Critique: Once

 This film was an interesting experience.

 

*****SPOILERS*****

 

The filming was jittery and not stable whatsoever, especially at the beginning. Perhaps it was filmed on a home camera? People can only work within their budget so this was more unfortunate than problematic.

 

The characterisation of the female lead character

The main female lead kept on pushing the male lead about the girl he wrote a song for. She only just met him yet she not only wants to get personal but to broach a topic he clearly doesn’t want to speak about? That’s not normal behaviour. Plus she keeps on pushing for him to get back with his ex, even though it’s clearly over. Her behaviour is not believable.

The female lead plays a piano piece for the male lead. It was nothing special yet he makes this big show about being impressed. Either his standards are low or he’s blinded by his desire to bang her.

She’s Czech and she hasn’t picked up an Irish accent in its entirety. That’s fine and linguistically makes sense. Words that are noticeable Irish are ones with ‘th’ that become ‘t’ like in ‘thousand’ and ‘father’. Yet oddly she doesn’t pronounce all her ‘th’ like this (for example, she doesn’t pronounce ‘three’ as ‘tree’). This part doesn’t quite make sense.

 

There were two standout moments.

The female lead says, “Mum, speak English,” and the mother replies, “No, thank you.” That made me howl.

When the male lead puts on a suit, he asks how he looks and the old store manager says (with a straight face) “You look gorgeous.”

 

I only watched this film because my friend was a background character. If me watching this film didn’t make her happy, I would be a bit more peeved I didn’t spend my time doing something else. I think, however, this film would resonate with aspiring musicians and film makers.