Once (Carney, 2007)
One of the pleasures of this newsletter is going back to read my first impressions of films that have since secured their place in the culture.
One of those is John Carney’s surprise hit Once, a micro-budget indie, filmed on the streets of Dublin, featuring songs by its star, Glen Hansard (then of The Frames).
Here’s what I wrote about Once before it became a phenomenon:
Once is a little gem, like a perfect short story, sweet and funny and then gone in a heartbeat. Glen Hansard is a broken-hearted Dublin busker who meets immigrant single mother Markéta Irglová and bond over a broken vacuum cleaner. They share a love of music and over an intense week two damaged souls help heal each other (and us).
Hansard and Irglová became a couple, “Falling Slowly” went on to win an Oscar for Best Original Song, they formed The Swell Season, appeared as themselves on The Simpsons, ceased to be a couple, reformed The Swell Season (again in 2023), and Once was transformed into a Broadway musical.
Incidentally, Hansard was not the first choice for the role, despite providing the songs. Cillian Murphy was originally cast but he didn’t think he could pull off the singing. Thus history is made.
Also reviewed in that epic Capital Times column: Sean Penn’s brilliant Into the Wild; Shane Meadows’ confronting skinhead drama This Is England (which ended up spinning off several TV series sequels); Jerry Seinfeld’s Bee Movie; “twinkly” Dustin Hoffman and Natalie Portman in Mr. Magorium’s Under Emporium; nature documentary White Planet and video game adaptation Hitman. All in one week. Those were the days.
Where to watch Once
Aotearoa: Streaming on Prime Video and TVNZ+ (free with ads)
Australia, Canada, Ireland, : Digital rental
UK: Unavailable for streaming
USA: Streaming on Hulu
Further reading and listening
Once was John Carney’s first big hit and I’ve come across him and his films a few times since.
Graeme Tuckett joined Kailey Carruthers and I to review the sweet Keira Knightly and Mark Ruffalo movie Begin Again (2014) for the Rancho Notorious podcast. Sing Street came out in 2016 and I was lucky enough to interview him for RNZ’s Standing Room Only (and also included the film in my picks of the year).
Most recently, I reviewed Flora and Son (AppleTV+) for this newsletter: “Carney’s belief that music saves lives is built in to every atom of his body and that sincerity could be painful if it wasn’t backed up by some good performances … Cynics might need to go somewhere else for their fix this week.”
I don’t normally include clips in this newsletter but it seemed appropriate to drop this in:
