Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová in Once at the Figge Art Museum -- April 24.
Thursday, April 24, 6:30 p.m.
Figge Art Museum, 225 West Second Street, Davenport IA
An Academy Award-winning musical romance that also earned the Sundance Film Festival's Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award, writer/director John Carney's modern classic Once enjoys a special April 24 screening at Davenport's Figge Art Museum, the laurels for this critical smash and audience favorite including being ranked third on Entertainment Weekly's 2008 list of the "25 Best Romantic Movies of the Past 25 Years."
In Once, the film's unnamed Guy (Glen Hansard) is a Dublin guitarist/singer/songwriter who makes a living by fixing vacuum cleaners in his dad's Hoover repair shop by day, and singing and playing for money on the Dublin streets by night. Our unnamed Girl (Markéta Irglová) is a Czech who plays piano when she gets a chance, and does odd jobs by day and takes care of her mom and her daughter by night. Eventually, Guy meets Girl and they get to know each other as Girl helps Guy put together a demo disc that he can take to London in hope of landing a music contract. During the same several-day period, the the pair work through their past loves, and reveal their budding love for one another, through their songs.
On the review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes, Crowley's 2007 film (which won an Oscar for its original song "Falling Slowly" and inspired a stage musical that won eight Tony Awards) holds a 97-percent approval rating, the Web site's critical consensus stating, "A charming, captivating tale of love and music, Once sets the standard for the modern musical. And with Dublin as its backdrop, Once is fun and fresh." On the review series Ebert & Roeper, both Richard Roeper and guest critic Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune gave enthusiastic reviews with Phillips calling it "the most charming thing I've seen all year," "the Brief Encounter for the 21st century," and his favorite music film since 1984's Stop Making Sense. He also said, "It may well be the best music film of our generation." Roeper, meanwhile, referred to the film's recording studio scene as "more inspirational and uplifting than almost any number of Dreamgirls or Chicago or any of those multi-zillion dollar musical showstopping films. In its own way, it will blow you away."
Shown as part of the Davenport venue's Free Film at the Figge series, Once will be screened in the John Deere Auditorium on April 24, admission to the 6:30 p.m. showing is free, and more information is available by calling (563)326-7804 and visiting FiggeArtMuseum.org.
