The Swell Season (2011)

77% of critics liked it
(30 reviews)
77% of users liked it
(366 ratings)

In 2008, Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová captivated audiences and earned two Academy Awards for their musical collaboration in the film Once. As their fictional romance blurred with reality, they fell in love, recorded an album, and embarked on a world tour. Fueled by two years of exhilaration,… More In 2008, Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová captivated audiences and earned two Academy Awards for their musical collaboration in the film Once. As their fictional romance blurred with reality, they fell in love, recorded an album, and embarked on a world tour. Fueled by two years of exhilaration, performance, and psychological turmoil, The Swell Season is much more than a music documentary. It is a volatile and intimate portrait of a romance that fractures in the face of life on the road and personal tragedy. As Glen and Markéta's relationship unhinges, ultimately music prevails as their enduring connection. -- (C) Official Site

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 30 min.
Directed By: Nick August-Perna, Carlo Mirabella-Davis
Genres: Musical & Performing Arts, Documentary

In Theaters: Oct 7, 2011 Limited
Studio: Seventh Art Releasing

Critic Reviews

Guy Dixon, Globe and Mail
The Swell Season wins the documentary prize for beating viewers over the head with gentleness, with the duo accentuated in rich, photographic chiaroscuro.
Peter Howell, Toronto Star
A poignant documentary that tracks the fast rise and slow fall of the Hansard-Irglova fairy tale, through both tunes and tears.
Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post
For Once lovers who needed a "what happened next?" epilogue, this one moves even as it chastises.
William Goss, Film.com
An emotional erosion captured by the trio in decidedly unromantic black-and-white.
Walter V. Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle
Overall the film seems like a collection of bits and pieces, and it's hard to see how it could have much resonance for non-fans.
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post
A documentary that is every bit as intimate and disarming as the movie that made them famous...
Amber Wilkinson, Eye for Film
While the film may be monochrome, every colour of emotion is represented here, from elation in the creative process to anxiousness and disillusionment.
Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times
Like any home movie, "The Swell Season" is uneven, but it's full of vivid moments between two painfully honest, likable people, learning some hard truths about fame and love.
Chris Foran, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The intimacy that results is candid and simple as the movie that, for good and ill, put them both center-stage in the first place.
Ethan Alter, Television Without Pity
A modest, mostly engaging behind-the-scenes documentary that nevertheless winds up feeling somehow incomplete.
Mike Scott, Times-Picayune
A sadly and tenderly honest portrait of a storybook romance lost.
Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out New York
If you can trick yourself into a state of amnesia, this double profile might resonate with you.
Alison Willmore, Movieline
The connection between Hansard and Irglová is the heart of The Swell Season, and it's one that could use more backstory.