicked. New songs flowed out, and over time this turned into love. Their fans, whether or not they know about the aftermath of the relationship, still seem to view the duo in some vague form of romantic-musical union.
They apologize to shy Irglova when she shrinks away from having her snapshot taken. They treat Hansard just as tenderly, their eyes scanning over him as if reading his perpetual underdog story. Hugs seem mandatory.
Processing your request, Please wait....
