Once
If you (like me) missed this in the theatre, this is a tender little ultralow budget movie about the intimate connection of making music. It could sort of be described as a musical, since 60 percent of it (per the director) is musical performance. However, the warm folkiness of the songs and their generally non-narrative-pushing content make it feel more like a long, lovely home movie of a short portion of two people’s lives. The two leads, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, are credited only as Guy and Girl, lending their story the sweet universality of a song.
It could also sort of be described as a romance, since 70 percent of it is the sparkling chemistry between its leads. Hansard and Irglova were already acquainted musically and socially before making this film, so their lack of acting experience disappears under their easy, vaguely crushed-out vibe and their music performances. Hansard himself wrote the songs attributed to him, and Irglova wrote or collaborated on others, so the magical flow of creating a song together flows truly through them.
The film takes place in Dublin, Ireland, a land chockablock with accents thick and thin, but more importantly, a vibrant, ever-present culture of music and bonhomie. Our leads attend a party where, later in the evening, the table littered with bottles and forgotten dishes, everyone is expected to make and share in song. I felt this was significant because while music is clearly in the blood of our Guy and Girl (she is Czech, not Irish, but it matters not), it is also in the very air around them.
I drifted briefly into a nostalgic haze recalling evening witnessing my talented college friends plucking beautiful songs out of the air and capturing them like butterflies in a jar on mealy cassette tapes. It’s so pleasurable to be in that environment, and equally pleasurable to watch these two connect on a level different from (but comparable to) a romantic one, The whole film as a very voyeuristic/long-lens home video feel, as if these two happened to bump into each other on camera, and the camera just tagged along for a short time. Their “once” creates something really special, no matter where their lives take them after. Director of Photography Tim Fleming makes us a collaborator in the moment, as I so vainly felt in those college music sessions long ago.
The songs themselves have a really pleasant ache to them, a folksy melancholy but also beautiful melodies. They feel home-grown too - pouring confidence but not arrogance out of their instruments and voices with a sweet naturalness. Their individual songwriting is brought to life by the other, while the complications in their lives remain firmly in place. Once is a sweet, gentle, lovely musical about songwriting, one which I think you may enjoy.
MPAA Rating R-language
Release date 3/23/07
Time in minutes 85
Director John Carney
Studio Fox Searchlight
