"Once"

Quote of the day:
"Lovers who love truly do not write down their happiness."
--Anatole France

Quote of the day no. 2:
“Love ... is the extremely difficult realization that something other than oneself is real.”
--Iris Murdoch

The new movie Once is a peek into what Iris Murdoch is talking about. It’s worth seeing.

Several things strike me about this film. It is quite naturalistic. The documentary-style scenes are shot in soft focus using only natural light. The actors are not slick--in fact, there is absolutely nothing contrived in the whole movie. And the “message” of the movie is carried in the music.

The story is very simple. It begins as, in the middle of one of his songs, a street musician meets an intriguing woman. The story line from there is mostly conventional, but the bits of character and setting we encounter along the way are both unexpected and quite appealing.

This is a film about the joy and complexity of emotion, and the filmmaker has used words and description very sparingly. Music and visuals are used poignantly, and you will remember this movie long after you see it.