ONCE

I have written before about John Carney’s musical films (Begin Again and Sing Street) but 2007’s Once, his first foray into musical cinema, is arguably his best.

Once is a much more stripped back offering, with a smaller cast list, shaky camera work and costing only approximately £100,000, but the emotional heft that it carries more than makes up for its lack of budget.

Once follows Guy, a struggling busker with dreams of moving to London and recording an album, and Girl , an amateur musician who makes her money selling flowers on the streets of Dublin.

I have written previously about the potential trap falls of naming your characters in such a generic manner. If your characters are not well drawn, then this level of vagueness adds to the feeling of them being cookie-cutter templates.

With Once however, it has the opposite effect. The characters are given such depth, through their music and their lyrics, that in the end their names do not matter. In fact, it wasn’t until after I had watched the film, and was researching for this post, that I realised that their names are never specifically mentioned. 

Because ultimately it is the music that matters. Guy and Girls friendship is intrinsically linked to the music. It is how they meet, and what almost every interaction they have throughout the film is about, to the point that when Guy clumsily tries to move things forward she leaves.

And the music here is excellent. From the Academy Award Winning Falling Slowly - which I will undoubtedly come to in Song of the Week - to If You Want Me and the long tracking shot that goes with us her Girl walking the streets, writing the lyrics, and singing along to the music, oblivious to anything else around her. 

Each song tells a story. A story of the characters past, and where they want to go. You could almost listen to the soundtrack album, and learn everything you need to know about Guy and Girl without even having watched the film.

Although by doing this you would miss out on the excellent performances by leads Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová. Both musicians by trade, more than actors, Hansard has released a number of albums, some solo, and some with his previous band The Frames - where he first met director John Carney - and Irglová has since recorded three solo albums, and will be competing to represent Iceland at the next Eurovision Song Contest. Both are also a members of band The Swell Season.

But their lack of acting experience is never a problem. Again, because the film is so intrinsically about the music, it seems like the natural decision to hire musicians to play the leads. They can handle the emotional cues of the script, but what makes them so perfect for the roles is the passion they both clearly have for the music. 

After all, this is a love story, but mainly between a musician and their music. While there are clearly some feelings between our two leads, the platonic outweighs the romantic; both their lives been pulled in different directions.

And it is this which makes Carney such a master of the craft. As well as his knowledge of music, he has an intimate understanding of love of all kinds. Romantic love, yes, but platonic and familial as well. 

Sing Street was ultimately more about brotherly love than the romantic relationship between the leads and, while it is more muted in Once, one of the most touching scenes in it is a scene between Guy and his father. The quiet pride in the line “now, play it again”, Guy’s anxiety about how his father feels about his music, is expertly realised, resisting the urge to go down a more saccharine route.

Once is a triumph of low budget film making. It is a film that understands exactly what it is, and therefore exactly where the limited money should be spent. It is intimate, and low key, and proves that more money does not mean a more engaging ride.