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As with most things in my life that I love, it took me awhile to finally get around to watching Once, the film by John Carney and starring Glen Hansard (of The Frames) and Markéta Irglová. One of the great benefits of living in the Ghent neighborhood of Norfolk is that I am only a few blocks away from Naro Expanded Video, which is easily the most extensive video store in Hampton Roads (and perhaps the snottiest: in order to rent Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas I have to remember that, the director, Terry Gilliam was a member of Monty Python and despite his being American, all of his films are stacked in the British section with the other Pythons). When I saw Once sitting on the “employee picks” shelf I remembered that, when it was in theatres, this movie was recommended to me by everyone ranging from close friends to casual acquaintances that I met at ECPI and, as usual, I dragged my feet about going to see it. And, as usual, I regret that.

When Guy (a street musician) meets Girl (a Czech immigrant who sells roses in the street) for the first time she asks him why he never sings his original material during the day when people can hear it and only sing is own songs at night. His answer was one I have said many times: people don’t want to hear original songs, no matter how good they are. People want to hear something they recognize. She insists people would listen because it’s a good song (also something I’ve said myself). Their friendship ensues from this moment on. To some, music is sacred thing. There are those who would sacrifice a small fortune for the opportunity to hear four notes played by their most admired musical heroes. Guy plays music in the street for pocket change and Girl, unable to afford her own piano, sneaks indulgent piano sessions at a local music shop. They are musicians for life, whether they make their careers out of it or not. Once is a love story, and non-musicians and non-artists will enjoy it on that level, it also transcends the trappings of a typical love story. This film is about what people are willing to sacrifice for something as “frivolous” as art. Some can sacrifice everything to “make it,” while others can only go so far. Sometimes they sacrifice “making it,” which is the case of Girl.

Despite her family’s poverty, Girl steals money from her daughter’s piggy bank in order to buy batteries for Guy’s portable CD player so she can write lyrics for one of Guy’s songs. This is a small sacrifice, but it is hardly her only sacrifice. At the end of the film, Girl knows that staying with Guy the night before he is supposed to leave for London will risk keeping him from leaving and keep him from his aspirations. Although her family makes for a reasonable excuse, the possibility of Girl ever leaving with him for London is strained by her obligation to take care of her mother and daughter. Even though she admits that she doesn’t love her daughter’s father, she feels the need to have him back in the picture for her daughter’s sake. Maybe, though, Girl uses her family as an excuse to keep from weighing down Guy. By bringing her estranged husband back into the picture, it fills the void Guy may aspire to fill himself. We can only assume this because she never tells Guy that she loves him in words he can understand (she says “I love only you” in Czech and refuses to translate it for him). This is Girl’s sacrifice for music. Surely, she could be happy with Guy, if she were to keep him in Dublin, which she is very capable of doing.  She knows Guy will be successful, and it seems everyone they come in contact with agrees, but only if he keeps the momentum he’s created by recording this music and choosing to move to London. She can’t stand in the way of that and she won’t allow herself to do so.

Guy has no one in his life at the beginning of the film except his Dad. He has nothing keeping him in Dublin, really. He’s really just feeling sorry for himself because of a broken heart (which has also inspired some of his wonderful new songs). By the end of the film he has Girl, but she is also the muse from which he draws the inspiration to record his music and go to London and seek out his career (and his ex girlfriend, which, though it is never said, seems to be less and less of a motivation by the time he leaves). Since it was a girl that got him into his funk to begin with, it is only natural that it be a girl that brings him out of it. Guy sacrifices a possible future with Girl, but it seems like maybe he isn’t as willing to sacrifice as she is. He seems to be looking for a way to sabotage himself near the end of the film when he invites her back to his place after the recording session and when he tries to visit her before he leaves. He’s looking for the opportunity to express to her how he feels about her and create the classic romantic climax so common in this kind of film, but he doesn’t get the chance. So whether he likes it or not, he is on his way to London to be a successful musician and live with his old girlfriend. Something he knows he should do, and ultimately wants to do, but perhaps isn’t sure about right now. I don’t imagine Guy makes a lot of money as a street musician or from working in his father’s vacuum repair shop so I wonder if buying her the piano wasn’t a huge sacrifice for himself.

I actually had more than one person tell me that this movie reminded them of me, which is a cute thing to tell someone when you see a movie and it definitely intrigued me a little. Then when I saw the promo posters I saw a redheaded guy with a beard and a guitar and I figured that’s all they were referring to. Maybe that is what they were talking about, but damn if Once doesn’t hit close to home. It is so refreshing to see a film made by musicians and, to some degree, for musicians but is not about the music industry or being in a band. It’s so difficult to forget how pure and amazing music can be when you get all wrapped up with playing in bands and trying to make money. It’s not that music becomes something undesirable, it’s just different. It’s like being in a relationship, the most exciting times are usually at the beginning when you don’t know anything about the person, and once the butterflies get out of your stomach, things change. They don’t necessarily change for the worst, but they change. This movie is sort of about an requiented romance, but its really more about Guy and Girl falling back in love with music all over again and, even though their time together is brief, they leave an indeliable mark on each other for the rest of their lives.