Once
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Movie Reviews of Once
Movie Review: Real life musical
Summary: 5 Stars
It's a hard knocks life playing music on the sordid streets of Dublin, Ireland. "Once" opens with clear proof of that as our protagonist, Guy (Glen Hansard from the "Commitments"), has to chase down a thief who's stolen his guitar case full of tips.
But not all of Guy's encounters are so negative. By chance, he encounters 'Girl', a Czech immigrant who turns out to be a talented pianist.
They form a friendship. Then they begin to perform together, which blossoms into a band and a CD. This is definitely not a romance. Guy's still trying to resolve an old relationship with a girl who left him and Girl's married with a daughter til near the end of the film.
What "Once" is is honest dialog between two people about their dreams, their lives.
All this and the music is wonderful as well. It's a folky-bluesy theme written by the two co-stars. What's interesting is that the music, like a character in itself, evolves through the film.
"Falling" has received a great deal of radio play, particularly on my favorite Austin-based radio station. The song that made me laugh was "Broken Hearted Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy". Now, that is an original title and very much real life. I'm adding the soundtrack to my wish list and if the spouse likes the film, I may well end up purchasing the DVD as well.
Warnings:
To me, both Guy and Girl are fairly easy to understand, but if you have trouble with accents, you may want to turn on closed captioning
The "R" rating must be based mostly on language. If you have a serious problem with the f-bomb, you may want to skip this film; however, it really doesn't sound so harsh with an Irish brogue.
Movie Review: Green, Irish, charming and musical
Summary: 5 Stars
A funny little Irish film on the birth and delivery of a music group and an album. It is the result of the chance meeting of a young guitar player singing in the street and a young pianist and slightly composer just passing by and listening. The meeting of the two, though starting on a bad foot: ten cents in the street for one full song and later his more than lame proposal though he knew nothing about her. He will learn later she is Czech, married, has a child and is living in Ireland with her mother and her child waiting for her husband to join them. In spite of that a collaboration becomes possible and a full CD is composed, rehearsed, recorded and burnt in time for him to go to London to work with some producers. He invites her on his last night in Ireland and she accepts but will not come and his only farewell will come from his father. On the following morning he goes away but stops in a music store and has a piano delivered to her. End of story: the piano is delivered and used with the finally arrived husband. Charming story in which artistic gifts and desires are not always expressed, do not always find their way to some audience, and may be completely wrecked by some horny or kinky illumination. But when art leads beyond this skin deep impulse there can be a way to some achievement. In many ways a good Irish hence catholic film in which Catholicism is some kind of morality that leads to a certain life style.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines
Movie Review: An entirely new kind of musical.
Summary: 5 Stars
I haven't seen "Music & Lyrics," the movie in which Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore play a songwriting-romantic pair, but John Carney's "Once" probably can be described as a cross between "Music & Lyrics" and "Brief Encounter." This delicate little tale of the musical collaboration and almost-romance between a thirtysomething Dublin street busker (Glen Hansard) and a young Czech immigrant to Ireland (Marketa Irglova) leaves us breathless with its simplicity and beauty. There's a certain amount of stylization--this is the movies, after all--but not the kind we're used to from movie musicals. The beautiful, melancholy songs--nearly all of them by Hansard and/or Irglova--arise organically from the characters, because they are musicians, and the songs they write are how they express themselves. Hansard and Irglova both have lovely, impassioned singing voices, and as actors they have a natural, unforced charisma. (Irglova is a first-time actress, but viewers may remember Hansard as Outspan, guitarist for "The Commitments.") Carney's hand-held cameras give the film a near-documentary feel that nevertheless doesn't skimp on either sentiment or humor. The film's very first scene, depicting Hansard's attempts while busking to keep an obnoxious drunk from stealing his tips, is laugh-out-loud funny while demonstrating the precariousness of Hansard's existence. "Once" is that rare musical that envelops us in music and beauty while bringing home the tough reality of the characters' lives.Movie Review: ONCE Upon A Time!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I want to start out saying ONCE upon a time because it might have fairy tale qualities but it also seems like something that really could happen. You don't have to check the rational side of your brain at the beginning. You come away thinking, that really could have happened in life. Glen lives and works with his widowed father who owns a vacuum cleaner repair service. He has also just broken off a romantic relationship with a girl who is still living in London. He wants to be a full time musician and in his spare time he plays in the downtown area on the streets of Dublin. Marketa and her infant daughter live with her widowed mother in a small apartment. We learn she is estranged from her husband (still living in the Czech Republic) and it just wasn't working out. She sells flowers and other small items on the streets to support her small family. They meet on the street when she listens to one of his songs and strikes up a conversation. She, too, loves music and 'borrows' a piano at the local music store during lunch because she can't afford a piano of her own. They find they have a shared passion for writing and creating music. A relationship starts to develop. Where will it lead? Is it more than just music? Is this the ONE chance for both of them to fulfill their dreams together? Michael Phillips of The Chicago Tribune says, "ONCE may well be the best music film of our generation." [...]Movie Review: The Underlying Theme is Friendship
Summary: 5 Stars
Friendship through music. This is going to be one of those films I know I'll watch again and again. Or at least I'll listen to it . . . the music is so good, it's haunting. Chalk full of emotion, the lyrics and both the male and female voices have a transcending quality that stops you in your tracks and insists you listen.
The characters (guy and girl) are understated, modest, and very real. There doesn't seem to be any acting going on, but it's a little like a documentary. He, the guy, is a guitarist, a singer-songwriter, singing for his supper in the off-hours of his job as a vacuum cleaner repairman. She, the girl, is Czech, a pianist, likes his music and happens to have a "Hoover" in need of repair. He sings on the streets, she sells flowers on the streets. Their ultimate meeting is not remarkable, but their unlikely coupling as a musical duo is. When they first sing together, there's immediate harmony. With the girl as muse, they find their way down a musical path and as I watched, I felt that no matter what was going to happen, everything about the film felt successful. It had a hand-made quality to it that felt believable.
Shot mainly on the recognizable streets of Dublin, it's all very Irish and utterly charming. Highly recommend.
Michele Cozzens, Author of A Line Between Friends and The Things I Wish I'd Said.