The Swell Season is as close to a sequel to the movie Once as you’re going to get. Only it’s not a sequel but rather a documentary that explores the aftermath of Once’s success and chronicles the relation between Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova.

The doc unwinds in black and white and was shot using film lenses mounted to an HD camera. We see Hansard and Irglova winning the best song Oscar®. They love, they laugh, they run naked on the beach. But the relation doesn’t remain idyllic.

Shot over a period of three years The Swell Season owes some of its sheen to the fact that Hansard and Irglova are willing to bear their souls to the camera. In particular Hansard’s father, the opposite of a role model, is allowed his two-pence worth. The Swell Season opens at 14 Pews on October 19.

- Michael Bergeron