Once (DVD)

~~Introduction~~ 'Once' is not a musical in the normal sense, as the songs performed in the film do not tell a story as is the case in say... The Wizard of Oz or Grease. John Carney the director described the film as ''an unselfconscious musical,'' referring to the way the characters perform songs that follow the simple plot line of the film. In the DVD extras the film is referred to as a 'modern day musical', to me it was closer to a music documentary. I half expected Melvyn Bragg with his giant quiff to pop up at some stage and ask a probing question about the traditions of Irish folk rock. 'Once' is an Irish independent film that won an award at the 2007 Sundance ...  Read the complete review

I've always been more of a music fan than a film fan, which means that in film, my tastes tend to edge towards musicals. Generally, though, I prefer musicals that aren't based purely on stage shows, but which have a fun storyline as well as decent music. Predictably, based on these criteria, my favourites are "The Blues Brothers" and "The Commitments". So I was interested to discover another musical, also set in Dublin and starring someone who'd been in "The Commitments". "Once" is a love story between a busker and a single parent who hears him play and likes his songs. At first, he tried to dismiss her, but she ...  Read the complete review

I was struggling to find films to hire out that I wanted to watch, so when my partner pointed out the film 'Once' in Sainsburys as we did our shopping, I told him I would get it from our online rentals service. It turned up last week and we got around to watching it last night, looking forward it after reading some good write-ups about it. Once tells the tale of a random guy and a random girl both living in Dublin who meets when she sees him busking one evening. She loves his songs, and it turns out that she is a bit musical too. The pair form a friendship and begin to write and play together, all the while discovering their feelings for each other. The girl ...  Read the complete review

--ONCE-- 'Once' is an Independent film released in 2007; Directed by John Carney and Written by John Carney, (a former bassist for the band 'The Frames'). Starring Glen Hansard - Markéta Irglová - Hugh Walsh - Gerard Hendrick - Alaistair Foley - Geoff Minogue - Bill Hodnett - Danuse Ktrestova - Genre Drama/Music/Romance - BBFC Rating: 15 - Running Time: 85 Minutes - In the English and Czech language. - The two main characters in this film have no cast names so I will refer to them as 'The man' and 'The woman'. - "It was art imitating life, and perhaps the other way around: Hansard, who plays a Dublin street busker, spent years on the ...  Read the complete review

When I first saw the trailer for this film it didn't look like my kind of movie at all but I'm glad a friend dragged me a long to see it, it's a beautiful movie Once is a contemporary musical set in Ireland which explores the relationship and, ultimately, enrichment of two individuals, a guy and girl (Their names are never given.), through their musical talents. He is a street performer, earning small change from those who pass by, and she is a single mother whose love of the piano perfectly complements the Guy's passion for music. With a running time of less than 90 minutes, Once absorbs you into the relationship that these two begin to form using ...  Read the complete review