Once

J’ai vu Once pour la première fois en 2012 environ, et je l’avais arrêté au bout d’une demi-heure parce que ça ne me plaisait pas. Aujourd’hui, presque cinq ans plus tard, je me suis décidée à lui donner une deuxième chance… Qu’est-ce qui n’allait donc pas chez moi à l’époque pour que je ne le voie pas jusqu’au bout ? Il est rare que je tombe sur un film si attachant qu’il me fait sourire pendant tout le temps que je le regarde. Je connaissais déjà en partie la bande originale, et je dois dire que chaque chanson est un petit bijou. Les mélodies sont chaudes, elles sont une véritable caresse pour l’âme, et les paroles sont écrites par la vie elle-même. C’est exactement le genre de musique que j’aime, et j’ai hâte de me la passer demain au travail. Once prouve qu’il y a de la beauté dans la simplicité. (25/09/2016)

I didn't expect anything from this film, and I didn't get anything from it either. Perhaps the only thing that surprised me, although I expected something like this, is how much the film is banal, small, and amateurish compared to the enthusiastic reviews. The satisfaction with Once is largely related to the ability to appreciate and accept the musical component on which the film is based. The screenplay is minimalist, the dialogues are trivial, and the acting performances are wooden in many cases. It's not the fact that the film uses non-actors; it's that these non-actors have minimal prerequisites for acting - and this applies, among other things, to Markéta Irglová in the main role. By coincidence, I had just seen Bicycle Thieves before Once, where the majority of roles were played by non-actors, including the protagonist, but the difference in quality was vast. The music in the film bypasses me with a wide arc, so only the film aspects remain, which is difficult for me to digest. The love story is clichéd, and simple, and even in its simplicity, it plays with kitsch. Just as it is possible to build a film's reputation on great cinematography and top-notch special effects, it is also possible to build it on independence, ordinariness, and "purity." Once is a film where it is essentially possible to use any evaluation based on the approach to the music used and the theme. My 25% overall impression is understandably one extreme and the opposite of enthusiastic uncritical comments and five-star accolades. The objective truth is usually somewhere in between; however, I cannot shake off the impression that Once is significantly overrated. (25/08/2008)

When non-actors are playing, it is often visible how unrealistically they behave in front of the camera. In the case of Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, this did not happen. They are quite natural. In contrast, you can see how some couldn't handle the directed camera, and the naturalness disappeared. But in this case, it also involves the amateurism in front of the camera, which contributes a lot to the overall impression. In this story, even though it follows a script, it is beautiful that the story could have been written by the story itself and you can easily believe it. And the music... (11/03/2014)

Hansard is not a brave hero in shiny armor, Markéta is not a princess, and Ireland is not a fairy tale world. But still, Once is such a magical story that I couldn't breathe at times. Magical, distant, and yet so naturally personal. The adventures with Her family or the search for people to record His album may lose pace, but I don't care about that now. Because I "love you" and sing Falling Slowly. The soundtrack brings me close to tears even on the hundredth listen. That film is immortal, it just doesn't know it even a decade after its creation. (11/12/2007)

“I love you." Everything you have heard and read about Once is true. Both the negative and the positive things. The second-rate technical wrapping proved to be one of the movie’s greatest assets. Because it makes it easier to penetrate the melancholic atmosphere without having to waste time scraping off the gold paint. Not even the rather stiff Irglová, or occasional tired moments do anything to impair the authenticity of this movie. In fact AUTHENTIC is the word that best characterizes this little-big movie. Once requires the “input" from the viewer in terms of a certain benevolence, then rewarding this benevolence with the “output", mainly in terms of music than cinema... (25/10/2007)