vernon film society
Bringing the best in world and Canadian film to film lovers of Vernon and the North Okanagan
ONCE
Director: John Carney
Cast: Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglova
Runtime: 85 minutes
Country: Ireland
Language: English
Rating: PG (Coarse language)
"[This] winningly unpretentious tale uses a wispy romantic narrative as a vehicle for attractive original tunes. [The film’s] charm seems so offhand one might not notice the skill with which helmer John Carney pulls it off…." – Dennis Harvey, Variety
Reviews: www.metacritic.com/film/titles/once
After the critical success of his 2001 film OVER THE EDGE, filmmaker John Carney returns as writer and director of the charming and poetic ONCE. A breakthrough hit at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, ONCE captivated the hearts of many before winning an Audience Award. Heralded as a modern-day musical, ONCE tells the beautifully simple story of two strangers (their names are never revealed) who are drawn, over a few days, into each other’s world’s. “Guy” (played by Glen Hansard, lead singer of the Irish band The Frames) is a street musician, and “Girl” (arrestingly portrayed by musician Markéta Irglova) is a classically trained pianist. Girl becomes enchanted one morning when she hears Guy singing his heart out along the busy streets of Dublin. Together they compose several songs, which, through the course of the film, act as a mirror of their relationship. Their lyrical love story, however, is neither conventional nor simple. Hansard’s character is talented, funny and haunted by the love he has lost, while Irglova’s continues to wonder what to do about the husband she left back home in the Czech Republic. His songs are earnest and full of heartbreak, a melodic lament for wounded lovers. Where he gives the songs heart, she gives them a struggling and questioning soul. And while there is an evident spark of attraction between them, their relationship is first and foremost defined by a creative
partnership that develops by chance, and that deepens with their musical collaboration. With ONCE, Carney has created a film that explores the role music plays in the cinema, and that – like the brilliant 1964 French film THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG – ultimately challenges the traditions of the mainstream musical. Partially autobiographical – inspired by Carney’s own long-distance relationship – and employing the talents of real-life singer-songwriters Hansard and Irglova, the film is more realistic than it is
fanciful and in which the characters’ connection to one another is unmistakably due to the magic of their songwriting.
An exceptionally moving work, ONCE guides the viewer on a journey into the human heart. At turns uplifting and heartbreaking, it invokes the possibly unanswerable question, “How many times in a lifetime will you meet the right person?”
"The music is so rich and completely satisfying and the characters so appealing Once makes us believe that this is all happening right in front of our eyes. We fall for each of these young people at the precise moment they are falling for each other, and what could be better than that?" - Kenneth Turan , Los Angeles Times
