Eurovision Song Contest:
The Story of Fire Saga
Year: 2020
Director: David Dobkin
Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Will Ferrell, Melissanthi Mahut, Rachel McAdams & Dan Stevens
Runtime: 123 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 21/09/20
Director: David Dobkin
Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Will Ferrell, Melissanthi Mahut, Rachel McAdams & Dan Stevens
Runtime: 123 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 21/09/20
Europe as a continent spans over half the globe and contains dozens of countries each with their own unique sensibilities, national pride, and outright peculiarity. Nothing encapsulates this more than the annual Eurovision Song Contest, an internationally televised event where various countries from across Europe (as well as some more recent additions from countries in Asia and Oceania) band together for a single night of excellent music, solidarity as a continent, and most importantly, showcasing just how weird they can be. It’s a phenomenon quite unlike anything else and is among the most watched televised events every single year.
Due to the global pandemic 2020 is the first year since its inception in 1956 where Eurovision has not taken place, but thankfully we weren’t without our Eurovision fix due to Netflix’s new comedy film, Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga.
Lars Erickssong (Will Ferrell) and Sigrit Ericksdottir (Rachel McAdams) have spent their entire lives devoting themselves to winning the Eurovision Song Contest and bringing pride to their home country of Iceland (who have never won the contest). Despite their attempts at trying to enter the contest for many years now, Lars & Sigrit have never been successful and are often mocked by the local community. To Sigrit this does not matter as she just wants to spend time with Lars, hoping one day he will reciprocate the feelings she has for him. But for Lars, winning the contest is his entire reason to live and he will stop at nothing to achieve that dream.
After an explosive mishap at the Icelandic qualifiers, Fire Saga are chosen to represent Iceland in Eurovision. But as Lars becomes obsessed with winning the competition he begins to drive Sigrit away and their dreams are put in danger of never coming true.
Due to the global pandemic 2020 is the first year since its inception in 1956 where Eurovision has not taken place, but thankfully we weren’t without our Eurovision fix due to Netflix’s new comedy film, Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga.
Lars Erickssong (Will Ferrell) and Sigrit Ericksdottir (Rachel McAdams) have spent their entire lives devoting themselves to winning the Eurovision Song Contest and bringing pride to their home country of Iceland (who have never won the contest). Despite their attempts at trying to enter the contest for many years now, Lars & Sigrit have never been successful and are often mocked by the local community. To Sigrit this does not matter as she just wants to spend time with Lars, hoping one day he will reciprocate the feelings she has for him. But for Lars, winning the contest is his entire reason to live and he will stop at nothing to achieve that dream.
After an explosive mishap at the Icelandic qualifiers, Fire Saga are chosen to represent Iceland in Eurovision. But as Lars becomes obsessed with winning the competition he begins to drive Sigrit away and their dreams are put in danger of never coming true.
For the most part, The Story of Fire Saga is just fine. It’s not exceptional, but it’s not bad either. Much of the comedy falls flat because it seems to lean on Lars & Sigrit just being a bit dumb. The dialogue is often awkward and a bit stilted because of the way jokes are said, and almost all the characters are very one dimensional without any frills. Mcadams as Sigrit is the best performance of the film, but it’s a low standard for what she is usually capable of. The story was written by Ferrell, so I simply wonder whether he put more effort into the general feel of the film, rather than the story and humour.
Which leads me nicely into what the film does well and that is captivating that uniquely Eurovision style. Everything is excessive and campy from the costume design, to the camera work. The sections of the film that are supposed to be the live semi & grand finals are near identical replications of how performances would look and sound in the real show so I certainly congratulate the film on that. Director David Dobkin really nailed what Eurovision feels like and just how exciting it can be to get wrapped up in the drama of it all. The UK Eurovision commentator Graham Norton also has a recurring performance as himself and he is simply fantastic. His witty comments and dry humour aren’t for everyone but his commentary is much of the reason I love watching Eurovision every year anyway.
It’s worth taking a moment to talk about the music too. As a film that is about a song contest, musical numbers are littered throughout. Whilst The Story of Fire Saga is not a musical, these numbers do pepper the runtime nicely and keep you pumped up for much of the duration. This includes an incredible Pitch Perfect style ‘song-along’ around the midpoint of the film which sees our stars, as well as a number of previous Eurovision winners, performing a mash up of various songs whilst dancing around a mansion. McAdams’ performances are actually sung by Molly Sanden, a contestant of the 2006 Junior Eurovision Song Contest, and her voice is fantastic. It also suits McAdams and doesn’t sound like it isn’t her singing in comparison to her normal talking voice.
The Story of Fire Saga feels horrendously long though, coming in at just over 2 hours you get the feeling that at least 30 minutes, if not more, could have been cut from the film to tighten up the wafer thin story. If you’re a fan of Eurovision then I think you’ll find plenty to like about The Story of Fire Saga; but for everyone else, whilst it can certainly give you an insight into how the competition works and what it is if you’ve never been exposed to it before, I wouldn’t expect you’ll find a whole lot to love about it.
Which leads me nicely into what the film does well and that is captivating that uniquely Eurovision style. Everything is excessive and campy from the costume design, to the camera work. The sections of the film that are supposed to be the live semi & grand finals are near identical replications of how performances would look and sound in the real show so I certainly congratulate the film on that. Director David Dobkin really nailed what Eurovision feels like and just how exciting it can be to get wrapped up in the drama of it all. The UK Eurovision commentator Graham Norton also has a recurring performance as himself and he is simply fantastic. His witty comments and dry humour aren’t for everyone but his commentary is much of the reason I love watching Eurovision every year anyway.
It’s worth taking a moment to talk about the music too. As a film that is about a song contest, musical numbers are littered throughout. Whilst The Story of Fire Saga is not a musical, these numbers do pepper the runtime nicely and keep you pumped up for much of the duration. This includes an incredible Pitch Perfect style ‘song-along’ around the midpoint of the film which sees our stars, as well as a number of previous Eurovision winners, performing a mash up of various songs whilst dancing around a mansion. McAdams’ performances are actually sung by Molly Sanden, a contestant of the 2006 Junior Eurovision Song Contest, and her voice is fantastic. It also suits McAdams and doesn’t sound like it isn’t her singing in comparison to her normal talking voice.
The Story of Fire Saga feels horrendously long though, coming in at just over 2 hours you get the feeling that at least 30 minutes, if not more, could have been cut from the film to tighten up the wafer thin story. If you’re a fan of Eurovision then I think you’ll find plenty to like about The Story of Fire Saga; but for everyone else, whilst it can certainly give you an insight into how the competition works and what it is if you’ve never been exposed to it before, I wouldn’t expect you’ll find a whole lot to love about it.