Outer Rim Territories

Musings, ramblings, and nonsense from the fringe of space and time
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Once

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I write this as I mellow out from a Sunday morning. Two services and teaching Sunday school always takes a bit out of me. This afternoon I'm relaxing to a few films I've had sitting around for a rainy day. Its not raining but I have no reason to go outside. The house is creaking and groaning under the strain of the wind. So, the first film I pull out is "Once." I haven't seen anything in a while that is as emotionally moving. What is unique about the film is that the narrative is done with music and not acting. The acting and story would seem to be in the backdrop. Yet you get carried away in the story anyway. To convey the emotion and story, they use song, brilliantly written and performed. If the movie proves anything, it is that poetry and song convey the depth of a narrative as well as the best written prose. In acting I suspect and doubt the sincerity of the actor. But with song, sincerity and truth and full weight of the passion can be expressed. Music truly is a gift. (One of the songs is nominated for an Oscar.)

Posted February 10, 2008 by Christopher Gillespie 
Feb 11, 2008
Jason Evans Groth said...
The main character, writer, and songwriter in this movie -- Glenn Hansard -- is a big fan of Jason Molina, Songs: Ohia, Magnolia, etc. I spent a whole evening drinking Guiness with the guy in Dublin not knowing who he was at all, except for the fact that he was extremely genuine, had an encyclopedic knowledge of rock, and liked my band. The next time I saw him was in the Wellington, NZ airport -- he was on tour with Bob Dylan at the time and we were flying in for a show. Despite the fact that he was about to board a plane with Dylan he still seemed extremely excited to see us -- as if Dylan didn't matter at all because Magnolia was there. It was flattering and serendipitous.
Feb 11, 2008
Christopher Gillespie said...
I should have known! Perhaps the success of the film isn't the music or the acting but the charisma of this guy? There was quite the synergy between the music and the story.

Speaking of Dylan, I tried pushing through "I'm Not There" but couldn't manage after "Once". Perhaps I'll give it another go another day.

Feb 11, 2008
Christopher Gillespie said...
I guess I didn't give "I'm Not There" enough of a chance. I wouldn't call it a great film. But if this is a window into Dylan's mind, a frightening mind it is. The film didn't have much of a narrative thread. Even with the songs narrated and visualized, I wonder really what the intent of the film is.

Perhaps Dylan is misunderstood. Perhaps the filmmaker's misunderstand Dylan. Or maybe both. That's what I got out of it.

Feb 12, 2008
Jason Evans Groth said...
Cate Blanchett is one of my favorite actors and I know Steve Malkmus is all over the soundtrack, but I have heard similar things -- interesting movie but troubled and hard to follow. I saw Dylan late last year and, despite knowing what I was getting into, was still disappointed. I think it was the, well, bad blues with good intentions. I don't know if that makes sense. I won't fall into the "it was cool to see Dylan because it's Dylan" camp because, despite the fact that he and his music are culturally irreplaceable, his live shows are, unfortunately, not so much anymore. Other people I know who were at the same show felt completely opposite of me. To me it was a tedious two hours of bad blues.

Have you heard of /Superstar/, Todd Haynes's first film? It's a biopic of Karen Carpenter told completely through Barbie dolls. Sounds very interesting -- I guess the only way to see it is to download it.