Wednesday 26th February 2014
Director: John Carney
Year: 2006
Stars: Glen Hansard, Marketa Irglova
Watching Once is like watching an hour and a half long music video. Which isn't actually as bad as it sounds. Sure, you have to be in the right mood to watch it, and that means not wanting a complex, involved plot. Or much dialogue. But if what you're after is something easy on the brain and pleasant sounding, Once isn't a bad choice.
There is a semblance of a plot here. A guy who busks (Hansard) and an immigrant girl (Irglova) meet, get to know one another and spend lots of time singing songs and playing instruments together. That's pretty much all there is to it.
Once works because it doesn't try to be anything more than it is - it all feels very real, and in many ways quite voyeuristic. The actors sem so normal, and the camerawork is so unintrusive, that you feel as if you're watching people just go about their normal lives. Which might be why I spent quite so much time questioning the girls choice to wear her slippers to the local shop.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Watching films is one of my favourite hobbies. Often the films I watch aren't the biggest, or newest, films of the moment - but smaller independent movies, things on late night TV, or simply films I missed first time around. Not to say that the latest cinema releases don't get a look-in: my tastes are pretty diverse and I'll give almost any film a chance! This blog aims to reflect something of that diversity, reviewing as many of the films that I've watched since November 2008 as possible.
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About Me
- Anna Lawson
- I live in Bristol with my husband Dan (who I married in July 2007), my son Joe (born 2012) and daughter Jess (born 2015). I work at UWE (the University of the West of England) in Bristol as a Research and Open Access Librarian. I'm orginally from Exeter, so moving back to Bristol is a bit like coming home - especially as I studied for my undergraduate degree here (also at UWE). I love travelling and movies, although I get to do a lot less of both since the birth of our children. Although we have still managed to fit in holidays to the Isles of Scilly, Chamonix and a summer in California since Joe was born.
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