Once [2007] - DVD (Glen Hansard, Marketa Irglova, Bill Hodnett, Danuse Ktrestova - Dir: John Carney)

Winner of the World Audience Award at Sundance, Once starts out as a small-scale romance, like Before Sunrise, before arriving somewhere unexpected. An Irish busker (Glen Hansard, the Frames and The Commitments) meets a Czech flower seller (Markéta Irglová) while singing on the streets of Dublin. (In the credits, they're listed as Guy and Girl.) She likes what she hears and lets him know. Turns out she's a musician, too. They work on a few songs together and a friendship is forged. She lives with her widowed mother, who doesn't speak English. He lives with his widowed father, who owns a repair shop. Since he broke up with his girlfriend, the guy has been drifting, unable and unwilling to get his life in order. The girl encourages him to pursue a record deal, and the guy emerges from his funk. Then he makes a move on the girl, who rejects his advances. He's confused, but as he comes to find, there's a reason she's keeping her distance. Though Once is filled with appealing folk-pop by Hansard and Irglová (released on CD as The Swell Season), the movie isn't a traditional musical, but rather a more optimistic Brief Encounter. Filmmaker John Carney, Hansard's former bandmate, captures the real city--in all its affluence and poverty--rather than the picture postcard version. His beautifully shot film serves as a heartfelt ballad about all the underclass Guys and Girls swept aside amidst Ireland's economic miracle. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Customer Reviews of Once [2007]

katerinachichi
Lux
29th September 2008

I have fast forward finger
This film was really the most unbearable nonsense, the Irish busker/hoover repair man was perhaps the most annoying person ever. The music was awful, he must have been listening to an awful lot of Damien Rice.

Dave
London, UK
27th September 2008

Don't believe the hype
My girlfriend and I were really looking forward to watching this but were both shocked at just how disappointing it really is.

First off I liked the music, it's good singer songwriter fair but forgettable. If you like Irish singers there are plenty other better ones out there.

It's terribly shot, as a film maker myself it is just unforgivable to make a film this poorly, shooting on the worst camera badly. For me though this comes second to the total lack of narrative, very poor acting and a total unsatisfying ending.

There was no film here to watch just lots of badly shot musical sequences. It's not a musical because it isn't about anything. It's a poor idea badly executed. Watch Live at Abbey Road and see David Gray instead. Please don't waste your money on this overrated tripe.

S. Matthiesen-campbell
London
17th September 2008

FANTASTIC PLEASE WATCH AND GET CD!
THIS IS A FANTASTIC FILM WHICH IS REALLY UNIQUE AND CAPTIVATING! I LOVE IT AND THE CD IS AMAZING YOU REALLY NEED TO GET THIS!

Lexx
Worcestershire, UK
15th September 2008

Loved it. And believe me, I hate musicals..!
...but I do love well-crafted films with a soul. I bought this on a bit of a whim, having heard great things about it on my indie-flick radar ( kinda like Spidey-sense ), and after a worried start, I totally fell for this movie.
I say worried, because films about shouty Irish buskers would possibly make even me think twice, but you stick with it, and ten minutes in, you realise you are in that rare character-piece territory previously inhabited by Richard Linklater and his beautiful Before Sunrise/Before Sunset films.
The songs are great ( especially the duets ), and the whole thing is filmed guerrilla-style ( no elaborate-lighting, no postcard landmarks ), so it comes across almost like a documentary of how Irish musicians - or musicians in general, for that matter - live and survive, and how songs are composed.
The leads and supporting cast are totally charming, and unless you only like spoon-fed, overblown rom-coms which tick every cliche box, you're gonna love this.
I'm not giving anything away, though, when i say that the ending will have you offering to send the Irish Film Board a contribution to do a sequel, ASAP!

Tinhead
Wirral, UK
7th September 2008

Satisfying and moving
I rented this on the basis of a long-remembered Grauniad film review and I was really pleased I did. Not so much a musical as a fully-realised excuse to air the wonderful songs, it is realistic and moving. Don't expect plot twists and thrills and spills - just a logical playing out of two people meetings and interacting with music as the basis for their relationship. I bought the sound-track immediately. Excellent.