Once - a triumph of musical realism

I apologize for the delay in posting. But I must admit, it is a great time to return to music blogging at a time like this; it is a glorious musical summer. With that said, I just saw a lovely musical motion picture, Once. The storyline is simple yet sweet, the characters lack specific names but have rich identities, and the piercing, aching, gorgeous music of Glen Hansard of the Frames is its focal point. Once is best described as musical realism in that its characters regularly break into song, but it is not contrived as in most traditional musicals; rather, the music is an intended and understandable happening. The music is, indeed, the star of this tale, and the very thing that brings Hansard and Marketa Iglova's characters, referred to as "Guy" and "Girl" together. Hansard and Iglova's songs serve as a loose guide to the quiet desperation, and sincere searching for a correct path of action that both "Guy" and "Girl" feels in their individual lives, "Guy" nursing his broken heart and his struggling musical career, "Girl" struggling to make a living and take care of her baby as a single mother/Czech immigrant living in Dublin. I feel like I have gone on too long already, but I can't recommend this picture enough. Check it out at the following link: http://www.myspace.com/oncethemovie