Once (film)
Once is a 2007 Irish romantic musical drama film written and directed by John Carney. The film stars Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová as two struggling musicians in Dublin, Ireland. Hansard and Irglová had previously performed music as the Swell Season, and composed and performed the film's original songs.
Once
John Carney
Martina Niland
Tim Fleming
Paul Mullen
Glen Hansard
Markéta Irglová
Interference
- 20 January 2007 (Sundance)
- 23 March 2007 (Ireland)
86 minutes[2]
Ireland
English
Czech
$150,000[3]
$23.3 million[4]
Once spent years in development with the Irish Film Board and was made for a budget of €112,000. It was a commercial success, earning substantial per-screen box office averages in the United States, and received acclaim from critics. It received awards including the 2007 Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film. Hansard and Irglová's song "Falling Slowly" won the 2008 Academy Award for Best Original Song, and the soundtrack received a Grammy Award nomination. The film has also been adapted into a successful stage musical.
Plot[edit]
A thirty-something busker (Guy) performs with his guitar on Grafton Street, Dublin, but his performance is interrupted when he chases a man who steals his money. Lured by his music, a young Czech flower seller (Girl) talks to him about his songs. Delighted to learn that he repairs hoovers, Girl asks Guy to fix hers. The next day Girl returns with her broken vacuum and tells him she is also a musician.
At a music store where Girl usually plays piano, Guy teaches her one of his songs ("Falling Slowly"); they sing and play together. He invites her to his father's shop, and on the bus home musically answers Girl's question about what his songs are about: a long-time girlfriend who cheated on him, then left ("Broken Hearted Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy").
At the shop, Guy introduces Girl to his father and takes her to his room, but when he asks her to stay the night, she gets upset and leaves. The next day, they reconcile and spend the week writing, rehearsing and recording songs. Girl writes the lyrics for one of Guy's songs ("If You Want Me"), singing to herself while walking down the street; at a party, people perform impromptu (including "Gold").
Guy works on "Lies", a song about his ex-girlfriend, who moved to London. Girl encourages him to win her back. Invited to her home, he discovers she has a toddler and lives with her mother. Guy decides to move to London, but he wants to record a demo of his songs to take with him and asks Girl to record it with him. They secure a bank loan and reserve time at a recording studio.
Guy learns Girl has a husband in the Czech Republic. When he asks if she still loves her husband, Girl answers in Czech, "Miluju tebe" ("I love you"),[5] but coyly declines to translate. After recruiting a band with other buskers, they go into the studio to record. They impress Eamon, the jaded studio engineer, with their first song ("When Your Mind's Made Up"). On a break in the early morning, Girl finds a piano in an empty studio and plays Guy one of her own compositions ("The Hill").
After the all-night session wraps up, they walk home. Before they part ways, Girl reveals that she spoke to her husband and he is coming to live with her in Dublin. Guy persuades her to spend his last night in Dublin with him, but she stands him up and he cannot find her to say goodbye before his flight. He plays the demo for his father, who gives him money to help him get settled in London. Before leaving for the airport, Guy buys Girl a piano and makes arrangements for its delivery, then calls his ex-girlfriend, who is happy about his imminent arrival. Girl reunites with her husband in Dublin and plays the piano in their home.
Reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
A rough cut of the film was previewed on 15 July 2006 at the Galway Film Fleadh, but the film was subsequently turned down by several prestigious European film festivals.[20] However, once finished, it secured spots at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival on 20 January 2007 and the Dublin Film Festival in February 2007, and received the audience awards at both events.[21]
The film was first released on cinema in Ireland by Buena Vista International on 23 March 2007, followed by a limited release in the United States by Fox Searchlight Pictures on 16 May 2007. After its second weekend in release in the United States and Canada, the film topped the 23 May 2007 indieWIRE box office chart with nearly $31,000 average per location.[22] As of 28 March 2009, Once has grossed nearly $9.5 million in North America and over $20 million worldwide.[23]
Accolades[edit]
After 2007's box office success and critical acclaim, the film won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film.[24][25] Steven Spielberg was quoted as saying, "a little movie called Once gave me enough inspiration to last the rest of the year." When informed of Spielberg's comments, director John Carney told Sky News, "in the end of the day, he's just a guy with a beard." At the time of that interview, Carney himself was also wearing a beard.[26]
The song "Falling Slowly" won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Original Song.[27] The nomination's eligibility for the Oscar was initially questioned,[28] as versions of the song had been recorded on The Cost and The Swell Season albums and it was also included in the movie Beauty in Trouble (all released in 2006); those issues were resolved before the voting for the award took place. The AMPAS music committee members satisfied themselves that the song had indeed been written for the film and determined that, in the course of the film's protracted production, the composers had "played the song in some venues that were deemed inconsequential enough to not change the song’s eligibility."[29]