Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Once (2007)

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Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 09-16-2007, 02:53 AM:

We've had this on for a few weeks now but only yesterday did I have the chance to see it all in one sitting. I'm so glad I made the effort.

Once is the story of a busker in Dublin (played by Glen Hansard of 'The Commitments' but also a member of the Irish band 'The Frames'). His character has no name in the film, nor does the girl he meets (Marketa Irglova) while belting out the amazing 'Say It To Me Now' while busking one evening. Together they form a friendship through their love of music that takes them both on a journey to try and repair the holes in their lives.

The film is simply perfect. The two stars are not actors but they actually wrote 99% of the songs in the film so when they're performed it all seems incredibly real and heartfelt.

Filmed in 17 days for $140,000, it has now grossed in the USA over 8 million dollars and continues to perform...built almost entirely from word of mouth.

If you have the chance, put it on your 'must see' list and revel in the freshness of it all.

[thumbsup]

[ 09-16-2007, 04:03 AM: Message edited by: John Wilson ]

Posted by John Koutsoumis (Member # 1855) on 09-16-2007, 11:39 PM:

quote: John Wilson
Filmed in 17 days for $140,000, it has now grossed in the USA over 8 million dollars and continues to perform...built almost entirely from word of mouth.

$140,000!! looks more like a $4.00 movie.
We've had this for a while too. Not my cup of tea but people are sure enjoying it so it's ok with me.

Posted by Brian Michael Weidemann (Member # 2243) on 09-20-2007, 03:44 AM:

I saw this with my girlfriend three months ago on the HIGH RECOMMENDATION of a friend. Our lives haven't been the same since. We're both musicians (she plays piano, I play guitar) and just had an amazing reaction to the film, and to the harmonies!

We owned the soundtrack almost immediately.

Glen & Mar have been touring as "The Swell Season" to promote the film. On August 1st, they played a sold out show at the El Rey in L.A. which my girl and I had the pleasure of attending. (Glen's guitar cable went out in the middle of Say It To Me Now, and he finished it to an awestruck room with no amplification at all behind it, and he didn't need it!) They're coming back to the Wiltern in November, and we already have our tickets for that one. Their voices are beautiful ... well, if you dig that sort of thing. [Wink]

The beauty of this movie is its simplicity; it's easy to over-sell, and if you go in with any hype behind it, you probably won't care too much, or see anything in it. The people who shouldn't like it, won't. But for us, with no reviews and no knowledge whatsoever beforehand, viewing this film (in a completely empty auditorium, 10:00pm show, where we could snuggle and sob) was a special thing for my girlfriend and I.

"Oh, broken-hearted, Hoover-fixer, sucker-guy ..."

The ONCE MySpace page has four songs up, including the "hit single" tune, Falling Slowly. It also contains a list of their worldwide tour dates for the upcoming months.

Posted by Jennifer Pan (Member # 2035) on 12-12-2007, 11:32 PM:

Loved this movie!

I was sorta skeptical since its an indie film and I rarely love them. But this one definitely is up there on my list. Moved along slow in some places but when it ended I felt like I wanted more. I was also expecting the music/songs to suck but it turns out to be the complete opposite... It made me love the film because it was awesome. [Smile]

Brought it life in a sense and made the characters develope from the music... in a way that made me relate to each person.

I want to go see it again just thinking about it. [Wink]

1/2

Posted by Brian Michael Weidemann (Member # 2243) on 12-13-2007, 04:38 PM:

The slow dolly-in shot during Glen's performance of Say It To Me Now is amazing, yet so simple. The power of the song, its sparsity and emotion, just drew me in, and I loved the character instantly. Very moving.

A deluxe edition of the soundtrack came out a couple weeks ago, featuring a DVD of various performances and interview stuff.

The DVD for the film itself will be available (in the US) on Dec. 18th. This was definitely my favorite film of the year, and I'll be rooting for it. Soundtrack and song got some Grammy nominations. I've been trying to spread the word on this film, the music, the performers, their side projects ... this is the good stuff.