|
By Timothy Chow
It's hard for me to come into this with a neutral stance and with little bias since I love all those involved in it; each time I try to think about this logically, I end up grinning and squeeing about how incredible the night was, but I'll try my best. The late afternoon and evening were shaping up to be rather great - I had been able to leave work early, I'd bought CQ and Four Weddings and a Funeral for $5.70 with tax, each, at HMV and I knew that Glen [Hansard] and John [Carney] were going to be doing an FAQ for their film.
To be honest, I didn't have that many preconceptions of how this was going to turn out. Obviously, I had heard that it was great, it won the best audience awards at Sundance and in Dublin, and it featured some songs from Glen and Markéta's [Irglová] album The Swell Season; but the actual movie itself - I didn't know what it was about nor really anything related to it aside from its actors and musical components. What I watched ended up surprising even me - 85 minutes of pure awesomeness - a love story between a busker (Hansard) and a young Czech mother (Irglová) set in Dublin and teeming with sweetness, a palpable sense of reality and music so beautiful it might make you cry. Once.
The director John Carney knows how to tell a story where not much really happens, interspersing the original musical compositions between the developments of the two main characters, known in the credits simply as "guy" and "girl." There's a real lightness to the film, not in that fleeting casual musical way that leaves you humming along but doesn't require anything from you - instead, it draws you in and invests your emotions into it without asking, first by its charming vérité style, then its gorgeous music and finally if that wasn't enough, its endearing romance between the two leads.
The two are extremely comfortable with each other as they are actually dating in real life, and while Markéta is still the better amateur actor compared to Glen's rather stilted and reserved portrayal of guy, the rapport is always believable and never a distraction. In one scene as girl is playing on the piano while guy looks on, the girl starts singing her heart out so much that I wasn't sure if I was actually watching something out of a documentary and that that was a real moment, or whether if that was just a really well-acted scene.
Shot for $100,000, Once has a very natural and unembellished look, colours that are stone-washed and never particularly overly colourful. Its shakey hand held camera only adds to the charm of the entire picture. The plot is cute without being saccharine or cheesy. If for any reason to watch this movie, go for its melancholy music and gorgeous performances. They will make you want to go out and buy the soundtrack as soon as possible. An achievement.
4 1/2 stars out of 5 
Trailer: http://foxsearchlight.com/once/ (click on trailer)
The bonus: after the film they answered questions and Glen played us three or four songs. Totally amazing.
|
