21st Century Take on Music and Love

Rating: 8/10 (1 May 2020)

Loaded with so much interesting and original music, this film qualifies as a musical in a unique contemporary style. When Girl (played and sung by Markéta Irglová) strolls down a dimly lit street singing aloud to the music flowing into her earplugs, her song moves the plot along in ways new and sweet to 21st-century musical films. When Girl meets Guy (played by Glen Hansard), the no-name couple come together over his music in the streets of Dublin and discover each other's longings and disappointments. Eventually Girl, who happens to be an extraordinary piano player, helps Guy make a demo disc in the hope of landing a music contract. During the same short period in their complicated lives, more songs reveal the ways in which Guy and Girl are working through their past loves and their feelings for one another. What's even more impressive is that most of the songs in the film were written by Irglová and Hansard and "Falling Slowly" garnered the duo an Oscar for Best Original Song in 2007.