Once

It's quite obvious from the picture selection to my new page header that I'm a Once fan. To me, the image itself is beautiful, even without knowing the context of which it represents, without seeing it in a scene of a continuous story which is filled with memorable moments and tunes.

Coming across this movie is entirely a story in itself; not through cinematic trailers, not through billboards and posters in the theatre. Rather, I was in a little DVD shop back home, carelessly rummaging through piles and piles of disks selection. This unknown movie, Once somehow managed to stand out from the rest. I learned that it essentially is an Irish movie, which miraculously was an added appeal.

Glen Hansard (and not far from the role that he plays) is a real-life musician more well known as the lead singer of The Frames, a popular Irish rock band. Funny because not long before I even knew who this guy was, an irish friend of mine who happened to come and visit mentioned him during one of our conversation. We were on the plane and he was letting me hear some songs from his IPod, and apart from David Gray, none of them were familiar. And when I asked who his favorite singer was, he said The Frames was pretty cool. Star Star was their first song that I listened to, but it didn't make that much impression yet. Only until I have watched the entire movie weeks later that I realized that Glen Hansard is truly a talented singer/song writer.

With only a budget $160,000 this movie was shot and it became an international success. You should hear to all of the songs because they really are amazing, from Falling Slowly, Lies, and When Your Mind's Made Up, three of my favorites.

The songs speak for themselves, and thus, no elaborate narratives were required more than necessary. Music is the conversation in itself.

What I like particularly about this movie, aside from the songs obviously, is that everything is just really natural. No embellishment, no dramatic effects, no exaggeratements, it's really real as real can be. The story is simple yet heartfelt. The guy and the girl connect through their music, and through music itself it's apparent that they care for each other even when nothing actually happened, not even a physical contact in a romantic context. But yet 'Hansard and Irglová were quite happy with the unrequited ending for their onscreen characters'. The fact that they didn't end up together at the end of the movie made it even more meaningful.

And I suppose that's the most innocent love of all, right? Unpossessing love. It's a story of romance just as much as it's about the journey of a street-musician who struggles to make a record. And deals with life, basically. Past failed relationships, daytime meaningless jobs, and pursuing dreams.

Scenery of Dublin is also captured in the movie and it's absolutely gorgeous. The streets and alleys are like straight out of ancient times, and lakes, mountains, clear blue sky,...how could anyone not think they're pretty? You don't see those things here.

Listening to the songs hasn't bored me yet and now I've got the entire album, whether you've seen the movie or not, these songs are definitely worth checking out.