“Eras” Film Delivers, Even for Non-Swifties
As I walk through Athenian’s campus, all I can seem to hear is excited gossip about Taylor Swift. For last year’s ninth-grade “This I Believe” speech, a grand total of five freshmen did theirs about Taylor’s impact on their lives. So when she released a concert film of her renowned Eras Tour, I knew I had to watch it and see what all of the fuss was about.
The last time I listened to Taylor’s music seriously was in first grade, during her “1989 Era.” Since then my musical taste has departed the poppy, upbeat pop of the early 2010s, and arguably so has Taylor’s. I was excited to see what her new albums, which seem to go in a more serious, artistic direction, had to offer. Before I saw the movie, I had heard some excellent reviews about it, and how it was breaking financial records for concert films. Needless to say, I had very high expectations going into it.
With a wealth of music and history to pack into 2 hours and 49 minutes, the movie traverses Taylor’s nearly 20-year career, jumping from “era” to “era”, highlighting the themes and lore of each of her albums. The movie opens with the Lover era, which I assume she chose to open with as it bridges the gap between her earlier more pop-oriented albums and her more recent, independent albums which have been more personal and avant-garde. The movie then jumps back to the late 2000s with her Fearless album producing a simpler, nostalgic, guitar-based view of Taylor’s beginnings as an artist. The Evermore era continues the stripped-down, simple feel, but shifts to a slower, softer, piano-based sound, with imagery of leaves and vines draped over the stage. Taylor then plays some of her more pop-oriented songs in the middle of the movie with Reputation, Speak Now, and Red, before slowing down again for Folklore’s Victorian-era, log cabin, acoustic guitar feel. She then moves to arguably her most well-known album, 1989, and sets a very high-energy, poppy feel onstage before finally closing out with her newest release, Midnights. With this ending, Taylor puts a cap on the past 15 years of her career, yet also looks ahead to the future, letting us await what she will create next.
Along with its grand sets and musical numbers, the movie also takes moments to feel personal and intimate with the audience. Going into the movie, I did not expect Taylor’s conversations with the crowd to be so authentic and relaxed. The friendship between Taylor and the Swifties can be felt when she speaks to the audience and they respond in sync with each other, almost making it seem that the two massive entities are old close friends.
The impressive set design of the stages brings the different eras of Taylor’s career to life. From an entire vertically-built office set for Lover to a complete wooden cabin in the forest for Evermore, the performance feels like a music video acting out right before you. The cinematography of wide pans over the stadium mixed with close-up shots of the performers accentuates the grand scale of the production, yet also focuses on the intricate details at the same time. Taylor and her team ensured that there was a detail, dance move, or something else to see in every nook and cranny of the screen.
With all of the points above, the movie glows with an aura of entertainment. Even as someone who rarely listens to her music, there was no point during the film when I felt bored or inattentive. The Eras Tour made its watching almost like an event, almost as grand as going to the actual show, yet costing $10,000 less. With all that said, Taylor Swift proves her immaculate skills in entertainment yet again, and produces arguably the greatest concert film ever made, in scale, finance, and most importantly, cultural impact.
