Well, as it turns out, barring Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen (which I recently reviewed), the first few months of 2020 releases are more barren than a frozen North Dakota countryside on a bright winter day. But unfortunately, I’m in the midst of what one of my professors has dubbed the “winter doldrums.” As such, I’ve been desperate for something - just about anything - to pass the time with. And no, day drinking is not a viable alternative; I’ve tried. So given my urge to write reviews and the lack of new movies to write about, we’ll probably spend some time these next few weeks revisiting some classics and catching up on my watchlist backlog. Or at least, we will until engineering gets insanely busy and I’m forced to put EFR aside for three months. But don’t you worry your pretty little head with that.
Anyways, that’s just a long preamble to justify why in the hell we’re talking about the micro-budget Irish film Once today. Let’s go.
Once may be the most indie film that ever indied. Made on a paltry budget of $150K, this film follows the story of aspiring Dublin street musician “Guy” (Glen Hansard), and his budding relationship with fellow Dublinite “Girl” (Marketa Irglova). That’s correct… the two lead characters are never named throughout the course of the film. An indie POWER MOVE if ever there was one.
Story-wise, Once likes to cut forward between days or even weeks in these characters’ lives, and sometimes in seemingly unrelated ways. It might be unfair to say that this film has little to no plot, but what plot there is to draw on is buried in the details - with Once, it truly feels like we’re passive observers in Guy and Girl’s lives.
Truthfully, I was pretty lukewarm on this film right up until the last thirty minutes. What seems like an hour or so of meandering story (charming, but meandering nonetheless) culminates in a studio session for Guy, Girl, and the band he’s picked up along the way. And here is where I started to get major Sing Street vibes from this film. The studio session, all the music, the late-night bonding sesh with the technician (more on him later) - it’s all super cool, and it’s probably when I really started to feel for these characters. And then, Guy is given an opportunity to escape to a music career in London, which he takes. Girl, although she wants to join, has to stay in Dublin to care for her family. It’s really heartfelt stuff, and I’ll admit I welled up a bit.
LATE WORK: Why the fuck is this movie called “Once?”
Image & Info Sources
Once poster:
m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYWUxZjJkMDktZmMxMS00Mzg3LTk4MDItN2IwODlmN2E0MTM0XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTM
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John Carney image:
m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNDEyMjA4NjM3MV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwMjQ3MDQz._V1_.jpg
Once image: m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTM4MjUxMjM2MF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwMTY2Nzc3._V1_.jpg
"So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish:" i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/022/360/d0d.jpg