Once, Twice-Yes, Even Three Times
by Gillian Linman
Ever since traveling to Ireland about three years ago, I have thought of nothing but planning on when I could go back. For those of you who might have been and hated it, you're crazy; and for those of you who have been and loved it, you know exactly what I am talking about. The people, the scenery and the culture in general are just amazing. And apparently, so are their movies.
Once, an independent Irish film that premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, received extraordinary reviews and was even awarded with the World Cinema Audience Award. I was unfamiliar with the film until this summer, when one of my friends was raving to me about how good it was. I ended up not being able to see it until just a couple of weeks ago, but I can say with confidence that it truly was a captivating film.
Once tells the story of an aspiring musician (Glen Hansard), who works in his father's vacuum repair shop. One day while performing on the street, Hansard meets the Girl (Marketa Irglova), an eastern European immigrant who has recently moved to Ireland in search of a better life. The two discover they both are struggling in their personal lives - Hansard dealing with his recent breakup, Irglova with the fact that she has an absent husband - and both have a passion for music. It is through their love of music that the two become exceptionally close. Eventually they record a demo with a band they haphazardly put together, which in a lot of ways tells their love story and stories, separately. In the end, the relationship of both the Guy and the Girl helps to fuel their passion for their artistic and individual lives.
The film, according to director John Carney, is "a simple, classic story of two artists falling in love." While I think this statement is true in many ways, I feel like the movie is much more than just a traditional love story - it is much rawer than this. The style and logistics of the movie are very naturalistic and real. For example, Carney opted to hire two musicians, Glen Hansard, front man of an Irish band called The Frames, and Marketa Irglova, a Czech singer/songwriter, to play the main roles as opposed to trained actors who could sing. The very rough style of filming, as if done with a handheld camera, also adds to this very genuine feeling of the film. There is also the fact that both Hansard's and Irglova's characters are not named but merely referred to in the credits as the Guy and the Girl, implying a sense of realism to their relationship, as if they could be any two people in the world.
It is all of these rather technical aspects that contribute to create the unique love story depicted in the film. However the love story is not "boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, and boy and girl live happily ever after." It is more so a story of two people who share a passion and, through this passion, begin to discover within themselves the ability to love. Furthermore, this love they discover is not a superficial, caught-in-the-moment kind of love, but rather a healing love, an uplifting love, and a love of learning. Before I turn every male away from seeing this film, however, I must insist that this really isn't the typical, terrible chick-flick that your girlfriend insists you go see on a Friday night. It is an amazing story that I think everyone can appreciate and even enjoy.
Despite the "realism" the film does possess, there is a sense of the fictitious - namely because the film is, for lack of a better term, a modern day musical. I use the term "musical" lightly for it is by no means some Disney love story gone terribly awry. In fact, it was the author's intention to make the music is a key part of the movie. I heard the soundtrack from Once before seeing the film and was instantly drawn to it. The songs are fairly mellow, ranging from indie-acoustic to somewhat "poppy," but they all possess a sense of the passion portrayed in the film. The soundtrack actually reached number sixty on the Billboard top 200, which is pretty respectable for an independent film's soundtrack.
All in all, I thought the film was extraordinary and would recommend it to anyone to go see. If the story seems uninteresting to you, go see it for the scenery of Ireland (mostly in and about Dublin), which is fabulous in and of itself. Basically, Once is a great piece of art, a film that should be respected for its style, story and music. Once is a movie you should see once, twice and yes - even three times.
