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The Movie “Once”

I’m trying to figure out why I enjoyed the movie/musical Once I saw at the Palm Theatre recently.

It’s a simple story, really: a guy, a girl… love. Music that is the fabric of their lives; music that offers shape, color, texture, and depth. The songs are made all the more beautiful because of the relationships and story they’re steeped in.

I bought the soundtrack the day after watching the movie, and am listening to it as I type.

Why do I like this movie so much?

I thought the characters were fantastic: believable, quirky, real… authentic in an odd way. I found the girl deeply endearing the moment she began walking down the street with her vacuum cleaner.

Glen and Marketa did an excellent job acting their roles. I was unsure if the movie would work, at the start… but I forgot all doubts by the time they got to the song in the music store.

But it’s more than just good acting and excellent music that leave me so moved.

(Warning: spoilers to follow. I’d recommend watching the movie first, then come back and read.)

The story (and thus the music) moves right into a part of my life that’s been very… present, of late. Maybe that’s all it is - an affirmation that the realities I’m experiencing aren’t unique to me, and that it is okay for life (and love) to be full, rich, hard, difficult, present but not permanent - all at the same time.

Connecting With Another

I’m familiar with “connection” - that spark, or chemistry, that can just “be there” with some people. The chemistry that, when present, tempts me toward grand dreams of life together with the Other, though I’ve known them only briefly.

(I’m also familiar with how misleading that initial connection can be, as well…)

But I’ve spent far too much time agonizing the fallout of the often insubstantiality of those dreams. Sometimes, despite all present chemistry, things just don’t work out - sometimes, things just can’t work out. Sometimes that’s because of failing in my own character. Sometimes that’s just what happens.

Do Not Grasp the Blessing for Myself

I loved is that the movie didn’t give an ideal, romanticized resolution to their relationship. She did the right thing at the end - she lied. She didn’t show up, she let him go without a chance for a full good-bye.

That was the harder thing to do - it went against what they were feeling and aligned with what people of character and integrity must sometimes do.

He understood what she did, and why. In response he offered her a gift; it carried no conditions or hope for payback. What they shared was rich, and true, and momentary. It was, thankfully, untainted by what would have been the selfishness of sex.

I tire of all the messages to simply live for myself that I consume every day. I forget that sometimes relationships are worth more than that - that sometimes the lonely path is the better path. (No, it’s not always the better path.)

So sometimes I need a good story to remember True things. That letting go is okay. That integrity in love is beautiful. That heartache can find expression in music (and dance). That sorrow can be shared as a gift.

Its funny, the power that stories have.