FILM: Once (2006)

Once upon a time, I met someone whom I felt drawn to. Ever since the evening when he introduced himself to me in a Mexican restaurant, he felt what he described as an instant connection. He pursued me by buying and reading my favorite book. When, upon our meeting again, he quoted to me my favorite paragraph in the entire 500-page tome, even though he could not have known it was my favorite (there being nothing famous or salient about it), I had to admit that we had a certain spiritual affinity. At first I was reluctant to get involved, given the stark difference in our ages, but as the attraction grew to overwhelm all reason, I reassured myself: nothing is forever; life is in the present. Then he brought over a DVD of the 2006 Irish musical Once, and it captured everything that I have just described. And I liked what it said about him that he liked it so much. Watching it snuggled against him made me fall in love with him a little more.

The film has a remarkable amount in common with my longtime favorite movie, Before Sunrise (1994). In several respects, I confess that it is better. Before Sunrise gave us the scene of Jesse and Celine in the listening booth of a record store, after their first conversation but before their first kiss. We watch them struggle with standing together in such a close space without yet having given voice or gesture to anything between them. As the emotional surge of a romantic song fills the booth and affects them both, he takes a leap and looks at her, but she looks away; when she has found the courage to return his gaze, he has averted his eyes with the same shyness. It's one of the loveliest scenes in all cinema. The sublime scene in Once takes place in a different kind of music store, the kind that sells musical instruments. Rather than merely experiencing music, the guy and girl are creating it together for the first time. Rather than being hesitant, they open themselves into it fully. The result is such intense joy and beauty that if you are at all like me, you will be transfixed heart and soul.