Irish Film Institute -International Film Directory – Film Listing

Once

    • Director

      John Carney

    • Credits

      Producers: Martina Niland, David Collins. Writer: John Carney

    • Principal Cast

      Glen Hansard, Marketa Irlgová.

  • Category

    Feature
    Music

A heartfelt and honest musical, Once sees struggling musician ‘Guy’ (Glen Hansard) and migrant worker ‘Girl’ (Marketa Irglová) fall in love through a shared passion for music. Meeting on the streets of Dublin as ‘Guy’ busks to try make ends meet, the pair travel across the city, by foot, bus and motorcycle, forming a connection as they perform music. Feeling they have the potential to work as a duo the pair attempt to produce a record even as they find their burgeoning relationship has to step lightly around the romantic complications of one another’s past. Characterised by a wholehearted sincerity, Once’s greatest asset is in the lead characters; Hansard and Irglová’s musical performances are the moving highlights of a deeply romantic film, and Once won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for the pair’s ‘Falling Slowly’.      

Awards:
Best Original Song at 80th Academy Awards 2008 
Best Foreign Film at Independent Spirit Awards 2008 
World Cinema Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival 2007

85 minutes, Ireland, 2006, Colour


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