ONCE - MOVIE [Blu-ray] [2006]

I watched this film on a recommendation from a friend.. it did not have obvious immediate appeal, and as I started watching it, it was clearly made on a budget, in a city I was unfamiliar with and with characters I was unsure about. This is no amateur movie though, and all of those concerns were blown out of the water as the movie progressed - the core desires and concerns of these people were universal, the city had both its own character and yet played an `everywhere', a recognisable inner city anyone could relate to. The songs were engaging because they were heartfelt, and always in the context of the movie. In short, it was heartwarming, thought provoking, surprising and lyrical.The two characters at the core of the story find a bond in their music - they share a piece of their soul through the music, and their time together helps each of them find their next step in life. And that is really about it, story-wise. The style has the hand held reality of  Before Sunrise / Before Sunset [DVD ], with a similar sense of apparent freewheeling improvisation - but like the songs, this is carefully crafted, and does not cheat on your growing care for the characters by having an unreal Hollywood style ending. To say hand held and `reality imbued' might make you concerned it is lacking ambition - far from it. The director has some real bravura moments, albeit low key ones, such as the hand held camera tracking a walk back from the shop listening to a song, oblivious to the world around her, or the final shot in the window.Labelled a musical, I watched this as a drama about two people and their interactions, which just happens to have a lot of songs in it. Don't be put off by the musical label. Basically, it manages the trick of being both charming and grounded. If you like movies without any flash and bang, a movie about characters and how they relate rather than the plot they drive, then try Once. It's a movie you'll want to see twice.

Once is a near-perfect story. Here's how you'll know if you'll like it:*minor spoilers within*Do you like music? No, let me rephrase that. Does music possess you, move you, excite you and make you feel like nothing else? Andy Dufresne in the Shawshank Redemption understood. If the answer is yes, you will get this film.If you like your music packaged and your performers manufactured and given an image to make their product sell, this might not be for you.Once is about a guy (we never learn his name) who busks on the streets of Dublin when he's not helping his dad repair vacuum cleaners. By day, he plays familiar songs. People give him money because they recognise the songs. By night, he plays his own material. It possesses him. He lives and breathes it. He's a conduit for this powerful expression of emotion.He's not an actor, he's a musician (The Frames) and had a role in The Commitments.While playing one of the songs at night, a girl (we never learn her name either) sees him performing and gives him 10c. She asks if he'll repair her vacuum cleaner.She's not an actress either. She's a musician from the Czech Republic. The two have a real-life relationship.A friendship is formed. She can play classical piano. They play a song together. Will their relationship become a romantic one, or is music and friendship the only thing they will share?She helps him. He helps her. Stuff happens. Wonderful stuff.This film captures what it's like to be a musician. If you meet the first description I mentioned above, you could easily love this film. There are so many memorable scenes. I thought about it for at least a week after I first saw it.It won an Oscar for best song, but don't think of it as a musical. It's not Hollywood. It's not Music & Lyrics. This is real.It's shot on a digital camera so don't expect amazing PQ. It's decent enough though. Maybe 4/5. It doesn't matter. You won't care.The Blu-ray is region free, although the special features are PAL and cannot be viewed on a US PS3.

In case you hadn't heard, `Once' is a musical, but don't let that put you off. 'Once' is a musical like you've never seen or heard, whose songs - and in passing, they're great songs - whether busked on the street or being polished up in the recording studio, are perfectly pitched and completely, naturally integrated with the narrative. It's also a deeply affecting love story of the kind that life is full of but so rarely brought to the screen, full of stumbling and uncertainty but utterly believable - about an affair never consummated, whose complications are left tantalisingly unresolved.I guess what makes it so great is its humanity. Looks like it was shot using whatever the modern equivalent of Super 8 is, so it has a filmic quality but in a very rough way - somewhat reminiscent of the look and feel of those Before Sunrise/ Before Sunset movies, but with none of their preciousness. Full of rough edges and what look like first takes - probably from necessity, but creating a warm, organic quality and a genuine sense of reality. The central performances are beautifully played, restrained but at the same time full of passion and real feeling, and the supporting players are right on the money too. Dublin does its thing pretty well, of course, reprising its performance from The Commitments (where we first saw Glen Hansard, looking a lot more ginger as the guitarist, Outspan)...Look, there's no point going on about this unpolished gem. Buy, rent or even better, if you get the chance, go see it.