|
|
 |
Once: Special Edition
R4 - Australia - Warner Home Video Review written by and copyright: Stevie McCleary & Noor Razzak (14th May 2008). |
|
The Film
 Don’t you just hate it when you sit down to write a review of something that used language, through normal speech and song, far better than you know you’re about to? "Once," the title is in regards to its tagline; how often do you find the right person? Coincidently this title also relates to how many times you will be able to watch a film like this one. It’s sad there aren’t more like it and for that, this film has to be celebrated. The Guy (Glen Hansard) is busking on the streets of Dublin, only singing his own songs at night as he attempts to get over his girlfriend leaving him. The Girl (Markéta Irglová) is an Eastern European immigrant starting a new life. It all begins one night when she hears him playing, and from there she gets him to fix her vacuum cleaner (the Guy’s day job) and shows him the piano she’d love to buy. Over the next few days they bond over their mutual love of music. You know when people just have *that* quality? You know the one…the one where you just need to keep watching what they, listening to what they say, hang on their every move… welcome to your main cast. Whenever people talk about perfect casting, "Once" has to be mentioned. There are a lot of abilities that need to be juggled on a film like this and they perform flawlessly. We’re talking about a film that uses a single camera style and, at times, so closely resembles a home movie in it’s execution that you have to remind yourself that they’re acting. This brings me to the point I wanted to make before anything else. The loose and nuanced performances of the whole cast completely own the room. You find yourself searching in their performance for the truth of the moment, rather than waiting for cues from the dialogue. This makes the script the delightful addition to the reality that you already understand. Any acting coach will (or should, if they’re worth a damn) tell you that you should be able to work out the meaning of a scene from its body/facial language rather than the dialogue. That’s what acting is. Sadly, in a lot of Hollywood ventures, the actors tend to rely on the script to convey everything. This is a real shame, as a lot of those scripts are so hackneyed and cliché-ridden anyway. But not so here, as you watch the action and then enjoy the brilliant dialogue as well. There are simply not enough films that make you believe in that truth in the moment. But here we have charming leads and supports in conjunction with a killer script that show you can have believable characters. Hollywood; wake up, man up, and take notes. This is a low key, low budget film that blows most of yours right out the window for simply offering us some heartfelt reality. So, did I mention this is also a ‘musical’? Albeit the most organic one you will ever see. So if you don’t normally like musicals, don’t be put off in this case. If you like ‘music’ in general then you will be just fine. It is never intrusive in this case and always serves the plot. No unrealistic ‘breaking into song’ shenanigans…just a film that happens to feature a lot of music in it. Trust me on this; it’ll be the best ‘musical’ you’ll probably ever see. Once earned its Academy Award for Best Original Song, and then some. You’ll want to own the Soundtrack instantly. Or at least settle for watching the film a couple more times to get you by. This is the perfect film to watch with your partner, or someone you wish was. "Once" is unexpected and utterly charming. I’ve never said this in a review before, but here it is: please watch this film because you are missing out. It deserves to be remembered.
Video
Presented in a widescreen ratio of 1.78:1 this film is anamorphically enhanced and does a fairly decent job of presenting the film. It does however have some flaws that are inherent from the film's low budget digital shoot. While some of the footage appears sharp other shots can be a bit soft and exhibits some noise, which is a bit distracting. Colors hold up well, skin tones appear natural which is good. The film is very voyeuristic in nature and the photography reflects this, the transfer is about the best this film could possibly look. Which is a bit sad but at the end of the day it's not a bad transfer and the film's content will make you forget about any flaws that the transfer has.
Audio
There's a single audio track here, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo, while the dialogue is nice and clear the mix for this film is rather subtle considering the musical nature of it. I wish this was presented in 5.1 especially for the musical sequences, which are shining moments of this soundtrack. It's a simple track but does the film justice to a certain extent, well as much as a stereo track can. Optional subtitles are included in English only.
Extras
Warner Brothers has released this film in two versions, a 'Limited Edition' which comes with a CD and this 'Special Edition' which doesn't. This version includes two audio commentaries, two featurettes and the film's theatrical trailer. Below is a closer look at these supplements. First up we've got a feature-length audio commentary by writer/director John Carney, and actors Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová. In this track the participants talk about the film's genesis and developing the story and characters, he also comments on shooting on such a low budget and how that allowed him more freedom to do what he wanted. The actors talk of their involvement in the film, writing the music and performing onscreen, the director liked to place cameras away from the actors to try and get a natural performance from them, which appears to have worked. Overall it's a very interesting track to listen to. Next up is a musical audio commentary by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová. In this track the two actors are given the chance to comment on the film's music and the songs in which they wrote and performed for the film, however this track was very boring and had lots of silent gaps. It felt like the two were either under-prepared for the recording of the track. They do make some comments on the songs which are good but this track could have been edited into a scene-selection track which the comments are played over a few scenes from the film. The film's director also comes into the recording of this track and offers some insight. Following that is "Making a Modern Day Musical" featurette that runs for 12 minutes 36 seconds and takes a look at the film's production. Shot during the production it features a look at the film, the cast and the director as they make a low budget film. It's great to see their working relationship as the director really wanted to make the film feel as natural as possible and the many steps he took to ensure that was the case. Also featured is "More Girl, More Guy" a featurette that runs for 9 minutes 32 seconds and takes a look at the cast and basically interviews them about the roles and their involvement in the film. It's not as informative as the previous clip but certainly worth a look. Rounding out the extras is the film's original theatrical trailer that runs for 1 minute 59 seconds.
Overall
|
|||||
|