"Once" Movie Review

Once was the first R-rated movie I saw (and it doesn't deserve that rating anyway). For that alone, it would hold a special place in my heart, but I love it for many, many other reasons.

For such a small-budget indie film, Once is really professional.  The director is obviously experienced, and knows how to bring out the best in his actors.  For two people who are musicians who have never had a large role (or even any role) in a film before, they're remarkably natural and comfortable, both in front of the camera and with each other.  This film makes great use of natural light/settings, for example, filming the party scene at the lead actor's own flat.  It gives a sense of warmth to the scenes that fits perfectly with the story they're telling.  They use a lot of medium close-ups, and a lot of really small sets (like in the Girl's flat) that make it clear that the film is almost just a window onto a very intimate and real friendship that develops over the course of the movie.  There's also an amazingly beautiful crane shot at the end that is just . . . wow.  It basically says everything the film is.  You really have to see it to understand . . .

Another thing I love is that the music is so seamlessly integrated into the film.  It doesn't even seem like a soundtrack at many points, it's more diegetic sound, such as when the Girl is walking down the street and starts singing along to one of the songs she's writing lyrics for.  The music is beautiful by itself too.  This is where the advantage of casting two professional musicians shows up: They wrote and recorded all their own songs.  Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova are two extremely talented musicians, and their songs are beautiful and heartfelt . . . and occasionally very, very, funny, a la "Broken Hearted Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy".

And then, the story is just so unique.  While I take pride in being one of five girls in the theater to see Transformers 2, and I usually avoid romance/drama films like the plague, Once is something else entirely.  It's not a traditional romance at all.  The two leads have such an easy camaraderie, it's so lovely to watch.  The Girl is strong and independent, raising her child while working as a flower seller.  One of my (many) favorite parts is when she totally flips out when the Guy asks her to spend the night, and then he realizes what an idiot he was.  It's not about the sex and the drama, like so many other romance films are (The Other Boleyn Girl, which deserves an "R" rating far more than Once does, comes to mind), it's about the friendship and the respect.

Overall, I think Once is one of the best movies I've seen in a very, very long time.  Its funny (I love the scene with the Girl dragging her broken Hoover down Grafton Street.  It's just . . . perfect), warm, and realistic.  The ending is sad, in a way, because the Guy and the Girl can't be together, even though they seem so perfect for each other; at the same time, the Girl has another shot at a real relationship with her husband and the Guy gets another chance with his girlfriend in London.  Once is so hard to describe because so much of its power comes from the acting, rather than the storytelling.  Just watch it :)