Once (DVD)

For months I had been told to check out the indie sensation Once. Of course this super-low budget Irish film first made a splash at Sundance and what has followed is ubiquitous praise from across the globe. So I was perfectly set up for disappointment or at least a reason to be contrary, provide perspective. However, if you were looking for a hater don't look here; I fell in love with Once not 15 minutes in when a love - however minor - is born through music (specifically the song "Falling Slowly"). It's one of the absolute best scenes I've seen in any movie this year, the film's entire soul, attitude and belief system summed up through the two characters' (aptly named "Boy" and "Girl") passion and understanding of music.

The story is pretty simple. Boy meets girl, boy and girl make music. But I'll delve in deeper. The "boy" at the center of Once is a struggling musician. During the day he fixes vacuums with his da. The "girl" is a lover of music, a Czech living in Dublin and like the boy, suffering from a broken heart and life's many disappointments. But they come together and so does their heart and - with it - great music. Now you might be wondering where the title comes from and after finishing the film I had my own theory (which I would sum up in the phrase, "Once there was this girl ... ") but according to one of the film's commentary tracks, writer-director John Carney said it refers to a male condition, of men who are "talented but sit behind a pint in a bar" for the rest of their lives thinking "Once I get this done, once I get that done, I'll be brilliant". But they never get anything done do they? They never complete that drive, they stay still. Soon, twenty years have passed, the grey sets in, the vigor of a young man's life waning and another pint please.

There's two commentary tracks to the film (one is in pieces and focuses strictly on the musical numbers) and both will be interesting to fans. Admirers of the great Alan Parker film, The Commitments, may recognize the "Boy" actor Glen Hansard. Hansard is also the frontman to The Frames, a band John Carney also writes and plays bass for and I'm already well on my way to seek out their music. Hansard (who's soulful voice reminds me of a more conventional Damien Rice or David Gray) and "Girl" actor Marketa Irglova also made an album together called The Swell Season that might be worth checking out if you really fall in love with the film's music (a few songs on the soundtrack are getting heavy play in my car, substituting Radiohead's amazing In Rainbows, if only momentarily).

This DVD edition should satisfy even the most hardcore fans of the film. Again, the commentary tracks are solid and there's two good behind-the-scenes look at the making of the movie, one of them that really focuses on some on-set discussions between the actors and director regarding the characters. Also on hand is a cute webisode, a sort of music video of the brief music track "Broken Hearted Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy" by way of a child's drawings. Finally, you can slip the disc in your computer and download the track "Falling Slowly", no doubt the most popular song from the film.

On one of the musical commentary tracks Carney asks, "Did the music inspire the film or did the film inspire the music?" The answer, naturally, is that it was 50-50 and it's the only answer that really makes any sense. He and his two actors set out to make a musical for younger audiences who "can't get with Gene Kelly" these days. If you can't get with Once you've never been in love, you've never had your heart broken and you've never dreamed.