‘Why don’t you sing about your own life instead of pretending to be somebody else?’ Ella Fitzgerald bluntly tells Monica Zetterlund (film debutant Edda Magnason) when they cross paths in a New York bar, the star meeting the wannabe, and the icon meeting the fan. Fitzgerald’s dismissive words cut the aspiring Swedish singer to the quick, but they also inspired an idea that would set Zetterlund on the path to stardom. Once home, she dared to do the unthinkable in jazz at the time – rather than continue to croon covers of English-language tunes, she sang new, poetic lyrics in her native tongue.
Zetterlund’s tragedy to triumph tale informs biopic Waltz for Monica, named in a spin on one of her biggest singles, and given standard treatment from start to finish. Zetterlund was a wallowing single mother from Hagfors, constantly leaving her daughter, Eva-Lena (Nadja Christiansson, The Hidden Child), with her disapproving father (Kjell Bergqvist, Metal Brothers) to pursue a dream he, as a failed musician himself, thought impossible. Her journey to become Sweden’s most beloved chanteuse wasn’t swift, but it was sudden – and accompanied by all the life-altering after-effects expected. Adoration came her way, as well as alcoholism and emotional distress, as she struggled with the price of fame.
Swedish/Icelandic singer/songwriter Magnason illuminates the screen in the title role, traversing the array of required reactions while contributing her own vocal renditions of Zetterlund’s songs. The camera is as enamoured of her as the country was of the figure she plays, evoking sympathy even when the story takes darker turns through neglectful parenting and Eurovision embarrassment. Yet, although drawn from reality in plot and portrayal, the pitching between happy and sad moments can’t escape its melodramatic airs. Both the film and the lead performance suffer from the sharp variance that seems content to simply skim the surface of the subject’s motivations and miseries.
Among the many out-of-control-star tropes offered, a focus on romantic dalliances does little to add depth, as Zetterlund attempts to make a happy home with film director Vilgot Sjoman (Oskar Thunberg, Vägen hem) of ‘I Am Curious (Yellow)’ notoriety, all the while flirting with loyal bassist Sture (Sverir Gudnason, Call Girl). Also distancing is the flitting between episodes and adventures within a condensed timeframe and without any care for correct chronology, not always an ineffective technique but augmenting the amended and exaggerated nature of the feature’s real-life approximation.
Where the four-time Guldbagge award winner excels is in its recreation of the time, looking the part of seductive 1960s glossiness. Condensing Zetterlund’s greatest hits pays off in this regard, gifting the film an ever-sumptuous backdrop and always-sparkling aesthetic details. Director Per Fly (The Woman That Dreamed About a Man) and writer Peter Birro (The Miracle) match the sheen with a redemptive emotional refrain that does what it aims, albeit in the most traditional and feel-good of fashions. Perhaps that’s where the feature’s moniker, Waltz for Monica, proves most fitting, given the easy and affecting circling the movie does through Zetterlund’s career and life highlights.
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Waltz for Monica
Director: Per Fly
Sweden, 2013, 111 mins
Scandinavian Film Festival
www.scandinavianfilmfestival.com
Canberra: 8 – 20 July – Palace Electric
Sydney: 9 – 27 July – Palace Verona & Palace Norton St
Melbourne: 10 – 27 July – Palace Cinema Como, Palace Brighton Bay
Brisbane: 11 – 20 July – Palace Centro
Adelaide : 23 – 31 July – Palace Nova Eastend
Perth: 24 – 30 July – Cinema Paradiso
Byron Bay: 25 – 30 July – Palace Byron Bay
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