A Moment Captured in Music
Once Sets Story to Song
Too often a genre of film becomes pigeon-holed by certain expectations. For years, science fiction and horror were seen as the stuff of Saturday matinees. Likewise, many people hear "musical" and think it must be some big Broadway production. Writer and director John Carney was inspired to write a modern-day musical on a smaller scale. With Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová to write the music and lyrics, Carney created a film about music and loneliness, couched in a realistic love story.
Written by: John Carney
Starring: Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová, Bill Hodnett, Danuse Ktrestova, Gerard Hendrick, Hugh Walsh, and Alastair Foley
Rated
(for
language)Running time: 85 min.
FilmGuru's Rating : 9 out of 10.
The film is a simple story of a guy (Hansard) and a girl (Irglová) who meet on the streets of Dublin, Ireland, and learn of their mutual love of music. He is a street performer who only plays his songs at night. She is a young Czech immigrant trying to find her place in a strange city. Together, they find someone to share their music and their lives.
Once is not a musical in the traditional sense. This isn't an MGM or Rogers and Hammerstein production. There isn't singing and dancing in the streets.
It isn't a musical as much as it is a film about music. The music intertwines with the story and plays a vital part. Characters break into song, but only within the context of writing songs or performing. The music fuels the story and the story, in turn, shows the characters writing the music.
Hansard and Irglová are wonderful in their roles, coming across as believable without being too polished. Their performances have a quiet strength, as if this were more a documentary than a work of fiction. We laugh with them, feel their burdens, but we accept them as real.
The real star of the film is the music. Soft, tender melodies and beautiful lyrics combine to make a film that is a pleasure to hear. This soundtrack will be a welcome addition to the collection.
The one stumbling block for the film is the dialogue, spoken in Irish and Czech accents that are foreign to American ears. I missed large parts of conversations because I couldn't understand what was being said. My wife, who lived in the UK for six years, had a better time of it. This film was made for an Irish audience, and Americans may have difficulty.
Once had its international premier at The Sundance Film Festival in January 2007, where it won the Sundance Film Festival World Cinema Audience Award.
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