Lost souls in Dublin

Rating: 8/10 (15 January 2008)

Descriptions of "Once" as a modern-day musical are all well and good, but to give a better sense of its mood and style, a comparison to "Lost in Translation" seems to fit. Both movies depict a wistful friendship-slash-romance between a rumpled, sad-eyed guy and a dewy younger girl. In "Lost in Translation," Bob and Charlotte's connection grew stronger when they sang karaoke together--"Once" takes this idea and runs with it, focusing entirely on how music unites the two nameless protagonists. A busking Irish guitarist (Glen Hansard) and a Czech pianist (Marketa Irglova) meet by accident, discover their shared love of music, and quickly become songwriting/recording partners.
The best scene in the movie is definitely their first song together, "Falling Slowly." Irglova gaining confidence and starting to harmonize with Hansard, and director John Carney finally giving us a close-up of their two faces singing, are both beautiful moments. Wisely, this same song closes the movie--and though the characters are now at a very different place, the lyrics take on new resonance. The other musical highlight is a long tracking shot of Irglova walking along a street late at night, wearing pajamas, singing some lyrics she has just written. Other songs are more generic "singer-songwriter" stuff, even though the lyrics match the characters' emotions and the music sounds like what they would write.
Rock musician Hansard's falsetto voice and twisted-up facial expressions when singing convey his character's sensitive side (he just broke up with his girlfriend). Irglova was just 17 when filming this movie, but she is an old soul (rather like Johansson in "Lost in Translation"). Her character is strong and forthright so much of the time, yet afraid to confront her own feelings.
Ultimately, I prefer "Lost in Translation" because the incidents it depicted were more varied and amusing; "Once"'s total focus on the music means that if you don't like the songs, you're out of luck. Also, scenes like the rather contrived meet-cute don't stand up to scrutiny. Still, both movies are fine examples of how sometimes our most memorable, life-changing relationships happen by accident and last only a short time--and certainly don't conform to Hollywood norms. As it should, the ending of "Once" has the right bittersweet effect.