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 |
| Distributed by |  Fox Searchlight Pictures |
Release dates |  March 23, 2007 May 16, 2007 |
Running time | 85 min |
| Country | Ireland |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $150,000 USD[1] |
Once is a 2006 film written and directed by John Carney, who has referred to it as a "video album." This drama stars Irish musician Glen Hansard of the popular Irish rock band The Frames, along with Czech musician Markéta Irglová. Once has received awards and enthusiastic reviews, and has been described as a musical for the modern age.
Hansard and Irglová were musical collaborators prior to making 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.
“Though I was initially thinking of using a good actor who could half sing, I quickly realized I should do it the other way around and get a good singer who could half act,” John Carney said in a Chicago interview.[2]
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 18, 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]
Trivia
- Neither of the two leads are trained or experienced actors; they are professional musicians.[3]
- Hansard's role was originally intended for a professional actor, Cillian Murphy[4], who was an almost-signed rock musician before turning to acting.
- Musician Hansard did one other acting role as a young adult: a supporting part as guitarist Outspan Foster in the 1991 ensemble film The Commitments, the story of a Dublin soul music cover band.
References
- ^ a b Ebert & Roeper review from the weekend of May 18, 2007
- ^ HollywoodChicago.com review from May 27, 2007
- ^ The New York Times review from May 16, 2007
- ^ CHUD.com cast and director interview from May 14, 2007
External links
- Once at IMDb
- Once movie trailer
- "Once publicity brochure" (pdf). 2006. Retrieved 2007-05-10.