With the sad news of Glen Hansard’s passing, we have an urge to watch Once again.
The late singer stars opposite his former girlfriend, Markéta Irglová, in the 2006 film, for which they won the Oscar for Best Original Song in 2008.
If you’ve not seen Once, firstly, have you been living under a rock? Secondly, here’s everything you need to know, including where to watch it.
What’s it about?
Glen plays a busker (Guy) in Once, opposite Markéta, who plays an immigrant street vendor (Girl).
He’s busking on Dublin’s Grafton Street when his performance is interrupted by a man who steals his money. Girl is lured by his music and talks to him about his songs.
Girl is delighted when she learns that Guy repairs hoovers. She returns the following day with her broken vacuum and tells him she’s also a musician.
At a music store where Girl usually plays piano, Guy teaches her one of his songs, Falling Slowly. On the bus home, Guy musically answers Girl’s questions about what his songs are about: a long-time girlfriend who cheated on him, then left.
At his father’s shop, Guy introduces Girl to his dad and takes her to his room, but she gets upset and leaves when he asks her to stay the night.
The next day, they reconcile and spend the week writing, rehearsing, and recording songs. Guy works on a song about his ex-girlfriend, who moved to London, and Girl encourages him to win her back.
He decides to move to London, but he wants to record a demo of his songs to take with him and asks Girl to record it with him. They secure a bank loan and reserve time at a recording studio.
Guy learns Girl has a husband in the Czech Republic. When he asks if she still loves her husband, Girl answers in Czech, Miluju tebe, It’s you who I love, but declines to translate.
The story continues, and eventually, Girl reveals that she spoke to her husband and he’s coming to live with her in Dublin.
Guy persuades her to spend his last night in Dublin with him, but she stands him up and can’t find her to say goodbye before his flight.
We won’t spoil the ending, but we’d imagine you know where this is going…
Did you know?
Director John Carney originally intended the male lead in Once to be played by actor Cillian Murphy, who was an almost-signed rock musician before turning to acting.
The Cork man was also going to be one of the film’s producers, but reportedly didn’t like the prospect of acting opposite non-actor Markéta Irglová.
Cillian also didn’t believe he had the vocal capabilities to belt out Glen’s octave-leaping songs, so he pulled out. John then turned to Glen for Once.
Where to watch
You can rent Once on Prime Video for €3.99, or buy it for €9.99.
