SomeAngryIndian

Before I talk about Once, the musical from Ireland, I have to discuss The Frames, since their lead singer is also the lead of the film.

Glen Hansard dropped out of school at 13 to start playing music. He recorded a demo at 17, got some attention, and formed The Frames, a band many O’ the Irish will claim to be the definitive Irish band. Yes, these people have heard of U2. No, Bono is not the official ambassador of Ireland.

I would say the gamble paid off handsomely for Mr. Hansard, right? I had heard some Frames in freshman year but forgot about them until I saw the trailer for Once. Since I’d last listened to them, they’d recorded two stellar albums. The most recent one, The Cost, features two songs from Once. So, the Frames and the movie kind of good hand in hand. That’s a good thing.

I’ve had the first song from The Cost in my head for a while, from before I saw Once about two weeks ago. Song For Someone starts off quietly, in a somewhat “High and Dry” fashion, with the narrator confessing to be “drying up in conversation” with his entire focus on the possibility of there being a someone out there for him. Thematically, it’s similar to Bjork’s I Miss You (but  I haven’t met you yet). The Frames aren’t entirely different from U2. The chorus crescendoes into a passioned prayer. “When will she come, that someone?” Hansard’s voice is powerful and he carries a note straight to Heaven and back, often leaving the engaged listener breathless with his or her finger hovering over the rewind button.

The second track, Falling Slowly, is one of the first songs in Once.

Once has a very barebones story. When I say this is a musical, I really mean it. Sometimes only seconds separate one song from another. But when they’re coming from Glen Hansard, that’s not a bad thing.

Once, like most musicals, involves a man and a woman. The basic story is that a young woman meets a man playing guitar on a corner. Together, they decide to record some music. However, there are twists in the story that elevate Once above the traditional musical. To mention the slightest of them would be to ruin the impact.

Ultimately, with the music being the vehicle for the story, if not the actually story itself, your enjoying the film depends on your liking the film’s soundtrack. Glen and Marketa, his opposite in the film, a very talented Czech singer and pianist, play their first song together in a music store. Their chemistry is immediate (Glen and Marketa did, after all, record an album together already, titled The Swell Season). Glen shows her Falling Slowly, a standout track on The Cost, and she quickly picks it up. Slowly, the song builds and coalesces preciously into a fantastic overture for the movie as a whole. Hypnotizing.

Marketa Irglova is fascinating to watch. One of my favorite scenes in the movie is her performance of If You Want Me, fantastically shot in the Dublin twilight with a handheld camera. It hits a chord with someone who takes long walks singing to the music on his headphones. Her performance of The Hill, meanwhile, is heartbreaking.

Once is many things. It’s a beautiful vehicle for criminally ignored music. It’s a kick in the stomach for traditional musicals. It’s a musical for musical-haters. In the words of my dear friend, it’s the movie about how to make an album. It’s a dizzyingly sweet portrait of working class Dublin. It’s the best musical shot in Dogma 95 (sorry, Dancer in the Dark). It’s an optimistic Before Sunrise. It’s an affirmation of the power of friendship. And it’s a movie everyone should see.