paint the stars.....................

"I don’t know you, but I want you
All the more for that
And words fall through me and always fool me
And I can’t react…"

It all started with ten cents…

On a cold night, a Dublin guy (Glen Hansard) who was playing guitar and singing for money on the Dublin streets had an encounter with Czech girl (Markéta Irglová) who was struck by the beauty of his songs. His own songs. He played the ones that he had written only during nighttime because he said on a daytime, people would only listen to the songs they recognized. The guy, he also worked at his dad’s repair shop by day, and, fortunately(?) the girl, who had odd various jobs, taking care of her little daughter and her “Speak English? No, thank you” mom, needed her f*cked vacuum cleaner repaired.

So, they met again second time, this time during the daytime, where she brought along the vacuum cleaner to him. I love the way she was dragging the cleaner through the crowded streets, it was a weird view but very sweet, like seeing a little girl parading her new puppy newly bought by her parents. They became ‘friends’ right away and they talked about a lot of things, well, mostly about their past relationships. Ahh, for two strangers, who just met, there was no topic more interesting than that kind of topic, no?

The two main characters (the Dublin guy and the Czech girl) were unnamed, I don’t know the real reason, but I took a guess by doing that, people who watch this movie could relate closely to them. Yeah, the encounter, the experience could happen to anybody. Maybe you could be the guy, and I could be the girl. Or otherwise. Who knows?

The guy had a plan to make a demo disc that he could bring to London, hoping that maybe he could get a record deal. The girl helped him, writing lyrics, filling the backing vocals part, played the piano. They finally put together the demo with the help from another street musicians and a guy who at first thought that they were just bunch of f*cking oddballs (yeah, that’s a lot of ‘F’ word there) although finally he fell in love with the songs.

The guy and the girl communicated through the songs they had written, to tell each other and the world their feelings, their love, their sorrows. I almost cried everytime they played or sing a song along the movie, the songs are just brilliantly beautiful, very romantic, and with a hint of unbearable sadness. I have to have the soundtrack!!

*spoiler alert*

The story ended with a happy ending, win-win for everyone, although I sensed maybe there was some regret, some unrequited feelings, some unfinished business deep inside, but they all seemed happy in their own way. The girl got a piano from the guy and she also had her husband back, when the guy got a ticket to London to pursue his dream and a possible chance of winning her ex-girlfriend back whom he wrote the songs for.

This movie seemed so simple and realistic it was very beautiful and umm, I can’t believe I’m actually saying this, umm, Raw. Yeah, rawmantic. Uh-uh. And to be honest, I have no idea what the title of the movie means, “Once”, but reading the tagline “How often do you find the right person?”, well, the title, could be the right answer. Just a thought heh heh.. (and no, this is Not a movie about DEWA 19’s lead singer).

They didn't end up together eventually. So, what the guy and the girl had? Was it love? Yes, it was love. A different kind of love. But I know, it was, indeed, Love. Love and (good) Music. It’s more than enough, don’t you think? :)


"Are you really here?
Or am I dreaming?
I can’t tell dream from truth…"


*for more info : http://imdb.com/title/tt0907657/ or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Once_(film)