Once [2007] | ![Once [2007]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51xov2%2BumNL._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | Director: John Carney
Actors: Glen Hansard, Marketa Irglova, Hugh Walsh, Gerard Hendrick, Alaistair Foley
Studio: Icon Home Entertainment
Category: DVD
List Price: £19.99
Buy New: £6.60
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Rating:  39 reviews
Format: Pal
Languages: English (Subtitles For The Hearing Impaired), Czech (Original Language), English (Original Language)
Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region: 2
Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 84 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 5051429101279
ASIN: B000ZK9SQM
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
Release Date: February 25, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: All of our items are brand new and take approx 4-6 working days (excluding weekends) from order to delivery. We only deliver to the UK.
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Amazon.co.uk Review
Winner of the World Audience Award at Sundance, Once starts out as a small-scale romance, like Before Sunrise, before arriving somewhere unexpected. An Irish busker (Glen Hansard, the Frames and The Commitments) meets a Czech flower seller (Marketa Irglova) while singing on the streets of Dublin. (In the credits, they're listed as Guy and Girl.) She likes what she hears and lets him know. Turns out she's a musician, too. They work on a few songs together and a friendship is forged. She lives with her widowed mother, who doesn't speak English. He lives with his widowed father, who owns a repair shop. Since he broke up with his girlfriend, the guy has been drifting, unable and unwilling to get his life in order. The girl encourages him to pursue a record deal, and the guy emerges from his funk. Then he makes a move on the girl, who rejects his advances. He's confused, but as he comes to find, there's a reason she's keeping her distance. Though Once is filled with appealing folk-pop by Hansard and Irglova (released on CD as The Swell Season), the movie isn't a traditional musical, but rather a more optimistic Brief Encounter. Filmmaker John Carney, Hansard's former bandmate, captures the real city--in all its affluence and poverty--rather than the picture postcard version. His beautifully shot film serves as a heartfelt ballad about all the underclass Guys and Girls swept aside amidst Ireland's economic miracle. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
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| Customer Reviews:
 Beautifully underplayed December 14, 2007
Jeremy Walton (Oxford, UK)
19 out of 21 found this review helpful
I saw the trailer for this on the internet, and liked the idea immediately: busker boy meets girl and they make beautiful music together. Conscious that this wasn't perhaps the first time that this storyline had been used, I wondered how they'd fare at steering past the obvious cliches, but I'd never have imagined they could be so wildly successful.
The hand-held camera makes you feel like you're watching a couple in the street, but they're so believable in their roles that you never suspect them of just acting. This is hard to do without some of the more obvious trappings of film, but it's totally compelling - just watch the subtle way Glen Hansard's character tries to master his confusion when he meets the girl's family in her bedsit. Or the way in which he teaches her his first song, which has to be the most accurate portrayal of this kind of scene I've ever seen. Or the final scene with his father, which appears to sum up the depths of a complex relationship with just a few lines.
Much of the film is given over to a careful attention on the music, with a generosity that's repayed many times over - there's a central, unbroken shot of her walking back from the corner shop late at night quietly singing to herself that seems to take a long time, but you realise that's just how it should be. To be sure, the instinct for avoiding cliche slips up sometimes: I wasn't surprised at the speed with which the recording engineer went from being cynical to impressed (though I was a bit surprised that the first song the busker decided to lay down was in 5/4, which is hard to dance to, at least).
But, especially considering the contrast with the previous film I saw Glen Hansard in (the disappointing "Commitments", which had great music but lousy acting), I don't think I've seen such a beautiful piece of work for a very long time.
in the mood for love December 17, 2007
William Rycroft (London, UK)
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
You would have to be some kind of hard-hearted person not to enjoy this film. It's just lovely. On the streets of Dublin a guy (Glen Hansard) meets a girl (Marketa Irglova). He works in his Father's shop fixing vacuums and busking, she sells flowers and looks after her family and they're both a little lonely. Through their shared passion for music they write songs together and whilst sharing the problems of their past loves something develops between them. As far as plot goes they go into a studio and record a demo. It's shot on a shoestring budget, a little rough around the edges and one of the most charming films you will ever see.
The music may not be to everyones taste but there is no doubting the genuineness of the performances, when they sing with each other they mean it (Hansard and Irglova are now a couple in real life). Dublin seems like the right setting as well, music is something that plays a huge part in the social life there and one scene where a group of musicians and singers come together for a dinner where you can eat if you sing a tune sums up that spirit perfectly. The combination of documentary style filming with the conventions of a musical is a surprisingly effective mix, the film slowly building up its themes, some tunes earning a reprise and the whole building to a genuinely moving climax. As the weather has got a little wetter and the days a little darker I couldn't think of a better time to surrender to a little romance.
Don't call it bittersweet... December 10, 2007
Robert Machin (Hampshire, UK)
8 out of 10 found this review helpful
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.
Possibly the best film I've ever seen December 1, 2007
Barry Gunner
7 out of 10 found this review helpful
A gentle, lyrical love story, brilliantly acted and with really first-rate music. The chemistry between the leading actors is extraordinary, the storyline is exquisite, and the backdrop (Ireland city-life) is fascinating. It's all about two young people (a busker and an immigrant single mum), their lives and their music - and it's utterly compelling and heartwarming.
Unique & Intimate March 1, 2008
B.
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
About 2/3 of the way through ONCE I grew extremely concerned it was building up to a big, Hollywood-Blockbuster ending. After all, I liked this film... liked the leads and the intimate conversational tone the hand-held cameras evoked. Almost as if we, the audience, were right there... helping to make beautiful music and witnessing first-hand the growing attraction between the Irish troubadour and Czech flower-seller (who also happened to play piano & sing a mean harmony).
And there you have it - a bittersweet love story unfurled against a backdrop of excellent music. The ending couldn't have been more perfect (I needn't have worried)and after a quick trip to iTunes to download the soundtrack, I was able to sit back and reflect on what a good film this actually was.
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