Many people have the dream of playing a musical instrument, many have loved and lost, and many still hang on to some faint trace of hope. The 2006 film Once is one of the simplest movies I have seen in years. At 83 minutes total runtime this former winner of the Audience Award of the Sundance Film Festival, Once is a modern-day musical with a fantastic soundtrack without any show stopping numbers.
It is a story of an Irish musician (Glen Hansard) with a broken heart, who fixes "hoovers" by day while playing the streets with his guitar. During one of his numbers he meets a young woman (Marketa Irglova selling roses who enjoys his playing. They become acquainted and she agrees to bring him her hoover the following day. After a cup of coffee they stop in a piano shop and play the entire song "Falling Slowly" (winner of an Oscar for original song) and it is really one of the most enjoyable scenes in any film you can find. The couple soon become very close friends and the man is persuaded to chase his musical dreams and records a demo record so he can move to London and make it big. Along the way they share stories of their life and romantic struggles, making the audience quietly root for the two to get together. The whole story is well played, and there is a lot of great music and first time acting. Nothing is drawn out, and it is 83 minutes of pure artistic simplicity. "Simple" is the single greatest word to describe this movie and it makes it one of the best movies you've never heard of. Check it out.
Rating: 4 of 4 Stars
Also, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova have since been touring around the world as The Swell Season, which will be coming to the State Theater in Minneapolis on December 5th. I have heard from personal accounts from friends that they are one of the best acts to experience in the business and should not be passed up. Otherwise, check out the Once soundtrack and the new album from The Swell Season "Strict Joy" available now.
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