Once
As the director says on the special features of the DVD, the story of Once could be written on the back of a postcard. Guy (Glen Hansard) is a street musician in Dublin, working at his fathers hoover repair shop to earn his rent, when Girl (Markéta Irglová) comes up to him one day and changes his life completely. She is a Czech immigrant trying to make some money any way she can (selling flowers and Big issues). They discover a similar passion for music which leads to a close friendship and a recording of Guy’s first demo CD. There is always the possibility of something more then friendship.
The film is not about the script as much as it is about the music and the way the music affects the viewer. The director (John Carney) made the choice to use musicians as actors because for him it was more important that the songs were well performed. He even used tricks to make the performances better, such as filming from far away so that the two main actors weren’t aware of the camera. It works well though. It was also made in a documentary style on a very low budget. The style somehow manages to make these two people become real to the audience. Like it is a documentary about their friendship rather then a fiction film.
I personally really like the songs. They were mostly written by Glen Hansard which really helps his performance. He is very much in the moment when he sings and I always like to watch people perform their own songs. The film is very unusual and extremely subtly and slowly told. I thought Once was a very beautiful film. It felt a bit like watching a very long music video with a bit of a story in between the songs. And it was very refreshing to see real looking people on screen and not polished Hollywood stars.
Tags: Glen Hansard, John Carney, Markéta Irglová, Once
January 12th, 2010 at 8:50 pm
Great review. I love this movie so much and think it did a great job of creating an organic feeling story to link the songs.
By the way, I wanted to let you know that I named your blog for the Kreativ Blogger Award
January 12th, 2010 at 8:50 pm
One of my very favorite movie of last decade. I agree that the songs are wonderful. It’s also incredible that the movie was made on a non-existent budget of $160K.
January 12th, 2010 at 11:00 pm
@Steph – Thanks so much!
@Castor – It sound like a lot of money but yes, for a film it is a small budget. It just goes to show that you don’t need to have a big budget and crew to make a great film!
January 13th, 2010 at 2:06 pm
great film, i love the songs he sings on the bus
makes me want to move back to dublin
January 13th, 2010 at 4:05 pm
One of my very favorite films of the decade too, and one that has a special place in my heart as it was the very first film I reviewed on this blog.
Thing is though – for me, there’s a lot more going on in the story than the back of a postcard contain. It reminds me of those intense connections we get with people, connections that burn very brightly very quickly, and are immensely important in the grand scheme of our lives.
Both the guy and the girl seem to spend much of the movie with an expression of “I want to love you, but I can’t right now”…and that isn’t an easy sell for two musician/actors.
Great review – pardon me while I cue up the soundtrack
January 13th, 2010 at 5:22 pm
@ Ross – Welcome to my blog! You are from Dublin? Beautiful city! Guessing from your article for Metro, you live in London now?
@ Hatter – I didn’t mean to diminish the movie by saying the story could fit on the back of a postcard. I agree that these connections between people mean a lot and are not easy to explain but the story line is still easy to summarize.
January 13th, 2010 at 5:29 pm
Sorry – didn’t mean to imply that you were diminishing. Had one of those moments where I tripped over my own thoughts.
Great post!
January 13th, 2010 at 5:36 pm
@Hatter – Haha that’s ok. I am having a lot of trouble expressing what it is exactly that I mean on the blog. It seems so clear in my head and then it just comes out as BLAH…