Movie Info
Movie Name: Once
Studio: Samson Films
Genre(s): Musical/Romance/Drama
Release Date(s): January 20, 2007 (Sundance Film Festival)
MPAA Rating: R
Love comes in different forms
A busker (Glen Hansard) in Dublin finds his musical muse when he meets a Czech piano player (Markéta Irglová) selling roses. The two performers find that they can inspire each other, but they also find a deeper feeling toward each other. Deciding to put out a record, the busker could find the success he has always sought but being together might not be in the cards.
Written and directed by John Carney, Once is a musical romance. The extremely low-budget film was a critical and financial success. The movie won an Academy Award for Best Original Song (“Falling Slowly”).
Once is a truly modern musical and what can be used to be shown to people who don’t like musicals. The movie is deftly shot, tells a complex love story, and wraps it in a great soundtrack. Once is a great experience.
Hey, let’s sing this “Falling Slowly” ditty I worked up!
Despite being a love story, the movie isn’t a conventional love story. The characters are obviously in love, but they don’t end up together despite their compatibility. It starts out awkward with an unwanted sexual suggestion by the busker, but it ends in true love that not only inspires both of them but helps them find love elsewhere and be happy…and it actually feels really natural.
The reason it feels so natural is that Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová both perform well together and have a strange attraction. In real life, the two actors ended up together after the filming of once and dated for a few years…the coming together on screen mimics their real live romance and adds to the natural acting.
What if they got in to record and just sucked…
Once was a cheap film, but it also managed to look fantastic. Much like a music video, the songs overlapped the imagery and the whole film takes on a nice magical nature. It was benefited by a script that had limited locations…it didn’t need to be expensive and the it works.
Once is as the title implies a “once” in a lifetime type of musical. It could be easy to emulate a movie like Once…I could even see a sequel down the line to find out where the characters ended up, but Once nails it this time and would probably only disappoint if revisited in a sequel. Once is a movie that you find seeing once just isn’t enough.
