Review of Once (2007) by Panta O — 29 Aug 2013

This Irish drama about musicians written and directed by John Carney was a pleasant viewing and listening. This naturalistic movie, set in Dublin, Ireland, stars musicians Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová. What a treat! Collaborators prior to making the film performing under the stage moniker The Swell Season, Hansard and Irglová composed and performed all of the original songs in the film! Amazingly different, this film will show love scenes with no sex, song lyrics instead of a narration, musicians with everyday problems and families, not drug abusers without morals... or chasers of fame and fortune.

Shot for only 130,000 (US$160,000), the film was delightful to watch, and it received enthusiastic awards such as the 2007 Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film. Hansard and Irglová's song "Falling Slowly" won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Original Song and the soundtrack as a whole also received a Grammy Award nomination.

Once spent years in development with the Irish Film Board. It was during a period where the film board had no chief executive (for about 6 months) that the film was given the go-ahead by a lower level executive on the proviso that the producers could make it on a budget of approximately 150,000 and not the initial higher budget. They made it and I am glad they did... because I enjoyed it. Every bit of the story about Guy (Glen Hansard) and Girl (Markéta Irglová) was so realistic that I almost thought that I am watching some reality show about two musicians, but at the same time I could feel close to them, thanks to the wonderfully developed screenplay. My surprise was that neither of the two leads is a trained or experienced actor - Hansard and Irglová are both professional musicians. Director Carney, former bassist for Hansard's band The Frames, had asked his long-time friend to share busker anecdotes and compose songs for the film, but had intended the male lead to be played by actor Cillian Murphy. He was an almost-signed rock musician before turning to acting. Murphy thought that he was too good in acting and declined the prospect of acting opposite non-actor Irglová (then 17 years old) but felt that he is not as good in singing to belt out Hansard's octave-leaping songs, so he pulled out, as did the film's other producers along with their financial resources. Hansard, who'd previously done only one acting job, was the next choice. He was initially reluctant, fearing that he wouldn't be able to pull it off, but after stipulating that he had to be fully involved in the filmmaking process and that it be low-budget and intimate, he agreed. That's how we got an intimate, family movie with love and wonderful songs...