Once | Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová | Stunning, beautiful, music that grabs your ears and won't...

Once | Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová | movie for anyone with a passion for music

DVDs:

Once

	Once Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová 20th Century Fox, 2007 average customer review:based on 232 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Stunning, beautiful, music that grabs your ears and won't let go

When I originally purchased this film, I based my decision on looking at the customer reviews; that's how I purchase almost any film nowadays (or anything else, really). However, I wasn't truly impressed with the movie, at least from previews, and thought it to be just another love story; it just happened to be well-written.

The opening sequence, for lack of a better way of putting it, opened my eyes. I'd watched several musicals in past, and wasn't particularly interested in another, but Once came highly recommended, and the first song in the film proved why. I was simply awestruck by how powerfully moving all of the music was of the entire movie, and immediately purchased the soundtrack as soon as I could find it. I now have owned the movie and soundtrack for three months, and can't stop listening at least once a week.

Glen Hansard has one of the most haunting voices I've known, and after having heard it on the soundtrack, I went out and got all of the Frames albums I could find. His range is one of the best I've ever heard, especially in Once. Marketa Irglova is wonderful as a solo singer/songwriter, as well as a duet partner, and I've so far found at least three projects she's been involved in. Both artists are incredible singers in their own right, but by including them both in this movie, someone has done something impossible: make a musical seem like it's a wonderfully felt story, not a production. I would easily say it's on par with Rent and Across the Universe in it's musical talent, and with Reign Over Me in simply how poignant love, loss, and renewal can be.

The song that has the strongest meaning for me was "When Your Mind's Made Up", if only for the chorus, and how it conveyed the immediacy of demanding a decision on the part of the spurned lover. This is, of course, followed by the fan favourite "Falling Slowly" because of how you could feel the love of the singers through the words "Take this sinking boat and point it home / We've still got time" in the chorus.

To close as best as possible, I easily recommend this film to anyone who wants a new movie to watch. I'm a guy, and stereotypically I don't watch "chick flicks", but this movie is more than that; it's for anyone who loves music, and how that music can affect their lives.

It only took one time, but after having seen this film with someone I cared about, I'm convinced it's perfect as can be; it said everything I couldn't, simply because words alone can't do it.

This is the best movie for anyone who can't find the words for what they know to be true, and especially for anyone who loves music and film. It deserves all the awards it gets.

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movie for anyone with a passion for music

If you have a passion for music, this movie will strum your heartstrings. I felt so moved by the pure, deep, complicated friendship between the two main characters, Glen and Mar--a friendship born of musical passion, but restrained by integrity and virtue. And the music! I bought both the CD and the DVD, and even wrote my own song, prompted by the movie! Don't miss this movie, fine for all ages.

amazing movie

There aren't many movies out there that don't insult your intelligence. This is one of them.

Excellent!

The music C.D. is on my 'must have' list and well deserving of 'Oscar'. Though the musicians are the first to admit they weren't seasoned actors when taking on the characters of the film, they played the parts superbly. The story is 'soulfully simple' in its plot and there's not really any exceptional dialogue, but the heart of the lyrical tale is what makes you fall in love with the characters and their music. I loved it! I'll also be playing the grooves off the C.D. I also love any movie that helps draw a younger generation back to the magic of a musical.

Chrissy K. McVay
Author of 'Souls of the North Wind'

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Magical Beguiling Wonder

"Once, once
Knew how to talk to you
Once, once
But not anymore" Glen Hansard

The stars of this delightful film are 'Boy' and 'Girl'. 'Boy', Glen Hansard is a music maker who sings on the streets of Dublin at night for money and recognition. By day, Boy fixes vacuum cleaners in his dad's shop. 'Girl'is Margeta Irglova, a Czech pianist who cleans homes and sells flowers for a living, She, too, is songwriter but rarely has time. She has a small young girl and mother to care for. She has left her husband and is tyring to make a new life. Boy has lost the love of his life, she has moved to London. These two people find each other as lovers of music and start singing together. They form a friendship. They spend a great deal of time together and beside friendship they form a bittersweet love story. She entices him to leave his day job with dad and find the money to start a musical career. Their songs are about heartbreak. As AO Scott says," "Once" is far from a conventional love story. It is, instead, the story of a creative partnership that develops by chance and that involves a deeper, riskier bond than mere sex ever could." This is a film to see more than once. It is a lively story of making a demo tape. What, you say, is that all there is? Ahh, yes and more. We are left with a sad-happy feeling from this film. The songs make a marvelously delicious soundtrack and will resound in your memories.

"That's it, a bittersweet love story with ravishing Hansard music ("Falling Slowly" is a killer) and the ache of romance in its soul. Nothing about this mood piece should work -- the budget is shoestring and the actors are inexperienced. But Once brims with small pleasures that pay major dividends." Peter Travers

'Once' has an easy lovable charm that grows on us as we view this film.
Highly Recommended. prisrob 05-24-08

The Swell Season

Once

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