Eurovision: The Story of Fire Saga (4½ Stars)

Netflix Thursday #11

Did I hear someone say it's not Thursday today? I know it's Sunday in Germany and most other countries, but there are different time zones. It's still Thursday in Iceland. Now stop complaining!

After being disappointed with the film I saw in the cinema this afternoon, I needed to watch something better. It's been two years since I last watched "The Story of Fire Saga". I remembered it when I saw "Stranger Than Fiction" earlier this month, and I was waiting for a chance to watch it again.

The film might seem ridiculous, but it's no more ridiculous than the real Eurovision Song Contest. It's a strange mix of music styles, from Finnish heavy metal to camp Russian ballads. It's very rare that I watch the contest or even listen to the winning song afterwards. The closest I come is reading the article about the contest on the BBC web site.

I was surprised that Dan Stevens has such a powerful singing voice, until I read that his songs are performed by the Swedish singer Erik Mjönes. "Lion of Love" is such a ridiculous, over-the-top song, but as I said above, it's no more ridiculous than songs sung in the real contest.

Supposedly the film had been planned for years before Will Ferrell finally wrote it. After the first time he saw the Eurovision Song Contest on television he wanted to make a film about it. People in Europe take the contest for granted because they've grown up with it, but when an American sees it he's amazed. Shocked and amazed. How can such a thing be possible?

One thing that makes the film so powerful is the beautiful Icelandic scenery. The first half of the film is set in Husavik, a fishing town with 2300 inhabitants on the north coast of Iceland. After the film was made a Eurovision Museum was built in the town, attracting tourists to a place that previously no one had ever heard of.