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Once (2007)

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  • Once (2007)

    Once (2007)
    Glen Hansard, Marketa Irglova. Directed by John Carney.

    I so wanted to be unimpressed by Once. There was just too much hype around it, you know? I heard the songs before the movie was released, and the songs were interesting but not memorable, and a whole bunch of people just seemed to make too much of a big deal of it before I got a chance to see it. Then it left theaters and although I added it to my Netflix queue right away, I kept pushing it down to avoid finally seeing it, almost as a matter of principle, ‘though do not ask me what principle I was serving, because it escaped me. Stubborn bandwagon-avoiding is not a principle, is it?

    I stuck the DVD in and immediately resented it, because of course the opening scene is a wide shot of a young musician (Glen Hansard as an unnmaed guy) busking on the streets of Dublin, and of course his guitar is a worn-out Takamine with holes in the soundboard, and of course he’s a great singer, and of course the scene is shot with a shaky, handheld, one-camera setup.

    But then darn it: the song is really good. When the musician encounters the unnamed girl (Marketa Irglova), she doesn’t just appreciate his music; she asks him about the girl who inspired it, and she seems able to disarm him and me with just the right questions after. Then before we know it, the two are walking to lunch together with a wheeled canister vacuum cleaner in tow, and he is young and kind of noble, and she is younger and kind of pretty, and they play music together and deal with their aging parents and the songs get better and better and I am in love with both of them and everyone else in the movie by the time we’re twenty minutes in.

    The characters are very likable, and the story does its best to stick just to them, just to these few days in their lives, where for one there is only one thing to think about, and for the other there is also only one thing, but it’s not the same thing. And the musical numbers play like some completely re-imagined concept of what a movie musical could be, the editing and blocking taking the place of choreography, the conceit of two musicians writing songs replacing the unexplainable device of characters breaking out into unplanned song. Each song gets its own treatment within the framework of the story, almost like an album of music videos tied together by concept and theme. But where video albums, even the most conceptual of them, are still just collections of music videos, this is a real movie with a real story, built first on the characters and second on the songs.

    The mysterious thing to me is that it’s all about the performers. The songs are good, but most of them aren’t great, yet when performed by these musicians in these settings, they grab you and don’t let go. Hansard and Irglova performed on the TV program Austin City Limits a couple of years ago and they were terrific, their personalities and performances elevating the songs above what they are just as tracks on an album, which was a big reason for my reluctance to see the film.

    It’s a huge credit to the film-makers and to the actors that the film is much, much, much better than the songs of its parts.

    PS: This is maybe the most perfectly titled film I’ve seen in ages.

    8/10 (IMDb rating)
    83/100 (Criticker rating)
    But I'm disturbed! I'm depressed! I'm inadequate! I GOT IT ALL! (George Costanza)
    GrouchyTeacher.com

  • #2
    Re: Once (2007)

    Some discussion about this film in this thread about the Academy Awards for that year.
    But I'm disturbed! I'm depressed! I'm inadequate! I GOT IT ALL! (George Costanza)
    GrouchyTeacher.com

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    • #3
      Re: Once (2007)

      I'm surprised it took you so long to review this movie. I thought the songs were quite good, and the movie I would rank a 92/100 (I bought a copy).
      May I always be found beneath your contempt.

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      • #4
        Re: Once (2007)

        So glad you finally got around to this one. I think maybe my wife and I were able to see it before it really became a "hit sensation," because we were charmed, disarmed, and smitten. Earnest performances, simple production, great music, and a realistic human-scale plot that doesn't go where 99 percent of other "romantic" movies go.

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