It was all about the music and a romance that grew and was in part denied. Reviews hailed it as a modern day musical; it won honors at the 2006 Sundance Festival.
I became very quickly enthralled by the music and by this street singer who was so earnest in his songwriting and singing. But what REALLY drew me in, aside from his talent – and hers – was the collaboration – no, that would be the wrong word – the joy, the magic, that happened when two or more people began playing music together. In an early scene, he (Glen Hansard) and she (Marketa Irglova) sit down in the music store, he giving her the basic tune lines on guitar and vocal, and she picks them up on the piano. Then they play together and it does become magcial. Later they go to what would seem to be an open mic of sorts in Dublin, and again, people begin to just play and sing together.
It took me back to college. I was in a NYC art school, known for art and architecture, and packed with creative people of all sorts. I remember sitting around at night over one of our places, always by candlelight – Michael, Kenny, Tom and Susie playing acoustic guitar, Wendy and I singing. We sang Dylan, Peter, Paul and Mary, Ian and Sylvia, Baez, Ochs, Joni Mitchell … whoever inspired us. On guitar – 6 and 12 string – they played off one another, inventing and spurring each other on. And we all sang. Whenever we got together this way, it was always amazing … and magical. No one was formally trained – we just did it, and long hours into the night. And laughter … there was lots of laughter.
And that’s what Once brought back to me. Pretty powerful. It was a romance in its own way, and it wasn’t clear where it was going between the two – you never really even heard their names – that wasn’t the point. But where it was going was the mutual sharing of each other through music, how they each grew and what they did with it.
I guess you could say it was a “small” film – I don’t remember ever seeing it in local papers. The music was great, and it was all written by the two people in the movie, who are in fact, musicians, not trained actors. About 60% of the movie was music – not Hollywood grand style – spontaneous and real. The filming was casual, using whatever light there was. At times, it was hard to understand what he said with the Irish accent. That didn’t matter much either.
I’d recommend it to anyone who loves music, who knows what it’s like to play music with others or has wanted to, and who is happy with a small, intelligent film. I’ll see it again.
Still A Dreamer 