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* "take this sinking boat and point it home..."

A couple months ago, we were all set and psyched to have the Frames perform at our South By Southwest party in Austin when we received late word that they were canceling the trip on account of a project/opportunity which had arisen on short notice for lead singer Glen Hansard. Seems he'd recently been in an indie film that suddenly had bright prospects after winning an award at Sundance, and he needed to go into the studio to record some songs for a potential soundtrack. While we were certainly sorry to lose them on our bill, it was nice to know that it was for a rewarding reason.

I'd sort of forgotten about all that in the weeks following SXSW until two days ago, when I sat down to watch the movie-review TV show "Ebert & Roeper" (as I often do on Sunday nights) and was blindsided by their comments about one of this week's new films. They thumbs-downed just about everything on the docket -- from the new Wilson brothers flick to the third Shrek installment the latest Bollywood offering -- but they both fell head-over-heels for an Irish indie film called Once. Michael Phillips (subbing for Roger Ebert) called it "the most charming thing I've seen all year"; Richard Roeper said of the film's music, "I felt like I had a great secret that I wanted to share with the world."

Sure enough, this is the movie Hansard stars in.

The Frames' Stateside manager, Howard Greynolds, had actually been kind enough to send me a promo-DVD of Once a few weeks back, but I'd set it aside during the post-SXSW deadline rush and hadn't actually gotten around to viewing it yet. Last night I finally sat down and watched it, and, for the most part, I can see why Roeper and Phillips were so impressed. To view the film's trailer, go here:
http://www.oncethemovie.com/oncesmall.html

Once isn't a "big" movie -- far from it; the entire thing was made for $150,000, less than one-tenth the budget for even a modest indie hit such as Garden State -- and that smallness is probably at least in part what appealed to Roeper and Phillips, who must review Hollywood's often blustery major-studio fare week in and week out. Still, it's not just the indie/underdog phenomenon at work here. Once works first and foremost because it tells a story well and, especially, because it conveys emotions brilliantly. If the first thing a film must do to succeed is to make you feel something for the characters, then director John Carney and his actors are right on-target here.

The music -- drawing largely from songs Hansard and co-star Marketa Irglova recorded last year for an album called The Swell Season -- is a huge part of the movie, frequently carrying the weight of dialogue for extended portions of scenes. Hansard's strengths as a songwriter have long been evident in his work with the Frames, but they're more focused here in these largely stripped-down settings, and Irglova proves an almost perfect foil, both musically and dramatically.

On a more personal note, one of the scenes that struck me most deeply was set on an Irish seaside overlook with a very familiar (to me) floral landscape. Behind the actors, the hillside was alight with the bright yellow glow of what could only be Scots' broom -- in (almost) its native environment. Every spring here in the Northwest, we see that radiant yellow flourish everywhere, as our own regional Scots' broom bushes hit full bloom. Though oft-classified as a weed, it is, in my estimation, one of the loveliest plants in the world...

...and thus it seemed quite befitting for a backdrop in this beautiful little movie.

adios,
peter

Posted by peter on May 22, 2007 10:18 PM | Permalink