Once

I just saw the movie Once over the weekend and I really loved it.  I’ve been avoiding it for the last couple of years because I was worried it was going to be incredibly sentimental (two people who are down on their luck writing songs together in Dublin?  Yuck.)  But it was beautiful and rough and the music was excellent (kudos to Glen Hansard of The Frames and Marketa Irglova on that).

What’s coming up is a bit of a SPOILER — so if you haven’t seen the movie yet, maybe think about skipping this part…

What was truly subversive about this little indie film, I was thinking on my way in to work this morning, was the fact that the main couple didn’t consumate their relationship.  They didn’t sleep together.  They didn’t even kiss.  It was clear that they loved each other (if you read around on the web, you find out that Irglova’s character actually said ‘I love you’ in Czech, but Hansard’s character didn’t understand what she said), but nothing happened.  And that was amazing.

Thinking about it, it’s really warped that, when we see a man and a woman onscreen together (or two men or two women, depending on the film), we automatically assume they’re going to fall madly in love and kiss, sleep together, get married, etc.  We’ve been trained to think that by years of Hollywood blockbusters.

And yes, for those of us closet romantics out there, there’s something really satisfying when two people kiss on screen.  Maybe it gives us hope.

But life never really works like that, does it?  Maybe it does for you, I don’t know.  For me, I feel like I’ve been in a few situations where I’ve loved someone and for whatever reason, nothing happened.

Anecdotes aside, it comes down to the way I felt when I was watching the movie.  About halfway trough I was thinking ‘Jesus! Are these two going to get together or not??’  But about fifteen minutes later I was surprised to find myself rooting for the main couple in Once to not kiss. It was refreshing.

It’s interesting how much we learn can learn about our preconceived notions about love when someone makes a film that doesn’t conform to the tired old Hollywood formula.

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