Once (film)
| Once | |
|---|---|
| File:Onceposter.jpg Theatrical film poster | |
| Directed by | John Carney |
| Written by | John Carney |
| Produced by | Martina Niland |
| Starring | Alaistair Foley, Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová, Geoff Minogue |
| Cinematography | Tim Fleming |
| Edited by | Paul Mullen |
Release date | March 23, 2007 |
Running time | 85 min |
| Country | Ireland |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $150,000 USD[1] |
Once is a 2006 drama film written and directed by John Carney, who refers to it as a "video album." It stars Irish musician Glen Hansard, of the popular Irish group The Frames, along with Czech musician Markéta Irglová. Hansard is also known for a 1991 appearance in the film The Commitments. Once has been receiving awards and enthusiastic reviews, and is being described as a musical for the modern age.
Hansard & Irglová had been musical collaborators before the film and released an album entitled The Swell Season in 2006. All the original songs in the movie were written by the two performers.
Plot
Hansard plays a busker (nominally titled Guy) who works in his father's hoover repair shop to earn money. Irglová is a Czech immigrant (nominally titled Girl) who sells flowers on the street. They meet during one of his late night street performances and strike up a friendship based on their shared love for music. The film then follows them as they write and record songs over a week. The music is performed in a real-world incidental music fashion, as the characters play on the bus, or rehearse a song to themselves while walking down the street.
Reception
Though produced with a shoestring budget of only $150,000 USD, the film achieved major acclaim, receiving the World Cinema Audience Award for a dramatic film at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.
On the May 19, 2007 broadcast of Ebert & Roeper, both Richard Roeper and guest critic Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune gave enthusiastic reviews. Phillips called it, "the most charming thing I've seen all year," "the Brief Encounter for the 21st century," and his favorite music film since 1984's Stop Making Sense. Roeper referred to the film's recording studio scene as "more inspirational and uplifting than almost any number of Dreamgirls or Chicago or any of those multi-zillion dollar musical showstopping films. In its own way, it will blow you away."[1]
Notes
- ^ a b Ebert & Roeper, May 19, 2007
References
- Once Movie Trailer
- Once at IMDb
- "Once publicity brochure" (pdf). 2006. Retrieved 2007-05-10.
