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How entertaining? ★★★★★
Thought provoking? ★★☆☆☆ 14 October 2007
This article is a review of ONCE. |
"How come you don't play during daytime? I see you here everyday," Girl
"During the daytime people would want to hear songs that they know, just songs that they recognize. I play these song at night or I wouldn't make any money. People wouldn't listen," Guy
"I listen," Girl
When a little film is universally praised, it is with some distance that it should be anticipated, otherwise buzz and expectation outstrip the end product. ONCE is this year’s LOST IN TRANSLATION, GARDEN STATE, NAPOLEON DYNAMITE, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, etc. – all quality films that touch the heart but hardly reinvent the wheel. As the hype hits ONCE remember that.
"During the daytime people would want to hear songs that they know, just songs that they recognize. I play these song at night or I wouldn't make any money. People wouldn't listen," Guy
"I listen," Girl
When a little film is universally praised, it is with some distance that it should be anticipated, otherwise buzz and expectation outstrip the end product. ONCE is this year’s LOST IN TRANSLATION, GARDEN STATE, NAPOLEON DYNAMITE, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, etc. – all quality films that touch the heart but hardly reinvent the wheel. As the hype hits ONCE remember that.
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For me, I was actually very moved by this romance, because so few movies hit the mark. They are usually so weighed down by sentimentality and formulaic plotting that the trailer sign-posts everything you will find out in the hour-and-a-half. Here, the low budget DIY-feel helps the audience question a happy ending, and that lack of guarantee makes you invest all the more in the burgeoning attachment of a busker/hoover repairman and big issue seller/cleaner (whose names you intriguingly never find out). Their chemistry is palpable. The glue that binds them is music. Both write and play and find that they reinvigorate each others’ slightly bruised souls.
What is startling about ONCE is not only the longing tone hit just right, but that it all feels so captivating; and the leads Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, who are talented singers and lyricists, give believable performances when non-professional actors. If you are lucky enough to catch Hansard and Irglova perform together, seize it, as live, in an intimate surrounding, they are exhilarating.
Having now seen ONCE twice the charm of this uplifting film is all the more evident.
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