Once is a little film out of Ireland that won an Oscar for Best Original Song in 2007. I found it during a visit to the book mobile last week. It bills itself as a musical, and I would have to agree with this assessment. The songs the two main characters write and perform tell their story as much as the action and dialogue. 

It’s a small film. The camera work is documentary style and the two lead actors are songwriter/musicians, one of whom had never acted before this film. And it’s a simple story. Boy meets girl. They discover a shared love of music. They get to know each other, share music and a strong attraction.

The leads wrote and performed the lion’s share of the music, which is not presented MTV style but in it’s entirety and as part of the story.

If you have 86 minutes sometime, this film is worth every minute.