The Swell Season

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Overview

Glen Hansard is an Irish musician who has been performing since he was 13 and founded the acclaimed indie rock band The Frames in 1990. In 2001, he met a talented Czech musician named Marketa Irglova, who was still in her teens. Impressed with her voice after hearing her perform a version of The Frames' song " Star Star," the two began to collaborate, and in time they began to click romantically as well as musically. Hansard and Irglova formed a duo called The Swell Season, and released their debut album 2006. ...
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Overview

Glen Hansard is an Irish musician who has been performing since he was 13 and founded the acclaimed indie rock band The Frames in 1990. In 2001, he met a talented Czech musician named Marketa Irglova, who was still in her teens. Impressed with her voice after hearing her perform a version of The Frames' song " Star Star," the two began to collaborate, and in time they began to click romantically as well as musically. Hansard and Irglova formed a duo called The Swell Season, and released their debut album 2006. Filmmaker John Carney approached Hansard and Irglova to star in his film Once; the film became an indie hit while one of the tunes they wrote for the movie, "Falling Slowly," won an Academy Award for Best Song. In the wake of their unexpected international success, The Swell Season went on tour and began work on a second album, and filmmakers Nick August-Perna, Carlo Mirabella-Davis and Chris Dapkins followed them as they prepared to take their career to the next level. However, while Hansard and Irglova still worked well together musically, they discovered their feelings about success were very different -- he was enthusiastic about seeing years of hard work pay off, while she was hesitant about the demands of fame -- and it began causing serious problems in their personal relationship. The documentary The Swell Season offers an intimate glimpse into their lives as artists and individuals during a crucial moment in their career. The Swell Season received its world premiere at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival.
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Special Features

Closed Caption; Deleted scenes; Extended concert footage
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Editorial Reviews

All Movie Guide - Perry Seibert
The low-budget Irish musical Once turned the Swell Season, the duo of Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, into overnight stars able to perform their yearning, folk-tinged songs around the globe. This documentary captures the madness around them and gives us a warts-and-all portrait of what this celebrity status does to them, both individually and as a romantic couple. There is little doubt that Glen Hansard has screen presence. His busking at the beginning of Once draws you into that movie, and this documentary proves he's just as compelling when he's not performing. He's a man who seems forever dissatisfied at some basic emotional level. The most-revealing and involving sequence in the film involves Hansard sitting with his mother at her kitchen table and expressing embarrassment that she brags about his accomplishments to everyone in the neighborhood; he's still uncomfortable with his fame and how it might affect his art. When he expresses this, his mother takes it as an insult, and then he's upset with himself for belittling her joy. It's a truthful moment that's as heartbreaking and raw as the best of the Swell Season's songs. While Irglova seems to calm Hansard's ceaseless quest for meaning, she doesn't enjoy the expectations thrust upon her at every stop on the tour. She's not naturally built to schmooze backstage, a skill that Hansard has in abundance. He talks about being a working musician who is so thankful for each and every person who comes to see them perform, while she's pointedly uncomfortable posing for pictures with people. This little difference opens the door for bigger conflicts that threaten to tear the two apart personally, if not creatively. And while this is going on, the filmmakers serve up footage of the band performing in various locations, and as their personal torment grows more apparent, we can see and hear how it feeds their concerts. It's not an exorcism -- the music doesn't make their pain go away -- but it gives them an outlet to express it in ways that can thrill an audience, even while these roiling feelings are eating away at the performers. The Swell Season has a respect for its subjects and a restraint in its approach that allows Hansard and Irglova to open up as much as they can -- which in Hansard's case is quite a lot. By not wallowing in gossip, the film allows us to share the pain and beauty in both their relationship and their music, without ever making the duo seem desperate for fame and attention quite the opposite of a reality-TV show. The movie may have been shot in black and white, but the feelings onscreen are kaleidoscopic -- and as poignant as their music.
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Product Details

  • Release Date: 3/13/2012
  • UPC: 767685262771
  • Original Release: 2011
  • Source: New Video Group
  • Presentation: Black & White
  • Sound: Dolby Digital Stereo
  • Time: 1:28:00
  • Format: DVD
  • Sales rank: 24,887

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits
Glen Hansard Participant
Markéta Irglová Participant
Technical Credits
Nick August-Perna Director, Editor, Screenwriter
Chris Dapkins Director, Cinematographer, Screenwriter
Carlo Mirabella-Davis Director, Producer, Screenwriter
Bill Callahan Score Composer
Iron & Wine Score Composer
The Swell Season Score Composer
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Scene Index

Disc #1 -- The Swell Season
1. "Imagine That!" [5:23]
2. Fugue State [10:07]
3. On the Road [13:52]
4. Expectations [9:10]
5. The Boxer [7:33]
6. Prophetic [8:52]
7. "If You're Miserable, I'll Fall Apart" [9:58]
8. On the Table [6:46]
9. Grief [7:27]
10. "That Relationship Ended" [3:38]
11. "Say It to Me Now" [2:53]
12. End Credits / Fantasy Man [2:19]
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Menu

Disc #1 -- The Swell Season
   Play
   Scenes
   Extras
      Deleted Scenes 45 Min
         Play All
         Glen and Mar Horse Around and Discuss Irish Songs 5 Min
         Markéta Singing "If You Want Me" 4 Min
         "Lay Me Down in the Hallowed Ground" 7 Min
         Glen Sings "Finally" on Stage 4 Min
         Glen Sings "Buzzin Fly" on Stage 7 Min
         Glen Sings "Backbroke" in His House 4 Min
         Glen in Irish Cemetery Sings "Golden" 3 Min
         Glen Introduces and Plays "Happiness" 8 Min
         Glen and Mar Work on a Song at the Piano Before a Show 2 Min
         Suzie Irglová Plays Her Song "Child Star" on Stage 3 Min
      Theatrical Trailer 3 Min
      About Docurama
      Docurama Trailers
         Bob Dylan / Dont Look Back
         Béla Fleck / Throw Down Your Heart
         Still Bill
         The Kids Grow up
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