Movielogr
Swans: Where Does a Body End? (2019)
Directed by Marco Porsia
Overview
From their roots as a brutal, confrontational industrial band, through breakups and chaos, to their odds-defying current status as one of the most accomplished and ambitious bands in the world, one whose concerts are more like ecstatic rituals than nostalgic trips. SWANS has always been a collection of singular performers, but there’s been one constant since its formation in 1982—singer, songwriter Michael Gira. ‘Where Does a Body End?’ is a SWANS documentary with unfettered access to hundreds of hours of Gira/SWANS archives of never-seen-before recordings, videos, and photographs. An unfiltered story of a life in the arts, frequent difficulty spanning decades without a safety net, creating work because Gira says “What else am I going to do?”
Length 161 minutes
Actors
Michael Gira | Jarboe | Thurston Moore | Lee Ranaldo | Amanda Palmer | Devendra Banhart | Blixa Bargeld | J.G. Thirlwell | Camille Berthomier | Jim Sclavunos | Karen O | Kid Congo Powers | Ben Frost | Daniel Miller | Norman Westberg | Cristoph Hahn | Thor Harris | Chris Pravdica | Phil Puelo | Paul Wallfisch