Once Review

I just saw this charming Irish film on DVD because it had been highly recommended to me by everyone I knew who had seen it.  I couldn't imagine a movie musical being anything other than the musical films of the  1940's and '50's where people break into song at the most improbable moments.  But in this film the music is generic to the development of the plot and is always appropriate in context.   

Before I go any further I do want to warn you that the dialogue in the opening scenes is very hard to understand because of the thick accents. But don't be discouraged.  Keep watching because the dialogue between The Guy (we never know the characters' names' )and The Girl is much clearer.   I turned on the English subtitle feature on my DVD player because I didn't want to miss a word.

 It's the story of a heartbroken street singer, Glen Hansard of the Irish band Frames, pining the loss of his long time love and expressing his grief in the beautiful rock ballads that he writes and plays on his guitar.  He meets a lovely refugee flower seller, Marketa Irglova, who is also a musician and they bond over shared grief, their attraction to each other and their ability to express themselves in writing music.  Ultiimately, it is a romance, a love story and a story of dreams come true, but not always in the way you would expect in a Hollywood film.

 The soundtrack is wonderful and haunting.  I couldn't get the songs out of my head for the entire day after I saw the film.  The performances are natural and appealing.  I loved all the characters.  There was not a villian in the entire cast.

 See this film. It's only 87 minutes long but every minute is packed with enjoyment.