Glow is an interesting documentary about legendary Swiss muse, Irene Staub. Part of Zurich’s underground scene in the 70s and 80s, Staub’s iconic looks, vivaciousness, and lust for life charmed everyone she associated with, from Fellini, Catherine Deneuve, Bowie to Jagger. Staub, also known as Lady Shiva, was variously a muse, model, punk singer and escort. She was also an actor and starred in the cult 1977 lesbo-feminist piracy film Madame X- Eine Absolut Herrscherin (An Absolute Ruler). Doors were opened for her and she led an exciting life but never really honed her craft in any one area of creativity. Fellini astutely noted of her that “Someone who burns that bright, dies young.” Beneath her confident façade Staub was actually quite insecure and needed drugs, including heroin, to get up on stage in front of an audience. This led to a habit and three stints in rehab. Staub died an untimely death in a motorbike crash in Thailand in 1989, aged 37. The exact circumstances of her death remain unclear.

Director Gabriel Bauer combines archive footage, imagery, and current interviews with Staub’s ex-lover, band members, and associates to paint a portrait of this amazing yet slightly lost soul. Interviewees include Boris Blank from legendary Swiss electronic band Yello, the actor/artist Tabea Blumenschein, and the charismatic fashion designer Ursula Rodel of Thema Selection, for whom Staub was model, muse and collaborator. Together, amongst others, they paint a picture of alternative living in Zurich in the 70s and 80s. The story of how Staub would take carrier bags of crumpled bank notes – her earnings from escorting – to deposit at her bank – and how the bank would iron the bank notes before putting them in the till – sums up the contrast between the different sides of life in Zurich back then. This documentary is more than just a profile of Staub. It’s about a lost way of life, the past ability of creatives to live easily, and about unfulfilled potential. Why do some people achieve success and others of equal talent don’t? 

 

 

Queerguru’s Contributing Editor Ris Fatah is a successful fashion/luxury business consultant  (when he can be bothered) who divides and wastes his time between London and Ibiza. He is a lover of all things queer, feminist, and human rights in general. @ris.fatah