Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga is a 2020 comedy movie about a fictional act in the Eurovision Song Contest. It was meant to be released to coincide with the 2020 Contest, but as it was cancelled, was released a month later on Netflix instead. It stars Will Ferrell as the Icelandic musician Lars, and Rachel McAdams as his friend Sigrit, who have formed the band Fire Saga. Their lifelong dream is to represent Iceland at the Eurovision Song Contest, and they finally get the chance. Will they win? Will Lars finally gain the respect of his father? Will some terrible yet hilarious disaster ensue? And will Lars and Sigrit's unrequited love finally be realised?
To be perfectly honest, the comedy of Will Ferrell is not to my taste, and I've never seen one of his movies all the way through before. However, I was pleased to find out that he's been a fan of Eurovision since 1999 (nearly as long as me!) when he was introduced to it by his Swedish wife. The movie was crafted with a genuine love of the Contest, and is packed full of references and easter eggs for the devoted fan to dig into. At the end I felt relieved that I didn't hate the movie -- in fact, I loved it!
The storyline partially echoes that of "A Song for Europe", an episode of Father Ted in which he is chosen to represent Ireland because they don't want to win, and his song "My Lovely Horse" is the worst of the bunch. Ireland won the contest 4 times in the 1990s and it was a huge financial strain. Many of the smaller countries do have the issue of how they can afford to host the contest if they win, and Iceland really was left almost bankrupt after a banking scandal in 2008. And yes, over 50% of Icelandic people really do entertain the existence of the Huldufólk, the elves that help Sigrit in the movie.
Speaking of Sigrit, I really warmed to her character. Her genuineness and love of her home country and town cause her to resist those who urge her to be more ambitious and leave Lars behind. I loved her everyday hairstyle and outfits. And it was so cute that she knits, and when she was angry, she knitted a jumper with a frowny face on it.
The movie was filmed in Iceland and Glasgow, with some scenes shot at the actual Eurovision venue in Tel-Aviv, Israel, while it was set up for the 2019 contest. Some scenes were filmed in the real life Icelandic town of Húsavík, Lars and Sigrit's hometown in the movie -- which actually has 2,300 inhabitants, not the 15,000 of the movie. The beauty of the landscapes and cityscapes, not to mention the shots of a real Eurovision stage (with real Eurovision fans as the audience!) give the film a visual authenticity.
The songs, of course, are what could really make or break the movie. Lars and Sigrit have written many songs of various quality, but when they play live in the local pub, all the audience wants to hear is "Jaja Ding Dong", the town's local folk/love song. It's a cute mixture of sing-along folk song and innuendo. Several songs are heard during the contest itself, and all of them reference real Eurovision songs to some extent or another. Some are clear parodies, but others are more than worthy of adding to a serious playlist. The most fun song, and one of the best scenes in the movie, is the Song-A-Long at Alexander's party. There are cameos from so many past participants in the contest that my head was swimming, and it brought back so many memories, I have to admit, I was crying afterwards. Yeah, I'm that kind of dork!
I was worried that Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga was just going to be Americans having a cruel dig at a culture they're not familiar with. On the contrary, it's a romp through the quirks and beloved moments of the Contest, a delight for fans, though for anyone not familiar with the Contest, it will be baffling. While re-listening to the final song "Húsavík", sung by Swedish singer (and Junior Eurovision contestant) Molly Sandén, I had all the feels that I do when watching the competition itself. And I think that's what makes The Story of Fire Saga work.
Would I watch it again? Abso-freakin-lutely!!
Note: All factual details are sourced from the linked Wikipedia pages.
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