Once wasn't enough

Rating: 9/10 (24 February 2008)

Independent films have the potential to be entertaining, wise, interesting and thought-provoking. They can also be a waste of $7 and a couple of hours out of one's life. Picking up the movie, "Once", was a risk worth taking. Starring Glenn Hansard and Marketa Irglova of "The Frames", the movie shows the intensity of drive when one is compelled by ones art. Glenn Hansard, in the opening scene, is busking in his home town of Ireland in between other jobs. His first love, music, drives him to this street corner to sing; it is also where he meets "the girl". She is both gifted and mysterious: with her persuasive demeanor, he discovers healing from a devastating romantic loss as well as the magic of recording his own music. In their relationship, he discovers the self he seems to have lost.
The transcendent nature of this movie is found in both the relationship between the two lead characters as well as the music he writes. The song, "Falling Slowly", is sung with such melancholy at the beginning of the movie. Finding his voice  both musically and personally  he sings this song with passion and joy as he leaves for a season to go to London. The opening words of the song speak to longing for that which most people seek: "I don't know you, but I want you all the more for that". The seeking that these characters are doing model a spiritual journey that most of us find ourselves on when faced with loneliness, despair, brokenness. It's worth the exploration of discovering faith in the midst of darkness and music in the midst of silence: it's usually where God shows up.
This is a small film with a beautiful story and worthy of the 86 minutes of viewing time  at least once.