Once (2007)

Here's a word that I don't get to throw out very often to describe a movie: perfect. Because Once is as about as close to perfect as a movie gets; perfectly cast, perfectly performed, perfectly written and punctuated with the perfect soundtrack. A marvel.

The Monday Project is primarily about hunting through time-proven, classic movies, all in an effort to find those elusive new favourites. That's why there aren't a lot of rotten egg reviews to be found below. The good thing about the project is that I'm not spending a lot of time on movies that don't endure. Once is one of those rarest of modern films that already stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the classic movies on my list. It's unlikely to ever be big enough or popular enough or famous enough to show up on a Classic Movie list, but it's the kind of movie that endures. I have no doubt it will be a favourite 10 years from now. It's already a favourite and it's been about 8 hours.

Ironically enough, the thing that gives Once this degree of power is that it's so very slight. So very un-powerful in its construction. Unlike a Hollywood blockbuster which must pass by committee through rewrites and production meetings, Once seems to be a film that simply is. Everything flows naturally from the characters and the music; an effortless character study that fills the heart even while it devastates you with its music. At times, it's like an overheard conversation or a private moment between two people. These are the sorts of intangibles that virtually never show up on celluloid, except in the absolute finest of movies.

There is a moment early in the film when you can feel it happening, that sense that you are setting yourself up to have your heart ripped out: the Guy in the picture (who goes unnamed) and the Girl sit down together in a music store and begin to learn a song together at a piano. He walks her through the chords, explaining the verses and chorus as she nods, fingers the piano and learns the changes. It's a magical connection, and piece by piece, as she learns the song, one gets the sense that there is more going on than just two people learning to play a song together. I can guarantee that there is no one in the theatre who doesn't feel it. And when they play? The movie lifts off the ground.

The performances in the picture are extremely rare. The two leads (it's almost a two-person movie) seem less like actors and more like a couple of real strangers who have wandered in front of the camera. In fact, as I understand it, the female lead had never been in a movie before Once and is not a professional actress. In some ways, that's not surprising as her performance is so bare and honest that it seems unrehearsed. She is a remarkable character: direct, blunt, charming and curious. What's most surprising is how quickly this information comes across. There is very little dialogue to explain who she is and where she comes from (in the first minutes of the film at least), yet it's remarkable how quickly a complete picture forms. This is a person with a history, with responsibilities, with a sense of humour and with a life that is currently happening outside of the film. And like everything else in Once, her life is a little ragged around the edges, after all she's been living in it for years.

The Guy gives much the same kind of unpolished performance, but comes to the movie with a breathtaking amount of musical talent. I don't know if Glen Hansard wrote the songs in the film (it's likely as I see on-line that he's in a band called The Frames) but he sings them with the conviction of someone who has laid himself bare. These songs are frighteningly personal, and he exposes himself so honestly, that's it's tough not feel a bit like a voyeur. In fact, I would argue that there are moments in this film that are so direct and heartfelt that some audiences will be uncomfortable with the naked emotion. (I'm thinking specifically of a scene when one character sings a song so intimately that it ends in tears. The moment is so private and so personal that it seems like an intrusion just to be watching it.)

Which brings me to the music. Once would be a masterpiece without the songs; a stunning little character drama about two strangers finding a meaningful connection. But it's the songs that elevate the movie into a different stratosphere altogether. In fact, movie theatres should simply charge an extra $15 for admission and provide audiences with a CD copy of the soundtrack because it's an awful aggravation to hunt down an HMV after the movie is over. Each song is unique and intimate, capturing a moment in the story in a unique and organic way. In one such sequence, the Guy reflects on the breakdown of an earlier relationship, watching old videos on a lap-top as he strums his way through an improvised song: the song becomes a montage of the fleeting moments of a relationship, a sort of flashback to what was, and a clever way of imparting a great deal of information about where the Guy is coming from. In another scene, the Girl makes up a song as she walks home, the camera following her the entire way. It's a very real moment (easy to imagine that this is the actual genesis of much of the soundtrack), but it also serves a very musical purpose - giving the character a way of sorting her thoughts, but without the artifice of a rehearsed solo.

In every way, Once is a musical constructed without the conceit of characters breaking into song and dance in an artificial way. But like the best musicals, the songs become a way of the heart singing something that can't easily be spoken, some bit of introspection, memory or feeling. There is a lot of music in the movie. And most impressively, the songs play in full, often for 4 or 5 minutes. This isn't the sort of film that's content to give a few beats of a song and then fade to the next scene. The music is at the center of everything.

Funny enough, the only thing I can't get my head around is where the title of the film comes from. Unless one of the songs is called Once (which is possible; I haven't seen a track listing), the name of the movie seems a little random and even ironic. Ironic because it's going to be next to impossible for most people to see Once only once. Included in the theatre's gift bag with the admissions and CD soundtrack might as well be a coupon to also pick up the future DVD. This one is a keeper.