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9/25/2022

Once (2007) - Music brings souls together in Carney's impressive breakthrough

♥♥

 

A man and a woman walk together on a road that's switched out with a guitar on this pleasant poster for John Carney's Once

A street singer and vacuum cleaner repairman with a broken heart starts a relation to a Czech girl in Dublin. Their relation develops from their musical co-creations over a span of some few days, in which they also record some songs.

 

Once is written and directed by great Irish filmmaker John Carney (November Afternoon (1996)).

It is a celebration of musical expression, and the original music that goes along with Once is deep-felt and beautiful. Once is a wonderful film with a striking simplicity. Although the cinematic expression is obviously dictated by the minuscule budget, the film is moving and rewarding.


Related posts:

John Carney: 2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]  
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Begin Again/Can a Song Save Your Life? (2013) - Carney's welcome New York music treat 

 


Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 150k $

Box office: 23.1 mil. $

= Mega-hit (returned 154 times its cost)

[Once premiered 20 January (Sundance Film Festival, Utah) and runs 86 minutes. Cillian Murphy had been intended to play the male lead but dropped out. 75 % of the budget came from The Irish Film Board, with Carney personally donating his salary to his two lead actors. Shooting took place in 17 days in January 2006 in Dublin, Ireland. The film opened #45 to a 61k $ first weekend in 2 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #12 and in 150 theaters (different weeks), grossing 9.4 mil. $ (40.7 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were South Korea with 1.7 mil. $ (7.4 %) and Germany with 1.3 mil. $ (5.6 %). The film won the Best Original Song Oscar for Falling Slowly by leads and composers Glen Hansard (The Commitments (1991)) and Markéta Irglová (The Swell Season (2011, documentary)). It was also nominated for a British Independent Film award, won an Independent Spirit award, was nominated for 2 Grammys, won a National Board of Review award and an audience award in Sundance, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 4/4 star review, translating to 2 notches over this one. Carney returned with The Modest Adventures of David O'Doherty (2007, TV-series) and theatrically with Zonad (2009). Hansard returned in a TV-series and 2 music videos prior to his theatrical return in Cyrano (2021); Irglová has only returned in a TV-series and  music videos and have otherwise left the medium again. Once is certified fresh at 97 % with an 8.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]


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