Once
Did you think the students spontaneously bursting into song and dance in the FAME cafeteria was a perfectly reasonable example of the miraculous power of music? Yes? Then you will want to give the new no-budget kind-of-musical ONCE a hug that lasts for so long it makes you both uncomfortable.
In Dublin, a busker meets an immigrant worker who agrees to help him record his demo album in just one week. It begins painfully, as the characters seem to be forced into proving their quirky credentials, but once the singing begins it forms emotional Rorschach patterns that let you project your own feelings into their growing romance.
Writer/director John Carney has said he didn’t want to make a traditional musical, but more a “visual album” – a movie with a story, but with songs at its heart. Carney was once a member of the indie band The Frames, and so tapped the band’s lead, Glen Hansard, for the starring role. Choosing your cast for their voices over their acting is risky, but the results here are undeniably sweet and engaging. Plus lilting accents buy you big, fluffy clouds of goodwill.
Format: Cinema
Mood: Nostalgic
Keywords: Once, John Carney, The Frames
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