Gateway Cinephiles

3-Minute Intro: Once

Screened: March 11, 2008
Format: DVD - 20th Century Fox (2007)
Selected By: Eric

Among the critically hailed films of 2007, John Carney’s Irish musical Once stands apart. This is not a film that sparked blistering critical debates about its bold cinematic vision or artistic merit. Its ambitions are sweet and unsophisticated: a simple story about attraction, affection, and the power of music. It was shot for just $160,000 over seventeen days, and its performers are musicians, not actors. Several European festivals rejected the film, but following a warm reception in Dublin and at Sundance, something happened. Word of mouth began to spread, and audiences began to flock to its limited release showings. By the time of the film’s DVD release in November, the buzz was a roar. To say that a film “captured the hearts of viewers” might be unforgivably trite, but there is no other way to describe Once’s success.

A former bassist for the Irish rock group The Frames, Carney left the group in 1993 to pursue his interest in film. With over a decade of modest success directing music videos and Irish short films, Carney conceived Once as his first full-length feature. When his first choice for the lead role—fellow Irishman Cillian Murphy—and his producers pulled out early in the film’s development, Carney turned to longtime friend and Frames frontman Glen Hansard. Hansard was allegedly reluctant, his only previous acting experience being a small role in 1991’s The Commitments. Carney agreed to grant Hansard significant control over the creative process, and to keep the film small and personal. For his female lead, Carney tapped one of Hansard’s musical collaborators, Czech singer and songwriter Markéta Irglová.

Most of Once’s running time consists of people listening to or creating music, yet its scruffy, naturalistic style is worlds away from the surrealism of the Broadway musical tradition. Hansard and Irglová might be actors secondarily, but their deep personal and professional love for music shine through. They and Carney understand the fleeting mystery of art and love, and somehow they capture it like bottled lightning. What Once achieves is so authentic and painfully human that it has melted the hardest hearts, becoming one of the most universally acclaimed films of the past year.