The Big Picture
After Swifties across the globe fought valiantly in the Great Ticketmaster War to attend Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, on August 31st, Miss Americana herself announced the release of a concert movie. As with most of Swift’s endeavors, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour was instantly a record-breaker with a whopping $26 million in pre-sales on its first day — and that was only with AMC theaters. The Eras Tour is far from her first foray into the film world, with Swift having multiple acting, writing, and directing roles already under her belt, and a feature directorial debut in the works with Searchlight Pictures. Although she’s continuing to prove that she’s a force to be reckoned with behind the camera, her 2020 documentaries Miss Americana and Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions continue to remind us that she’s just as powerful in front of it. Whether you’re a die-hard fan or a weary soul who’s tired of seeing Taylor Swift at every corner, these two docs give an intimate look at the superstar and help to humanize one of the biggest names in music.
‘Miss Americana’ Is Taylor Swift’s Story on Her Own Terms
Being arguably one of the most famous people on the planet, Swift’s narrative has been in other people’s hands since she was a teenager. Whether it’s concerning her dating life, her political affiliations, or her body, there seems to be nothing that’s off-limits when it comes to the tabloids picking Swift apart piece by piece. Perhaps this is why, in January 2020, she released the documentary Miss Americana, which provides a look behind the curtain at Swift’s private life as revealed by Swift herself.
Directed by Lana Wilson, Miss Americana follows Swift as she wraps up her Reputation stadium tour and works on her album, Lover. While celebrity documentaries are nothing new, something unique about Miss Americana is that it doesn’t feature interviews with anybody else — not even those within her closest inner circle. Taylor’s voice is the only one that matters, and for perhaps the first time ever, she’s completely in control of her own story. As she navigates media scrutiny, a new relationship, and her mother’s cancer diagnosis, you can’t help but empathize with the woman who has achieved her wildest dreams at the cost of her privacy, her safety, and at times, her sanity. Nothing is scandalized or sensational, and we watch as Swift has to unpack everything she’s learned over the years in order to make her voice heard and stand up for the issues that matter.
‘Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions’ Is an Intimate Look at Taylor Swift’s Creative Process
While Miss Americana served as a way for Swift to reclaim her own story, Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions allowed her to show off her exceptionally creative mind as she told the stories of others (real and fictional) through her album folklore. In mid-2020, while most of us were binge-watching Friends, making whipped coffee, and crying ourselves to sleep, Taylor Swift was hard at work making a secret album. Given the small factor of a worldwide pandemic, gathering with her team to record in a studio was not an option, so Swift opted to build a small home studio where she could record her parts. Her collaborators on the album did the same from afar, and folklore was introduced with a surprise release on July 24th. Since folklore had to be put together from a distance, Swift and her stacked group of talented besties (co-writers and producers Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner) never got to play the songs together. They reunited in September of the same year to play the album for the first time in person, and thus The Long Pond Studio Sessions were born.
Filmed in New York’s Hudson Valley at an idyllic old barn-turned-recording studio (owned by Dessner himself), The Long Pond Studio Sessions feature stripped-down performances of every song on the folklore album. The part-documentary part-concert film also features raw conversations between Taylor and her collaborators, in which she details the inspiration behind various songs. From depression, to love, to female rage, the album spans the range of human emotions like only Swift can seem to do, and it’s mesmerizing to watch her lose herself in the music.
Both Docs Show Taylor Swift at Her Most Vulnerable — As a Person and an Artist
As she discusses the liberating feeling of writing an album that was not entirely autobiographical, Swift once again proves that her creativity knows no bounds as she delves into the minds of widowed socialites, World War II soldiers, and lovesick teenagers, telling each story with immaculate detail, respect, and care. The whole thing feels like a casual jam session, and it makes you want to cozy up with a glass of red wine, wrap yourself up in your favorite flannel (or dare I say, an old cardigan), and watch three otherworldly talents do what they were undeniably put here to do. While the Long Pond Studio Sessions surely came with a Disney+ sized paycheck, it also just feels like Swift, Dessner, and Antonoff having the time of their lives playing great music, and it’s really a joy to watch.
After watching these two fearless docs, there’s no denying that Swift is a lyrical genius, a remarkable talent, and above all, a genuine person. While idolizing celebrities is a slippery slope, vilifying them can have similarly detrimental consequences, and documentaries like these remind us that there’s a real person behind the artifice. In Miss Americana and Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, we’re shown Swift as she wants to be seen: vulnerable and open, overcoming the struggles she’s been faced with and creating art for the fans she’s grown to love. As we eagerly wait for the theater lights to dim during Taylor Swift’s next movie and delude ourselves into thinking we still have a chance at getting tickets to the Eras Tour, we can sit back and be enchanted by these two unassuming documentaries that never go out of style.
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour is out in theaters now.
