"Do you believe in magic? Do you think small can be beautiful? Are you looking for a little film you can make your own, an enchanting, unpretentious blend of music and romance you can watch forever? If you do, Once is about to come into your life and make it whole." A modern day musical set on the streets of Dublin, this story of the blooming relationship between a busker (Glen Hansard, lead singer of The Frames) and a Czech immigrant street vendor is told predominately through the songs they write and sing. "While all of this may sound forced on paper, it does not play that way on screen for a pair of interlocking reasons. For one thing, Once's inevitably romantic plot is modern enough to shrewdly avoid ever playing out the way audiences will anticipate. For another, the music is so rich and completely satisfying and the characters so appealing Once makes us believe that this is all happening right in front of our eyes. We fall for each of these young people at the precise moment they are falling for each other, and what could be better than that?" (Kenneth Turan, LA Times) more at foxsearchlight.com/once 35mm
2007, color, 1 hour 25 minutes, Ireland