"Once" More With Feeling.

One of the best films of 2007 was a little film that despite winning an Oscar for best Original Song and providing the highlight of the Oscar telecast many people have never seen or heard of. I love this film and it's music. In the dictionary under the word Chemistry, there is a definition of the word Chemistry. What there should be, is a still of the two leads of Once, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. Would the film work with the actors but without the music? Probably not. Would the film work with the music but different actors in the rolls? Again probably not. Would an avacado make a good political leader, Once more probably not. There are two essential elements that make Once a masterpiece. They are the music and the chemistry between Hansard and Irglova. The story is very simple, almost a non story just a week in the life of two strangers who connect over music.

In film in the last year, hell possibly the last decade, maybe forever, but probably not, there has not been two more naturally charming and captivateing performers. Hansard and Irglova are not trained actors they are musicians and they wrote all of the music for the film. What they have onscreen, and apparently now offscreen as well, is something real couples, real actors have trouble with. It is an ability to transfer onto film, not the appearance, but the feeling, the belief, the altogether knowinglyness that you belong together. You watch these two on screen and literally want to take them both home with you give them a nice hot bowl of soup and tuck them in for the night. I mean honestly, were there two more appealing, natural, and charming performances last year? If so I wish someone had captured them on film, because I promise you they didn't.

Now chemistry is all fine and good and will in itself take you a long way, but it can't do everything. For example it can't boil an egg and it's Groucho Marx impersonation is so-so at best, and It can't create a masterpeice on it's own. As charming as these two performers are and as much chemistry as they have they still needed something else to elevate Once frome a good film to a great film. That was the music. When they sit in a music shop and play Falling Slowly together, that is one of those moments that you see and never forget. It's one of those moments when you remember, though you'd forgotten for a bit, that you do believe in magic, you do you do!!

Soooo....Music and chemistry, that all ya got? Well no, it also has the most tangibly real feel to it I can remember in a fictional film, particulary for a musical. This thing feels more real than most documentaries. How did they do this? How did they pull this off? They are not trained actors, the director, John Carney, hasn't really done anything you would have heard of before he's the former bassist and vocalist in Hanards band The Frames. They did it with passion, they believed in it and it shows. The music is so great because they wrote it themselves they are not just lipsynching someone elses's words, these are their own words and I believe them to be passionate about them. At least after Wednesday night I do. Ali and I saw the Swell Season (this is Glen Hansard, and Marketa Irglova and their backing musicians) Wednesday night. We both agreed it was one of the best live concerts either of us has ever seen. Why? Well, music and chemistry, and passion, heeps of passion. After the opening act they do some more set up and then Hansard comes on stage. He's alone, and everyone cheers, and then he doesn't step up to the microphone, he steps in front of it, with his guitar unplugged, and sings the first song without the assistance of amplification. And it is amazing. I will not go on and on about every song and every cool thing that happened, you sort of had to be there. I'm just gonna say this, those people made you feel like they hardly ever do this and it's as much fun for them as it is for you. They make you feel the passion, God do they make you feel the passion. If you haven't seen Once, what the hell are you waiting for? I'd say netflix that baby, but I think you'd be mad at me, because you'll know after you watch it that I should have told you to pop out and buy a DVD, because this is a film you'll watch again, you might as well buy it.

So in what has become a tradition, if you'd call doing something you've done once before a tradition. Here are the top ten moments of perfect cinema, moments that I will put a DVD in and just watch. They may be a shot, they may be a scene, they may be a musical cue, they maybe something that ryhmes with pickle. But they are all perfect moments, moments that stay with me long after the film has ended and perhaps even the plot of the film has faded from my mind. Again for traditions sake this is in no particular order and is comprised entirely of things I can think of sitting on the couch at 11:00 PM.

1. Once: The singing of Falling Slowly.
2. Henry V: (Branagh obviously) The kings speach before the battle of Agincourt.
3. Flirting: The begining of the Dance (With a Girl Like You by the Troggs begins to play)
4. Moulin Rouge: (Sooo Many to choose from) I'm going with the Elephant Medley All you need is Love!
5. Life Is Beautiful: "Buon giorno, Principessa! " shouts Guido as he plays music through the loud speaker at the concentration camp so that Dora knows he and their son are still alive.
6. Hamlet: (just assume from now on it's Branagh OK?) Hamlet to Ophelia (his eyes filling): "I Did love you Once"
7. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan: Spock's Death
8. Beautiful Girls: The skating Rink AKA Hey Pooh!
9. It's a Wonderful Life: Ummm, I'm gonna go with the whole fucking movie here.
10. Somekind of Wonderful: Watts tests Keith's kissing skills, While "She Loves Me" plays on the soundtrack.

Ok as I made this list I realized I could make ten of these, these may not be the ten best but they all fit the bill.