“Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” a concert film of Taylor Swift’s current world tour, has arrived in theaters. The tour, Swift’s most expansive yet, has grossed $780 million dollars. Bringing this extremely impactful tour to the cinema has created huge anticipation from the public. Seeing this well-loved tour in theaters is a completely different experience from seeing it in a stadium, so many fans walked into the theaters interested to know how the experience would compare. What would be cut from the movie, and what stylistic choices would the director make to convey the live concert experience to a movie screen?
The movie, a nearly three hour journey through several of Swift’s LA concerts in August, includes all of the most iconic moments of the night. The movie represents all aspects of the show; not just Taylor Swift herself, but also her backup dancers, band, the fireworks, emotional fans, and so many more aspects of the concert experience. All of these details create a fun and immersive atmosphere for the audience. The movie truly encompasses the feeling of Taylor Swift’s live show.
Senior Ayiana Grana loved the stylistic choices made for the movie, and thought the editing made the movie flow naturally. Just like Swift’s concert, the movie is split up by her different albums, or “eras.” The movie separates each set by putting the name of the era on screen, along with imagery to encapsulate the album. For example, before the “reputation” set, a huge snake appears on the screen, slithering across the stage as Swift’s song “…Ready For It?” begins. This moment of the movie built up a lot of anticipation from fans in the theater, and created an exciting, electric feeling as the set was about to begin. Grana felt this elevated the movie. “I honestly enjoyed all the sets, even the ones I didn’t expect to. Reputation was so amazing,” Grana said.
The movie has an impressive runtime; however, some songs were cut from the movie. “The Archer,” was cut from the “Lover” set, “no body, no crime (feat. HAIM)” was cut from “evermore,” “Long Live,” from “Speak Now,” “Wildest Dreams,” from “1989,” and “cardigan,” from “folklore.” Reactions to the cuts have been split; some people feel that the cuts were unnecessary, while others feel that a movie including every single song would be too long. “I was a little disappointed when she cut ‘The Archer’ because I love that song, but I can also understand why she cut it because it’s a slow song,” Grana said. “I was surprised that she cut ‘cardigan,’ because she kept the other two parts of the love triangle, ‘betty’ and ‘august,’ so it didn’t make sense to cut the album’s only single.”
The movie is about 30 minutes shorter than the live show. While it may not have included every single song, the movie was a somewhat condensed version of the spectacular live show.
Before the movie’s release, some fans and members of the general public had worries about the behavior of disruptive fans in theaters. There were discussions about movie theater etiquette, and what would be appropriate behavior for a concert film. “I saw people online, even on the news saying how it’s disrespectful for people to participate in it as if it’s a real concert. But that’s what it’s made for, and Taylor said it herself. It just felt like everyone was so involved and happy to be there,” Grana said.
It is true that Taylor Swift herself encouraged fans to treat the movie like a concert. On August 31, Swift posted the trailer for the movie on Instagram, and in the caption, wrote, “Eras attire, friendship bracelets, singing and dancing encouraged.” It seemed that fans were just excited to be at the movie, and experiencing the concert in some way.
Overall, the editing, camerawork, and stylistic choices made for the movie created a film that truly encapsulates the amazing shows that Taylor Swift put on in stadiums all throughout the country this year. The movie was a cinematic celebration of the diverse musical chapters in Taylor Swift’s discography, and it honors her long-lasting and incredibly influential career thus far. “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” is a must-see, as the journey through her expansive discography will surely be enjoyable for Taylor Swift fans and music lovers alike.
