Once

John Carney's Once has been on many people's lips for the past few months. Rave reviews from critics and winning over audiences across the world, make Once one of the most talked about and succesful films of the year. It makes you wonder what is it about this film that got people all hyped up. The key to its succes probably can be summed up in one word: simplicity. No big effects or action scenes, not even beautiful camerawork or lighting, just a story to tell. A story which is told through song and shows the lifes of a struggling singer and a young mother. Once has a lot of charm and will appeal to many people who enjoyed Little Miss Sunshine or Me And You And Everyone We Know. It's that type of film. A film which focuses on feelings and emotions. One that tries to get straight to the core of your heart and touch it all over. Even though Once is a beautiful little film, it ends up not being all that special and leaves you with the feeling there are films around which are better. It's not a bad film, and would not feel to be a bit of a dissapointment when reviews wouldn't have been so great. But it just doesn't completely gets to you the way other films of this kind tend to do. There's a lot of singing. Once could be seen as a modern musical, one with the singing, but without the dancing and hysteria these films sometimes bring across. Some of these songs are great, some of them aren't so much, giving you an awkward feeling, making you wonder what to really think about it. The singing aspect is a thing you have to feel comfortable with. Songs are sung in full and if you don't like the music, you probably will already not like the film, which is such a big part of the what the film is about. But if the music doesn't win you over, maybe the two characters do. The story is very simple, which isn't a bad thing at all. These two characters happen to show real progression and evolve. The girl, played by Markéta Irglová, truly wins you over as the film moves on. She seems so delicate looking up at Hansard with her big eyes. In the beginning there's not a real connection, but at the end you come to feel for her strongly and enjoy the character. Same happens for the guy played by Glen Hansard. He however, might get already get to your gut at the very beginning when the camera slowly moves closer to him while he performs a song on the street, singing his heart out. It's a moment filled with true emotion. Hansard has a beautiful voice that gets to you very easily. It's a true pleasure for both ears. This scene however can have the tendency to set the bar very high, with the film not reaching the same height until the end, where a beautiful shot makes you stop breathing for a few seconds.

What Is It About?

A guy trying to earn a little money by singing on the street one day meets a young woman who is charmed by his music. The two of them start chatting a bit and when finding out the guy's father owns a shop where they repair vacuum cleaners, the girl ends up bringing hers along into town to hand it over to him so his father can repair it. From this little encounter a strong bond comes to establish between the two characters. There love for music connects them. She becomes his muse. They're not really lovers, but there's something there. He has a woman waiting for him in London, she has a husband and a daughter. There friendship grows stronger when they decide to record some songs, which will hopefully bring them succes and provide for a record deal. They share their dreams and they sing their songs. When he, however, has to go to London, they start thinking what will happen next. Was the recording of the CD all there is or will there be more? Maybe their lives will cross paths again.

Final Verdict: ****

When you think about it, Once is actually a visual CD, a music album with images attached which tell the stories. Hansard and Irglová worked together before the making of the film. Both are musicians and recorded an album on which some songs used in the film can be heard. Therefore one might say this film is just a new kind of way to sell music. With a very low budget, Once is actually one big music video or commercial. Sceptics will maybe look at Once in this way, but people who love cinema, are likely to just enjoy the film which feels very fresh and not ask too much questions. Even though I adore the music, the characters and the story, it didn't truly win me over. I expected it to be amazing, partly caused by all the critics speaking so highly of it. Maybe I was not entirely in the mood, maybe I expected way too much. At a second view I might enjoy it more and see the real beauty and wonders of Once. Having seen it once I would still like to watch it again. There's a big chance I would come to really love it after watching it a second time. But for now I feel there are better films out there. Film which get to me way more than Once did. I liked it, but not loved it, not yet. Markéta Irglová however was a real delight and I was impressed by how her character developed and made me fully engaged at the end. It does not happen that much when a character wins you over like this, but she really managed to do it. At the beginning she really wasn't that special, but I came to love her. The way the film ends is perfect, with a great moving shot, which makes you forget about the poor quality of the film. A real positive aspect of the film is that Once will probably restore faith in young filmmakers who don't have the money to make a great looking film. With the frame completely out of balance at some points, it does come off as amateurish at times. But it works, it really does. Once believes in itself and it shows. It's tough rating a film of which you expected so much. And still, it's not that it isn't good, it's great, but not as great as I thought it would be or at least it does not provide for that feeling of wow, of being totally in awe. Once shows how opinions from others can really come to affect you and sometimes kind of destroy your pleasure and experience of a film. I guess it's better watching a film which is slammed down by the critics, because most of the time you end up really liking them. This time it's the other way around, even though I still like the film very much. But for now I prefer The Science Of Sleep or Before Sunrise. Those are films that really managed to cast it warm spell over me and kind of had me at hello. Hopefully Once will be a grower. For now I will just listen to the great soundtrack.