A review of the movie Once
Posted: Wednesday, June 13, 2007
by Joseph Jagde
This is a movie from Dublin, Ireland which is a music film. The movie teams up two real life songwriters and singers , Glen Hansard who is from Ireland and a guitarist and vocalist and Marketa Irglova who is a songwriter, vocalist and pianist. They play the guy and the girl respectively.
The film starts off with Glen Hansard, playing the guy, on a street corner playing a guitar for passerby’s in the city and having his guitar case out for donations. A young man drawling a cigarette talks with him and then suddenly runs off with the case. He chases him down, but there he shows mercy in just asking for the case back and he says he could have all the money if he just asked him for it. The sudden dissappearance of his guitar case, regardless of means, also symbolizes how wanted things can quickly go away, and the chase to get them back begins and from this can be a downward spiral if this necessary chase is not checked at some levels as he was able to do in this sequence.
This great guy, has lost the love of his life in the din of the days gone by, and initially we don’t know the details as to what happened, where she had gone, and whether there is a possibility for a reuniting but his certain loss of love inspires some of his songs which are rather at times hauntingly beautiful and could have a match with the mystery and uncertainties of the Irish coasts. If you have ever been to the coasts of Ireland, they can present many faces even in the moment lending into a beauty yes, but an uncertain beauty.
I had been to Ireland myself and the scenery of the coasts, is quite striking and also ancient to where it seems to go back to the dawn of time. Some of this scenery is captured in this movie and the film derives some of its inspirition from the beauty of the land and whether that meeting with the uncertain beauty of the land can inspire the meeting with the uncertain beauty of the other.
In the meantime, he also plays into the evening and an inquisitive young woman passes by and says hello and seems to recognize his unique talents. They talk and she says he should have a regular job in the shops to go with his guitar work for the public. He says he actually does as a helper in a store which repairs vacuums. She says her own vacuum isn’t working and she will come back the next day for him to repair the vacuum. But this is really more of an excuse to come back and to get to know him. When she comes back and brings the vacuum, she lugs it around as they go to a lunch and this is supposed to be funny but at the same time shows how sometimes people symbolically need to bring more than themselves to a situation to feel worthwhile and might feel deep down in some ways that just themselves is not enough. And this is why props sometimes emerge for personal interactions, even the beer in hand can be like that and in some ways marketers hone in on peoples need for props in their social interactions.
As things develop, the movie has sufficiently melancholy aspects to it, not from anything tragic but from just that these are two great people, who deserve all the love and good things, and time is quickly slipping by and this isn’t necessarily happening for them. It is masterful how some of the scenes are crafted to where wanted things seem to be slipping away in ways that can pervade thoroughly through the moment, yet there is still hope that can arise in the midst of this feeling of things slipping away.
There is a lot to think about from this film as it acts as a portrait. As he is trying to find a wider audience for his songs and his songwriting talent as , it is also the one to one audience he is seeking of someone who understands him and a confidant and this is something that matters to him deeply as well. Some later flashback scenes to the formerly good times with the love of his life are manifold and multilayed and you see that he has several layers himself that do unfold. This is a basic conflict that many of today’s people might have, especially urbanites and those who tend to want success in the marketplace, yet tuck away what they want in finding another audience with good friends or that special someone not realizing that this is also an audience as valid as the audience of the marketplace in ultimate importance. This is why you also see some stars that are even idolized around the world, that have unhappy personal lives as this personal arena and smaller arena can also become so dicey for anyone and there is no guarantee that success with the broader audience of the marketplace can also localize to good and meaningful personal relationships even though the catch isn't as big. It might be just as hard to catch that one little fish as to bring in that great haul of wider and broader success.
He plays some of his songs on a tape for his father and he waits for his reaction and his approval comes when he says, " Play it again". This is also symbolizing that his seeking of the broader success on his recording, also goes to the one on one and interpersonal as well.
This film though has the message of hope in its songs, and that time is still left. At the same time, the film is a mixture of hope and melancholy and that why it seems to effective. The question of this film really is, does hope remain? These people do meet and share the passion of music together as their two separate worlds melt away for heartfelt moments and come together in song. She recognizes how special he is and her eyes are so telling of her recognitions as they sing together in a beautiful duet. In her approach to him, she keeps a portion of her heart hidden, and seems both inviting and at the same time guarding her inner feelings. Their mutuality of song is beautiful in the moment, and has a tender feel to it that emanates on the big screen.
Some of the mechanisms of the film were just awesome in their symbolism. One example is where he gives her a copy of a makeshift CD, yet it doesn’t have working batteries as she wants to listen to his songs which are so touching to her. She is almost frantic in her search for batteries and finally gets them from a store in the middle of the night. Symbolically even as darkness surrounds, she is not going to give up on what she has found that is tendering her soul. This shows really how as things start to escape people in ways however small or larger, they sometimes realize all the more how much it means to them. She, in keeping with the theme of this movie, is also falling slowly in her personal affairs in experiencing degrees of disconnect on what matters most to her and her meeting with him represents a moment of revival for her. Despite that she is somewhat self protecting, she lets sides of herself come out, both in her initial approach towards him and in the songs. But she is only revealing sides and not all the sides.
Those outward feelings that she shows, even if checked by her, or even if they seem to remain unanswered in her personal circumstances, resurface quickly and stay on and may be lingering on to a sequel.
Ironically, as he is seeking an audience or really a crowd for his songs, he feels lost in the crowd later in the movie as he seeks her and can't find her. There is a scene in the movie where he is lost in the crowd, and it is done perfectly in that it seems to match the truth of th moment, where there seems to be no wider distress in the big crowd going about their business in the late morning, yet he feels lost and the moment of the day where this is happening is earlier in the day and there is within the metaphor still some time left for the day itself, and he still has a chance and can still find what he is looking for. But the panic has set in early despite everybody else seeming to be okay, and this is how it can really feel for those who are lost in the crowd, because if this is what they feel, then they are lost and it is a reality to them. With the forming realization of being lost, panic begins to come in. Whatever the scene is in reality, how it is to you looking out is also quite important. If they had done this scene later in the day, or in a much more panicked and chaotic crowd, the metaphor would have been lost.
Again, it is sad that it is happening to such a great guy and both he and she seemingly are beautiful people on the inside, even if this beauty is partly captured in the fall it is still a raising beauty above the surface of surrounding storms of personal difficulties. They both still have a lot to be hopeful about, including their great talent for music, but the disillusionment of their churning circumstances have the potential to hide their personal goodness even from themselves.
The lead song in this movie, is called Falling Slowly. When the two initially meet, she has her vacuum with her and then brings him to a nearby music store, where the owner allows her to come inside and play the piano even as customers are shopping, as there are piano's not yet sold still in the store. The owner of the store let's her do this regularly. He has his guitar in hand and begins to play this song, Falling Slowly and she gently comes in with the piano and background vocals to where she doesn't overshadow his voice but makes her present felt in raising the arch of the song.
The lyrics in this song say, " Words fall through me, always fool me" "Take this sinking boat, and point it home, we still got time." " Raise your hopeful voice, you have a choice, you make it now". Even though the words of this song are hopeful, the melody itself is evocative in a sad way, and that gives that feel that the words of this song are perhaps only faintly hopeful. This song also points to possible personal misreads that have become regretful. Not anything outright wrongful but just that inability to correctly read the moment and act favorably towards what could have been.
The title of the song, Falling Slowly, is indicative of the meaning of this movie, that individuals do fall slowly, their boats do sink gradually and the causes can be manifold and the hope of this movie is expressed in this song, point the sinking boat home, there is time, you have a choice to raise the hopeful voice from the slow fall. Hope can be found not only in rising tides, but also in sinking fortunes.
I think this movie can be very successful with a big audience and it could inspire more musically oriented movies and the question would be also whether there will be a sequel and whether these bright musicians will continue on with making music together either in another movie or some similar forum. The idea of the duet in song and musicianship can be appealing and in this movie it works.
The other actors in this movie were also excellent in their roles and this is a movie that can inspire hope.
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)I enjoyed the film. The acting was realistic and music was really haunting. In addition, this was a feel-good movie that moviegoers get to see too infrequently. Even the photography, which seems grainy in the beginning, seems to fit with the plot, and gets better as the movie goes on. An aspiring musician meets a young woman who has problems of her own and each gathers strength from the other and each appears headed for a happier life. I'll bet that most of the preople who see the movie will find what I found - the audience didn't like the ending. They wanted the film to go on. How many times does that happen? I didn't like Mr. Jagde's review - it was off-focus and poorly written. The reader of any review at least is entitled to a carefully written presentation. One needn't go further than the first sentence: "This is a movie from Dublin, Ireland which is a music film." Dublin, Ireland is not a music film. Say it simply, Mr. Jagde: "Once," produced in Dublin, Ireland, is filled with haunting music and is deserving of a large audience. It's the film that deserves a fan club.V. I think you give a good analysis when you say they draw strength from each other and the music is haunting. I'm trying to point out in the review that some of the scenes equate with the musical elements as per being haunting to the individuals personal spirits. Not only were some of the music in this movie haunting, but also I think some of the scenes. I don't know if everyone has experienced feeling lost in the crowd but it happens to many people who do want to share but can't necessarily find that point of sharing and being in the crowd just accentuates that feeling of being lost. What was found in this films best moments was sharing. This isn't necessarily a linear type story that lends itself to a focused review and I'm also trying not to give away the movie which unfair as well. I think the ending is unsettled and slightly leaves both characters with unsure paths. But the hope found in the moments together could potentially be revisted in a sequel or in the imagination and the ending scenes show that her longings in particular were still lingering and permancy hasn't been achieved.
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