Once: A Revolutionary Turn for Movie Musicals

Rating: 10/10 (1 April 2012)

Campy and energetic are two words that come to mind when one thinks of musicals. "Sweeney Todd" and "Les Miserables" fall into a different category. But who says a musical has to be cheesy? What if we can watch a musical and not leave the theater dancing, but thoroughly mesmerized and stunned? John Carney's 2006 Irish film "Once" proves that.
Our two main characters are extremely natural. They don't even have names; they are labeled Guy and Girl. Guy is a street singer, banging away on his guitar and belting out ballads he composed himself. He only gets minimal attention, but then, Girl comes along and listens to his music. She is not from Ireland, but she is Czech, and Guy's music immediately grabs her. After fixing up Girl's crappy vacuum cleaner, they both wind up sitting down together and creating music. She plays piano, he plays guitar. But as they compose their songs, a love story begins to develop.
Before we get to the main reason this movie is so amazing, let's look at the characters. Both Guy and Girl are leading flawed lives. Girl lives with her mother and her baby, her husband away while Guy is alone after being dumped by his girlfriend. When they sit down together, they're not just making music. They're making love. Their affection for one another simmers inside of them through their songs. Is their love admitted in words? No. But that's not really the point of the movie, or the music wouldn't have as much meaning.
The soundtrack is the key to the film that all movie buffs are going to criticize after all the hype the movie has gotten over 6 years. The music is actually composed by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, our leads, and it is beautiful. None of these songs are toe-tappers, but aching, soul-touching ballads that get under the skin in the most positive way possible. The meeting of Guy and Girl results in "Falling Slowly," a piano and guitar piece that is marvelous in its emotion and soothing in its sound. It perhaps may be one of the best love songs not on the radio, and that's a fact since the song got an Academy Award. The one that will really make you tear up is Irglova's heart-breaking tune "The Hill." The score demands to be heard.
If I were to come up with one word to sum up "Once" overall, it would be simplicity. This entire movie is beautiful in its ways of being natural, from a story so simple to the undeniably improvised chemistry and appeal of the leading characters, played wonderfully and effortlessly by Hansard and Irglova. It has stood the test of time and is quickly starting to reach the mainstream. How: it's now a critically acclaimed Broadway musical. There's no doubting you're going to love this film. Such a classic and influential movie with such a triumphant soundtrack only gets made "Once."