Once

公視 2010/9/26 1230-1400?

• Director: John Carney
• AMG Rating:
• Genre: Musical
• Movie Type: Slice of Life, Musical Drama
• Themes: Musician's Life, Interracial/Cross-Cultural Romance
• Main Cast: Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová, Hugh Walsh, Gerry Hendrick, Alastair Foley
• Release Year: 2007
• Country: IE
• Run Time: 86 minutes
• MPAA Rating: R

Plot

A Dublin-based busker and vacuum-cleaner repairman enters into a fruitful relationship with a piano playing florist in a toe-tapping "video album" directed by John Carney and featuring a cast comprised entirely of professional musicians. He (Glen Hansard of the Frames) was a six-stringed street musician. She (Markéta Irglová) was a flower woman who couldn't afford to purchase a piano of her own. One day, after admiring the musician's songs and asking if he would take a look at her broken vacuum, the flower-pushing piano player discovers that she shares a remarkable sonic rapport with the mechanically savvy guitarist. As their musical sensibilities quickly converge to striking effect, the talented pair soon determines to record an album together. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Review

It would be easy to crush John Carney's warm-hearted Once with overpraise. It is a very small, very simple, immensely likeable movie that earns an audience's goodwill early thanks to a very winning performance by Glen Hansard. The film opens with scenes of the man earning money as a street singer, and his singing voice, as well as his sympathy for an addict who tries to rob him, make him an instantly engaging character. Thanks to a textbook "meet cute" involving a broken appliance, he makes the acquaintance of a woman (Markéta Irglová) who eventually becomes his collaborator on a series of songs and recordings that will help both of them realize their personal goals. The songs they create together are the center of the film, and tonally they fit the movie perfectly. They are very pretty, with simple repetitive declarations of emotion, although they lack real hooks -- they are like an earthier version of Damien Rice songs. The movie does not build to a false climax. There is no buildup to a gig that will break them into the big time, and although this is a love story, the movie does not hinge on a "will they or won't they get together" template that would drive most films like this. The simple ending provides a gentle poetic touch that underscores how well these two characters know each other, and what they have given to each other during their brief time together. Once is simply a straightforward account of a couple of weeks in these people's lives, a period of time they will only have once. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi