Once

Once is a marvel and a truly great modern piece of work by writer-director John Carney. The film is a story of a street performer(singer and guitarist), played by Glen Hansard and his newfound friend and piano player, played by Marketa Irglova. This is a very simple story of two people meeting and forming a relationship, but the heart of this story is the beautiful passion of the music. One of the best scenes this year is when the band is recording a song and the passion of these performers is as intense as can be filmed. The film makes the audience feel like these two people will fall in love and romance will ensue but instead they help each other find their way with different people. This is a truly great relationship because its not exaggerated or pampered. It is an organic relationship which an audience can clearly understand. The performances by Hansard and Irglova are simply spectacular and John Carney has really made his mark in this originally crafted modern day musical. This is one of my favorite films so far this year.

Grade: A-