Once

An Irish busker, "a broken-hearted Hoover fixer sucker guy" as he himself sings, falls for a Czech girl who sells flowers by day but plays piano whenever she can. This is a modern musical: 'Its tone may be sweet and gentle, but it has the grit to resist going exactly where you'd expect it to.' (LA Times) At its heart are two fine acting and singer-songwriting performances by Glen Hansard, lead singer of the Irish group the Frames, and Marketa Irglova, who was a startlingly mature 17 when the film was made.