It took me about three days to get over Once after the first time I saw it. I found myself humming the songs, re-thinking the conversations – even working out what I would have said and done differently if I were in the lead character’s shoes.
The film occupied my thoughts and conversations almost unceasingly, and just as my fascination was starting to ebb away my friend Susan gave me the soundtrack – all original songs written by the musicians who play the main roles. That triggered another wave of Once-inspired moments and I just couldn’t seem to escape the grip this Irish film had on my heart.
I guess I’m a glutton for heartache and crying myself to sleep, because I watched it again this weekend with a friend, and it set in motion a whole new wave of melancholy and bittersweet emotions and ideas.
Not that Once is a sad film. It’s not really. It’s an honest story about a brief moment in the lives of two kindred-spirits trying to get by in Dublin. But it’s told in such a sincere, genuine, compelling way that if it doesn’t break your heart your soul is probably dead.
The indie film, directed by John Carney, was shot on a tiny 130,000-Euro budget, which amounts to something like $270,000 Canadian, and the original plan was to make 1,000 DVD copies and see what happened. The film made it into the Sundance Film Festival and won the audience award. It got added momentum when Bob Dylan saw it and invited star Glen Hansard and his Irish band the Frames, to tour with him.
Now the film has people talking about Oscar possibilities and the Frames, who have put out seven albums in 17 years in Ireland but have received little international attention, are finally getting noticed outside of the island.
If you go to see it, which you definitely should, you’ll understand why.
Hansard stars in the film, playing a scruffy 30-something singer-songwriter/vacuum cleaner-repairman-busker struggling to survive in Dublin, which is apparently not much of a stretch for Hansard.
During the day he plays well-known songs that passersby can sing along to, and it’s only late at night when the streets are empty that he plays his own intense, broken-hearted ballads.
It’s during one of these moments, performing Say It To Me Now, a heart-wrenchingly honest tune about, what else, a girl, on an empty Dublin street, lost in the obvious pain of the song, that he meets Marketa Irglova’s character.
A Czech immigrant selling flowers on Dublin’s streets, she’s magnetized by his music and proceeds to enter his life, although he does his best to resist at first.
His protest doesn’t last long, and the two embark on a brief but intense friendship/romance that reminded me of Lost in Translation or Before Sunrise.
Irglova’s character is also a musician, and helps inspire him to follow his heart, both in relation to his music and a long-lost love.
This film is classified as a musical, and the genre wavers somewhere between a documentary, romance or comedy. The simple story is woven around Hansard and Irglova’s songs, which form the backbone to this film, saying just as much or more about the two nameless individuals, than their words.
The songs Falling Slowly, All the Way Down, When Your Mind’s Made Up, Say It To Me Now, The Hill – on their own would make this film worth watching, but on top of that it’s shot simply and beautifully and has a believable, real quality that sets it apart from anything else I’ve seen this year.
I think the fact that neither of the lead characters are played by professional actors just adds to this film. Even their conversations are simple and uncontrived, and just like real life they’re often awkward and painful to watch but compelling too, because they accurately capture real life moments we’ve all experienced.
The subtitle of the film asks the question “How Often Do You Find the Right Person?”
But the story, just like real life, doesn’t set about providing a simple, black and white answer to the question. Instead it says ‘here’s one story about two people, take it and come up with your own answer.’
I’m still working on it…
Go here for videos and to hear the songs: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/once/
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