Like many Americans, Eurovision was something I only found out about due to the influence of European friends. It was 2013 when I got my first introduction to the iconic competition, a mix of the Olympics and American Idol, and I have been shook ever since. It has been a major launching pad for musical acts (perhaps most famously ABBA) and provides a wellspring of unity for countries behind their performers, no matter how ridiculous the song or costume. It’s that genuine earnest spirit and love that Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga is presented to audiences.
The film takes place in Iceland where Lars (Will Ferrell) has long dreamed of performing in and winning the Eurovision Song Contest. Sigrit (Rachel McAdams), his long time friend and fellow bandmate, has also longed to make this dream come true, and hopes that winning will finally allow them to be together. Standing in the way is their town’s cultural committee and Lars’ father (Pierce Brosnan), who see them as a laughing stock. When a strange confluence of things propel them onto the international stage, they struggle to figure out their feelings and achieve their dreams, especially when faced with daring competitors (a brilliantly hammy Dan Stevens).
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga contains many familiar beats of other underdog movies and as such, suffers the burden of recognition. No matter how many new wrinkles and beautiful specificity the movies offers, it cannot fill the entire run time. Chief among them is the central relationship. Both Ferrell and McAdams are quite good in this movie, but the film goes back to the “she loves him but he doesn’t see it or rejects her in funny ways” too many times. Structurally, the movie achieves 90% of it’s goals by the hour mark…and yet there was still an hour more left of the film. That’s a wild ratio for a movie and that lays fully at the feet of the writers and editors. If you knew that you wanted them to break up before getting back together, why have a mini-break up, just to have a bigger one that disjoints the movie?
However, earnestness can go incredibly far as it does in this film; there’s a joy in this movie that cannot be weighed down even as the script struggles. Even as I stared in bafflement that once the group hit their breakup/makeup point that there was still an hour left, I was just as affected by their performance and ending as I’m sure they wanted. There are so many joyous moments in this movie that it’s hard to not at least appreciate it as it moves. That Song-a-Long sequence is sure to be among my favorite scenes in a movie this year as it fully encapsulates the character dynamics as well as celebrates the true fun of what Eurovision means to people. (The cameos in this scene are amazing!)
Most important to the success of this film is the music. As I type this I have listened to Double Trouble an unnecessary amount. Production issues might have required the film to dub Rachel and Dan but nothing was lost. In fact their brilliant performances were perfectly complimented by some stand out vocal work from My Marianne and Erik Mjones and excellent sound mixing.
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga is the type of film that knows itself, and though it can’t hold up entirely, I found the earnestness and quirkiness endearing. I was moved at nearly every turn, I just wish the filmmakers could have tightened their vision so that the structure matched the emotion.
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga is currently streaming on Netflix.