A Movie For Music Lovers

Once (2006)

Brief Detail

Director: John Carney
Writer: John Carney
Release Date: March 23rd 2007 (Ireland)
Genre: Drama

Plot

Once is about a street musician (Glen Hansard) that has recently had his heart broken by the love of his life. One night he has a chance meeting with a girl (Markéta Irglová) who plays the piano and they hit it off pretty well. The two start hanging out and playing music together and end up recording some songs together.

The story experiments with the way that music can bond people and help people get through tough times. This story is quite compelling for someone who loves music or someone who likes great independent films.

Performance

The main actor (Glen Hansard) does a great job. It would seem that Hansard is not just an actor, but actually a musician as well. Hansard does a great job expressing different emotions throughout and makes for a very believable street musician. A typical guy who doesn’t show a lot of emotion, but his emotion is channeled through his music. Music is his passion which is obvious from just the look of his guitar. The costar actress (Markéta Irglová) does a phenomenal job as well. Irglová performs much like Hansard in that she shows a range of emotion, but with the emotional aspect that you would expect for a girl. She shows emotion, but expresses herself more through the music. The acting in the movie points straight to the heart of the film; music. Music is the focus and the acting only demonstrates how music can help people come together and express themselves in such a powerful way.


Cinematography

There was simply no cinematography in this movie. The movie was indeed about the music, which makes the lack of cinematography that much more significant. The absence of visual magnificence deepens the focus of the film on the auditory experience. Once was shot mostly with low quality cameras that had poor low light performance. It often seems that proper lighting was not even considered during the making of the film.

Directing

The director (John Carney) does a great job with the actors to make the film have an almost eerie realism. Anyone who has been involved with music will notice how real and believable the musical connection between the two is. Although the two seem to have a difficult time expressing themselves by talking, the music makes everything clear. Without much dialogue you can discern how the characters are feeling and the life they have been through because the music says it all.


The Real Deal

This movie was a chance pick up for me as it was on the new release wall at Blockbuster. I would recommend this movie to anyone who likes good movies that break the normal mold for a film or anyone who is interested in music. Although the visual aspect of the film will not impress anyone it has a purpose that actually adds to the focus of the film. Once is a film that I was glad that I did not miss out on.

The Short Version

Raw Score: 843,749

Sharon Movie? Yes