You Owe It To Yourself

Ever since the middle of last year, when I first heard critics raving about Once, I've been really eager to see it. The film was made in Dublin on a shoestring budget by two songwriters, and it uses their music to tell a story of... well... two songwriters in Dublin. But it's so much more than that.

Once picks up with Glen busking for change, playing old well-known tunes during the day in hopes that the familiarity will inspire passersby to stop and toss some money in his guitar case. But at night, when the streets have emptied, he plays the songs that he wrote for an ex-girlfriend who ran off to London. Marketa, a young Czech woman who is also a songwriter, encounters him in this setting and they strike up a friendship. From there, the movie follows the track of their relationship as they make music together and each tries to find a peace with the influences that have burdened and inspired them.

This film is raw, unexpected, thoroughly honest, and absolutely beautiful. It is not as polished as most films, but this simplicity itself is one of the movie's strongest points. Where so many movies struggle under the weight of their own self-importance, Once is content to just tell a simple, heartfelt story. And the music that pervades the story is just magnificent. If you saw the Oscars, you likely caught the singers' beautiful performance and their well-deserved "Best Song" win for "Falling Slowly". As great as that song is, though, the soundtrack includes several others just as amazing.

In short, I think that Once might just be my favorite new movie since Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. You owe it to yourself to check it out.