Film review: Once.
People often accuse me of using the phrase 'one of the best films I have ever seen' way too often. To them I say two things, the first being pish tosh! and the second being, try to listen better because there's a world of difference between 'one of the best films' and 'one of the better films'; the latter category is substantially larger, and therefore less exclusive, than the former.
That said, Once is one of the best films I have ever seen.
The jury is still out, and it'll take me a few more viewings to come to a definitive verdict, but I suspect that this tiny little film may have inadvertently stumbled itself into my top five list, which hasn't happened since .. well .. 2006. Ahem. But you get my meaning.
Once is the kind of film the term 'indie' was invented for. A film shot in 17 days, using two digital cameras, a handful of relative unknowns, and a budget of $150.000,-, it tells a simple story of a street musician in working class Dublin, spending his days on a street corner singing popular songs for a few euros, and his nights, on that same corner, singing his own material for loose change. A man --mid thirties, living with his father, repairing vacuum cleaners to pay the rent-- spending every free minute in his room writing heart rending songs to his lost love now living a new and better life in faraway London.
This man, who remains nameless throughout, meets an immigrant girl, equally nameless; this girl understands the pain which gave these songs life and together, with nothing more than a beat up guitar and an unsold showroom piano, they prove that true art isn't produced by big budgets or green lit by a dozen vice presidents. All a true artist needs is 17 days and a pocket full of quarters to create something truly glorious.
Narratively this little film is very simple as it mostly depends on the songs and the characters, with the central love story left mostly unspoken and on the edges of the picture, in the peripheral vision of the viewers, who are allowed to invent the romance for themselves. And what the viewer invents around those songs and in the copious amounts of open spaces is far more touching than anything that could be shown on screen. What hooked me was that the film is so raw, so pure - entirely natural and charming in a way that flies directly in the face of the usual multiplex mainstream fair with their (admittedly entertaining) contrivances and artificiality.
And the music, lord, the music. The music alone is reason enough to watch this film. The soulfulness and pain of love lost is expressed so tenderly and sensitively, but with such power here. Falling Slowly, a song performed early on in the film in a scene that is as simple as it is beautiful won the Academy Award for best original song, but the Academy members could have picked any of the dozen or so songs performed throughout the film. The soundtrack for this film is a must-have, plain and simple.
A truly, truly wonderful film. A film that brings a smile and breaks your heart simultaneously.
A 98 out of 100.
That said, Once is one of the best films I have ever seen.
The jury is still out, and it'll take me a few more viewings to come to a definitive verdict, but I suspect that this tiny little film may have inadvertently stumbled itself into my top five list, which hasn't happened since .. well .. 2006. Ahem. But you get my meaning.
Once is the kind of film the term 'indie' was invented for. A film shot in 17 days, using two digital cameras, a handful of relative unknowns, and a budget of $150.000,-, it tells a simple story of a street musician in working class Dublin, spending his days on a street corner singing popular songs for a few euros, and his nights, on that same corner, singing his own material for loose change. A man --mid thirties, living with his father, repairing vacuum cleaners to pay the rent-- spending every free minute in his room writing heart rending songs to his lost love now living a new and better life in faraway London.
This man, who remains nameless throughout, meets an immigrant girl, equally nameless; this girl understands the pain which gave these songs life and together, with nothing more than a beat up guitar and an unsold showroom piano, they prove that true art isn't produced by big budgets or green lit by a dozen vice presidents. All a true artist needs is 17 days and a pocket full of quarters to create something truly glorious.
Narratively this little film is very simple as it mostly depends on the songs and the characters, with the central love story left mostly unspoken and on the edges of the picture, in the peripheral vision of the viewers, who are allowed to invent the romance for themselves. And what the viewer invents around those songs and in the copious amounts of open spaces is far more touching than anything that could be shown on screen. What hooked me was that the film is so raw, so pure - entirely natural and charming in a way that flies directly in the face of the usual multiplex mainstream fair with their (admittedly entertaining) contrivances and artificiality.
And the music, lord, the music. The music alone is reason enough to watch this film. The soulfulness and pain of love lost is expressed so tenderly and sensitively, but with such power here. Falling Slowly, a song performed early on in the film in a scene that is as simple as it is beautiful won the Academy Award for best original song, but the Academy members could have picked any of the dozen or so songs performed throughout the film. The soundtrack for this film is a must-have, plain and simple.
A truly, truly wonderful film. A film that brings a smile and breaks your heart simultaneously.
A 98 out of 100.
5 Comments:
I loved 'Once' too. A friend lent me the DVD saying I have to watch it because it's about a street performer (and I am one, too). The scene where the busker runs after a guy who stole money from his bag rang very true - I had that happen to me, too, and it ended the same way as in the movie. From there on the movie kept growing on me as it went on.
All the best,
Saw Lady
www.SawLady.com/blog
Did you see the Oscar speech? Worth seeing. Nice work by Jon Stewart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx8yLvb0gZM
I saw it, yeah. I felt sorry for her when she wanted to speak and the music cut her off. Well done by Jon Stewart, though.
That said, it must have been awkward for her to walk back on stage all alone and do her speech again. And terrifying, too.
But she deserved her moment as much as Glen Hansard did and I am glad she got it. Good speech, too.
Also gorgeous accent - Czech/Irish I guess.
Ah yes, that Irish brogue is quite charming on her.
She has great r's. (Sorry, that is quite lame.)
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