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主題曲"Falling Slowly" 榮獲今屆奧斯卡最佳電影歌曲

導演的話
《一奏傾情》的誕生．．．

拍這齣戲的念頭，源自2005年樂隊「The Frames」在都柏林舉行的一個演唱會。對音樂有點認識的我，一直想拍一齣以歌曲來講述一個很現代、很簡單的愛情故事，卻又不是四十年代那種傳統的「音樂劇」。

我曾考慮過（但很快便放棄了）好些連自己都覺得大想頭的做法。後來，我想到以簡單的佈景和劇情，配上適合現代觀眾口味的樂曲。最後，我想到以都柏林一個街頭歌手為主角 - 一個什麼都沒有，也因此不怕失去任何東西的人；由他出發，寫成一個只有兩個主角的愛情故事。然後，我叫Glen Hansard（The Frames主音歌手）寫了幾首歌 - 劇情大綱就這樣形成了。之後的幾個月，Glen和我不斷交流意見 - 這裏加句對白、那裏又放一首歌 - 慢慢地，我們終於寫好了十首原創歌曲，還有六十頁的劇本。

我的概念原創的電影，有一點像一本相簿，但以一個真實又現代的愛情故事為題的電影。一首三分鐘的歌，可能抵得上十頁的對話；主角不用對話，不靠傳統或誇張的情節，單用旋律便能溝通。當然，這並不代表這故事沒有起承轉合 - 它只是比一般電影隱晦一點，而歌曲本身就是鑰匙。

製作花絮
兩個相似的靈魂，於愛爾蘭首都都柏林偶遇。一個是沒信心演繹自己歌曲的街頭歌手，另一個是努力適應新環境的年輕母親。二人相知相遇，發掘到對方的音樂才華，更互相勉勵，讓對方幫自己達成夢想。《一奏傾情》就是這樣的一個故事。它既向傳統的音樂電影致敬，亦是編劇/導演約翰卡尼(John Carney)作為一位年輕樂手於都柏林掙扎求存的親身體驗。

1990年代初，未踏足影壇的約翰卡尼乃都柏林樂隊「The Frames」的低音結他手。他欣賞歌曲的力量，也熟知音樂如何傳達比對話更豐富的意思。《一奏傾情》其實也是源於樂隊2005年的一場演唱會。「作為一個有音樂背景的導演，今次拍這齣戲，我希望不用如往常般要演員讀九十頁劇本，而是嘗試以更自然、隨意的手法，並起用大量樂曲。這就是我最初的想法。」

在逐步製作《一奏傾情》時，他不停尋找「一些只需短短十頁紙便能表達的意念；一首兩三分鐘的歌，可以跟，譬如說，一位年輕女子一整天講的說話同樣有感染力。能夠不停地講呀講個不停．．．」但約翰卡尼並不希望把《一奏傾情》拍成一齣傳統的歌舞片 - 主角們跳完舞插幾句對白間場便了事。有好幾個月，他每天早上都會構思主角的身分。「每天早上我都會坐到室外吃早餐，喝咖啡和抽煙，」他回想道：「我邊聽著歌邊想：我怎樣把這些歌都拼湊起來，放進電影中呢？最後我想到用街頭歌手來做主角，因為我希望角色有音樂背景。不是只是站?唱歌，我要真正的作曲人和歌手。這樣，當他們說：『喂，我剛作了一支曲子給你，聽聽吧』時才不會顯得牽強，觀眾也會覺得他們唱歌是理所當然的。於是便有了這個會街頭歌手男主角了。要是戲裏的歌不屬主角生活的一部分，便不會動人了。」

故事背景為約翰卡尼家鄉都柏林，男主角（Frames主音Glen Hansard）是一位善於用結他創作歌曲的街頭歌手，而女主角（捷克歌手馬克塔伊格洛娃飾）是一位熱愛彈琴作曲的捷克藉單親母親。原來，約翰卡尼雖是The Frames的前成員，戲內的所有歌亦由The Frames主音Glen一手包辦，但約翰卡尼當初並沒打算找Glen或Marketa來當主角。「最初我屬意一位懂唱歌的愛爾蘭男演員，可惜效果不。而另一方面，我和格倫漢薩德合作無間，有時候我會給他一些劇本，他看了就去寫一些配合的歌；有時候我反過來，依?他的歌去想一些情節。慢慢地，我知道他就是男主角的最佳人選──因為只有他這個作曲人，才最懂怎樣演繹那些曲子。」

Glen過往亦客串過電影，如在亞倫柏加(Alan Parker)改編Roddy Doyle小說的《追夢者The Commitments》中飾演結他手「Outspan」，但約翰卡尼認為Glen的優點不止於此：「Glen不錯是有點演技，但吸引人的是他天生那股魅力：他很隨遇而安，什麼都放輕鬆去做。重要的是，他不是一位演員，所以他根本不會刻意經營。跟專業演員合作的話，你會知道自己只不過是把他們的一格格菲林拼起來罷了；專業演員很少能像非演員那樣參與電影製作，不過這也是理所當然的。我喜歡跟非專業演員合作，因為他們自知大概不會再拍任何電影了，所以一定百分之百投入，把自己的所有都全盤奉獻出來。」

女主角Marketa年僅17歲，雖然她對這部電影很有興趣，但演戲對她來說是非常陌生的一回事。「我早就聽Glen說起這一齣戲，他負責為電影作曲，」她回想道：「我看過約翰的好些電影，拍得好極了。而這齣戲的概念聽起來亦很不錯。然後有一晚，Glen打電話給我，問我可有興趣參演，我還以為他在開玩笑呢！但他是認真的，並說約翰想為我試鏡和面試。」

「我覺得好不可思議，我以前從沒演過戲！但我還年輕，什麼都不怕去試。」她笑道：「我沒有太認真去想，只是想『好呀，他們大概叫我試完鏡，最後又說選了別人。』所以我沒有期望太大，不過說到底都是興奮的，Glen有份作曲，而我很喜歡他的歌。結果我去了面試，在約翰面前彈鋼琴、讀了點對白，就那麼多。」

至此，約翰卡尼很滿意自己的班底，除了有Glen和Marketa參與演出，幕後的一班工作人員，也是他相熟和信任的好幫手：「他們全部都是我認識和信賴的人，」他說：「他們知道我不是在拍傳統那種電影。製作一開始，我就有種很好的感覺，我們彷彿又回到16歲時，一部攝錄機、一班朋友和一堆歌曲。我猜觀眾也會喜歡這種情懷，他們能看出我們並不刻意賣弄些什麼。這就是這部電影溫馨動人的原因。」

戲內的景物，多為都柏林市大街小巷、店舖和主角簡陋的家居 - 男女主角都沒有自己的家，男主角在母親死後搬去與父親同住，女主角則與她那位不諳艾語的母親及兒子同住。二人同樣熱愛音樂，他倆的生活亦逐漸交疊起來。」

劇情主要圍繞?男女主角發展，他倆志趣相投，交流音樂心得之際萌生愛意。雖然Glen和Marketa都不是專業演員，但他們的演出自然又有默契。「我喜歡用兩個本身就認識的演員。我以後也會吩咐演員在開鏡前先多多互相了解。正如拍《Bachelors Walk》也一樣，三個男主角拍到第三輯時已成了好友，演出變為自然互動 - 他們不再需要像第一輯那樣『排戲』。」Marketa的表現更叫人刮目相看，Glen形容：「她完全得心應手，一演就自動入戲。」

《一奏傾情》整個拍攝過程只花了數星期：「這套戲很快拍畢，」堅持絕不會棄歌從影的Glen回想道，「拍《追夢者》時，我常常要一早起來拍足一整天，但今次更累。我們每天六時便得起來，然後拍足一整天，真的叫我筋疲力盡！夾band可輕鬆多了，睡到中午，乘車到機場，上飛機，到了另一個國家，五、六時開始試音，八時入座，九時開場。一切都慢慢來，工作晚上才開始。但今次可不一樣，每次回到家，身體累得好像不屬自己那樣，立即便一覺睡到第二朝。整個拍攝過程真的很緊湊。」

Marketa也有同感，並指對拍攝「感覺複雜」，因為「真的很累人，如果你剛好為私事有點情緒不佳，你依然得赴往片場，裝得若無其事。做演員就是要擅長偽裝，你要懂得怎樣令每個人都相信，你感受到你需要感受的東西 - 這一點真的很難，也很費神。有時候我們都感到很累；那跟玩音樂是兩碼子的事。」但與此同時，她亦從演戲獲得很大滿足感，「我很慶幸能成為詰部電影的一分子，拍攝過程很緊湊，但跟所有工作人員一起工作、認識新朋友、拍畢後看一遍整套戲、像搞藝術那樣完成整件事，都使我十分滿足。看到完成品後，我更覺得大家的努力有很不錯的成果。」

毋庸置疑，音樂是《一奏傾情》的一大元素。由Glen 和Marketa擔綱演出男女主角，不但能為角色增添層次，更令他們一起灌錄的歌曲更加動人。約翰卡尼形容Glen是「一個很好的作詞人，他的歌從不敷衍了事。他的歌大多關於圖片、影像、意念和一些特別時刻，很隱晦，但很美，聽眾有很大的想象空間，就像一首很美的詩一樣，今天可能沒多大意思，但當你親身經歷便有很大共鳴。他以歌曲繪出一幅畫來。有時候，我會依?他的歌來寫一幕戲，或是一句對白。」

「偶爾我們會反過來，我會叫Glen寫一首歌，主題不限，但要依?我提供的情節來寫。Glen加入很多他早年寫好的歌曲，那些都不是為這部戲而寫的；但同時，這套亦非專為那些歌曲而寫的電影。這是影像和音樂一次美麗的交會，我很喜歡這構思。」

另一點教約翰卡尼高興的，是今次能夠與Glen各展所長：「我離開了The Frames去拍戲，但其實Glen也一直很愛電影，我們以前常常一起談電影。他拍《追夢者》時才剛剛開始夾band。他一直很愛看英格瑪伯格曼的電影和法國電影，不但是正規電影迷，同時還很愛看獨立電影和藝術電影。」雖然二人取向不同，但他們依然能維持友誼，也不時商討合作機會。「音樂和電影的關係密不可分，我們常常談到合作，要不由我來幫他樂隊拍搖滾錄像，」約翰卡尼回想道：「要不他幫我寫一首歌，然後用在我會拍的電影中．．．不過那些想法都是普普通通，亦更顯得今次的概念很值得我倆合作。」

「Glen熱愛電影，但他不是一個導演。他對影像的觸覺很敏銳，樂隊的唱片都由他負責美術設計。我的情況也差不多，有時我會花一整天來寫一個劇本，然後休息一下，彈彈琴，沒什麼原因，我就是喜歡彈琴。我不是專業琴手，但那對我來說極之重要 - 我愛音樂。雖然年輕時夾過band，但我不適合幹那一行，真的。音樂是我的消遣。對Glen來說，電影是他的消遣。因此今次結合音樂和電影是件有趣的事，對我倆都是個美好的體驗，我們都很喜歡今次合作。」

Glen很珍惜今次拍《一奏傾情》的機會，並認為這經驗難能可貴：「回頭看的話，這次經歷必定是美好的。整個過程出乎意料地順利，效果也很好。我可以很自豪地說自己有份參與，不單因為我們做到自己想做的東西，還因為那些歌能在電影裏長存。這是件很棒的事。」

約翰卡尼表示，《一奏傾情》給予他很大滿足感。「有經驗是很重要的，你有經驗，人家才信任你。」他如此評價今次的製作：「現在適逢我事業的重要時刻，我已任職導演好一段時間了，前陣子專注於電視劇之上。今次改拍電影，可能有點生疏，事實上拍電影對我來說真的不容易。拍《一奏傾情》不是為光大我的事業，我只是想趁機反樸歸真和再次證明自己的能力。」

演員履歷
Glen Hansard（男 The Guy）
1970年生於愛爾蘭都柏林的Glen，乃當地大熱搖滾樂隊「The Frames」的主腦人、主音兼結他手。他13歲那年輟學，於都柏林街頭演奏，慢慢證實了自己的實力，並大受歡迎。電影方面，他首個得到注目的角色，是亞倫柏加電影《追夢者》中結他手「Outspan Foster」一角。

Glen最初與Island Records簽約，在1990年組成「The Frames」，樂隊一炮而紅，不斷灌錄唱片及舉行多場巡迴演唱；導演約翰卡尼在早年更曾擔任低音結他手。樂隊於2006年九月發行了第六隻唱片《The Cost》，好評如潮。其後樂隊進行歐洲巡迴演唱會，2007年年初開始進軍美國。

2006年四月，Glen與捷克歌手及樂器演奏家Marketa合作，推出首張個人唱片《The Swell Season》。

馬克塔伊格洛娃 Marketa Irglova（女 The Girl）
1988年生於捷克摩拉維亞Monravia的Marketa是一位唱作人，兼能演奏多種樂器。年僅19歲的她才華洋溢，已出版了一張唱片，並擔綱演出電影《一奏傾情》。

居於布拉格的她自七歲起習鋼琴，九歲那年開始彈結他。Glen一次到布拉格旅遊與Marketa結緣，自此二人開始合奏，更一起灌錄了唱片《The Swell Season》。

導演/編劇簡介
約翰卡尼 John Carney
1972年出生於都柏林，至今已出品及執導了兩齣得獎短片《Shining Star》及《Hotel》。他早年（1991至93年）曾為愛爾蘭樂隊The Frames的低音結他手，任職導演後他亦有為樂隊製作音樂錄影帶。

其第一齣電影為低成本黑白電影《November Afternoon》，被《愛爾蘭時報Irish Times》選為「1997年度最佳電影」，亦曾於美國上映。隨後他為電視電影《Just in Time》編劇、執導及配樂，再獲報章選為「1998年度最佳電視電影」。

其後他編導了《叛逆邊緣》 (On The Edge)（施利安梅菲Cillian Murphy主演），贏得2001年法國Dinard Film Festival銀希治閣獎，影評人稱讚電影「演出出色．．．叫人心動又心碎」、「約翰卡尼的鏡頭流麗俐落，配樂別出心裁」。

完成電影後期製作後，他為RTE電視台編導了大熱劇集《Bachelors Walk》。此劇集乃愛爾蘭史上最高收視率的獨立製作劇集，並獲2002年《先驅晚報Evening Herald》封為「愛爾蘭電視史上最成功的劇集」。

約翰卡尼現居於都柏林及倫敦。

電影主題曲 : FALLING SLOWLY

I don't know you
But I want you
All the more for that
Words fall through me
And always fool me
And I can't react
And games that never amount
To more than they're meant
Will play themselves out

Take this sinking boat and point it home
We've still got time
Raise your hopeful voice you have a choice
You've made it now

Falling slowly, eyes that know me
And I can't go back
Moods that take me and erase me
And I'm painted black
You have suffered enough
And warred with yourself
It's time that you won

Take this sinking boat and point it home
We've still got time
Raise your hopeful voice you had a choice
You've made it now

Take this sinking boat and point it home
We've still got time
Raise your hopeful voice you had a choice
You've made it now
Falling slowly sing your melody
I'll sing along

Performed by: The Swell Season
Glen Hansard: Guitar, Vocals
Marketa Irglova: Piano, Vocals
Marja Tuhkanen: Violin, Viola
Bertrand Galen: Cello

Recorded at Sono Studio, Prague by Andrej Lazo Dec 05
Mixed at The Forest Studio, Kildare, Ireland by Rob Bochnik March 07
Words and Music: Glen Hansard / Marketa Irglova / Copyright Control / (ASCAP)

SUMMIT ENTERTAINMENT
&
SAMSON FILMS
PRESENT

IN ASSOCIATION WITH
BORD SCANNAN NA hEIREANN/THE IRISH FILM BOARD
&
RTE
GLEN HANSARD
MARKETA IRGLOVA

WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY JOHN CARNEY
PRODUCED BY MARTINA NILAND
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER DAVID COLLINS
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY TIM FLEMING
SOUND MIXER ROBERT FLANAGAN
PRODUCTION DESIGNER TAMARA CONBOY
COSTUME DESIGNER TIZIANA CORVISIERI
CASTING DIRECTOR MAUREEN HUGHES
EDITOR PAUL MULLEN

Director's Note

How ONCE came into existence . . .

Conversations about this project started in 2005 at a Frames concert in Dublin. As a filmmaker with a background in music, I had always wanted to make a film that, while not a traditional 'musical' (in the 1940's sense of the term), would still use a number of songs to tell a very modern, very simple love story.

I considered (then quickly abandoned) a number of approaches that I considered over-ambitious. I wanted to find a simple setting and storyline that could use songs in a way that a modern audience would accept. I finally settled on the idea of a busker on the streets of Dublin; someone who, having nothing, has nothing to lose. I developed a simple love story, essentially a two-hander, then asked Glen Hansard (lead-singer of The Frames) to write a number of songs - which evolved in tandem with the emerging story. Over the next few months, Glen and I swapped ideas - a story line here, a song there. Feeding off each other's work, we eventually produced ten original songs and a 60-page script.

My intention was to make an original film, almost like a visual album, but with a realistic, modern love-story at its heart. We're in a world where a three-minute song is worth ten pages of dialogue; where the characters communicate more through the art of song than by talking or getting involved in traditional plot-points and dramatic situations. Of course, this is not to say that there isn't a three-act structure in the story; it's just a little more oblique than in your average film - and the songs themselves are the key to uncovering it.

John Carney (Writer/Director)

FALLING SLOWLY

I don't know you
But I want you
All the more for that
Words fall through me
And always fool me
And I can't react
And games that never amount
To more than they're meant
Will play themselves out

Take this sinking boat and point it home
We've still got time
Raise your hopeful voice you have a choice
You've made it now

Falling slowly, eyes that know me
And I can't go back
Moods that take me and erase me
And I'm painted black
You have suffered enough
And warred with yourself
It's time that you won

Take this sinking boat and point it home
We've still got time
Raise your hopeful voice you had a choice
You've made it now

Take this sinking boat and point it home
We've still got time
Raise your hopeful voice you had a choice
You've made it now
Falling slowly sing your melody
I'll sing along

Performed by: The Swell Season
Glen Hansard: Guitar, Vocals
Marketa Irglova: Piano, Vocals
Marja Tuhkanen: Violin, Viola
Bertrand Galen: Cello

About the Production

ONCE is the inspirational tale of two kindred spirits who find each other on the bustling streets of Dublin. One is a street musician who lacks the confidence to perform his own songs. The other is a young mother trying to find her way in a strange new town. As their lives intertwine, they discover each other's talents and push one another to realize what each had only dreamt about before. ONCE is their inspiring story.

Written and directed by John Carney (ON THE EDGE, BACHELORS WALK), ONCE is a nod to the classic musicals of the past, while it is also grounded in the bohemian world of struggling young Dubliners that he knew from his days as a young musician.

In the early 1990's, before devoting himself to a film career, Carney was a musician playing bass guitar with Dublin band The Frames. He understands and appreciates the power of a song, and how it can carry more weight than swathes of dialogue. In fact, conversations about this project started in 2005 at a Frames' concert. "As a filmmaker with a background in music, I wanted to try and make something that relied less on your conventional 90 page script, something that was a little bit more organic, and something that included a lot of songs. That was the original starting-point," he explains.

As he developed the concept that would become ONCE, he sought "something that would express itself in ten pages of dialogue or script. A two-and-a-half-three-minute piece of music, I always feel, can be as powerful as a day's conversation with, for example, a young lady. You can talk and talk and talk…"

However, Carney did not want ONCE to be a classic song-and-dance musical where scenes ended with the key characters breaking into verse. As he recalls, the fleshing-out of the characters became a part of his early morning routine. "It originated with just me sitting outside, having my breakfast, coffee and cigarette every morning, playing songs and thinking for months and months, how could I make a little film that has all these songs in it," he explains. "I came up with the idea of a story of a busker mainly because I wanted to keep the characters in a musical world. I didn't want them just singing, I wanted them to be musicians and singers. So it was more natural that they would sometimes say to each other, 'Look, I've just written you a song and I want you to hear it.' It would be natural for them to sing. So I came up with the idea of a busker and a pianist, who then ended up being an immigrant." The music in the film would not work if it wasn't incorporated in to who they were.

The story is set in Carney's native Dublin, with Frames' singer Glen Hansard as a songwriting guitarist, and Marketa Irglova - a musician from the Czech Republic who has collaborated with Hansard - as an immigrant pianist. Despite Carney's background as a former member of The Frames, he hadn't initially considered either Hansard or Irglova for the key roles, even though he had Hansard contributing songs from the beginning.

"I had an Irish actor in mind for the leading role of the film, who can sing as well, but it didn't work out for him. And it just gradually occurred to me as I was putting [Glen] on tape, asking him about his songs, giving him script pages. He'd go off and write something according to them, or I'd write some scenes according to the song he gave me. It occurred to me this guy's the guy to do this role, really. Because he'll sell these songs better than any actor would as they're his songs."

Hansard also had some previous acting experience, having played the part of Outspan in Alan Parker's film of the Roddy Doyle novel, THE COMMITMENTS. But while Carney acknowledges that aspect of Glen Hansard's past, he insists that The Frames' front man had even more to bring to the role.

"Glen has a little bit of acting experience but, more importantly, he's just a very naturally charismatic guy: he's very laidback, he doesn't try too hard," he insists. "And the great thing about Glen is that he's not an actor, so he doesn't actually care, in a way. Sometimes, working with professional actors, you realize you're just helping them put their show-reel together. A professional actor can rarely get behind a production in the way a non-actor will, which is understandable. I like working with non actors because they'll give you their all. Because they're unlikely to be making any more films in their lives, they really put themselves on the line for you."

For Marketa Irglova, then only 17, the concept of acting was alien, although she had been aware of the project and was enthused by it. "I heard about the idea of the film from Glen, because he was asked to write music for it," she recalls. "I saw some of John's films before and I thought that was very cool. The idea of the film sounded nice, and then one night I got a phone call from Glen, asking if I'd like to act in the film. I thought he was joking! But he was serious, saying that John was considering casting me in the film, that he wanted me to audition for it.

"I thought it was really crazy as, obviously, I haven't done any acting. Because I'm so young, I'm kind of up for anything," she laughs. "I didn't really take it so seriously. I thought: 'Ah yeah, they tell you that you might be in a film and then they just don't cast you, they take someone else.' So I didn't put too much hope in it, but the idea was very exciting. Part of the reason I was so excited was because Glen's music would be in it, and I love Glen's music. So I did the audition, I played some piano music for John, I read a bit of script, and that was it."

At that stage, Carney felt very comfortable with the people around and involved with the film. As well as having Glen and Marketa on board, the crew were people whom he'd befriended while also having utmost faith in their abilities.

"They were all people that I knew and trusted," he explains. "They got the whole idea of this not being your conventional film. So once my mates were making this film with me, then I was like: 'Brilliant!' This is back to how we were when we were 16, with a camcorder and friends and some songs. And I think people who've seen the film have responded very warmly to that, because they've seen that nobody's trying to sell them anything here. That's the vibe."

Quite often, getting a film produced can prove to be a daunting exercise. But in the case of ONCE, John Carney's experience was quite the opposite. For one thing, he was on familiar territory. "I've known Samson Films for years," he explains. "So when I had the idea of the film, I was thinking of various ways of producing it, and when I decided that I wasn't going to go with a big actor in the lead role - or any actor - I went to Samson and said I have this idea for a film, and it's kind of scripted and these songs are written, do you guys want to get on board with it? And they did."

"We had a great relationship - myself, the producer Martina Niland and executive producer David Collins. We just had a very relaxed relationship producing this film, because it was made for a small amount of money and everybody pulled in and joined together for this short period of time to make it work. Samson is a good company for that, because David Collins is at a place in his life where he does not need to prove himself as a producer; he just wants to make what he wants to make. And this appealed to him, and I think working with me again - because we had done a film a few years ago, and also he was one of the executive producers on BACHELORS WALK - meant we had a good relationship, and I wanted to work with producers that I didn't have to explain everything to."

Martina agrees adding that "It was a real back-to-basics form of filmmaking and certainly the kind that has always attracted me the most and got me excited about ONCE from the early days of chatting to John about his ambitions for the project. We avoided bureaucracy and red tape as much as possible and everyone got to concentrate 100 percent on what's on the screen. I think that shows when one watches this film."

The backdrop largely consists of Dublin city streets, shops and the less-than-salubrious interiors of the main characters' homes; neither has their own place, with the Guy having moved back in with his father following his mother's death, while the girl lives with her non-English-speaking mother, and her young child. Gradually, their two worlds cross over, through their shared love of music.

With Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova sharing most of the screen time, their characters form an artistic bond and, as a result, they fall in love. And although neither are actors, both Hansard and Irglova carried off their roles with an impressive naturalness and warmth. "They have a good relationship, so that really helped," says Carney. "I love the benefit of having the actors know each other. It certainly taught me to get actors to hang out with each other before going into a certain style of film making. That was the good thing about BACHELORS WALK; by Series Three the guys were three mates. They just do it - there was none of the 'finding it' that you had to do in the first series."

Irglova impressed with her performances throughout the shoot and, as Hansard puts it, "she didn't have any problems, slipped straight into it and really got it."

ONCE was shot very quickly over the course of a couple of weeks. "It was super-fast," recalls Glen Hansard, who insists that he'd never swap his life as a musician for a career in front of cameras. "I'd experienced a little bit of this from THE COMMITMENTS, as in getting up early and working throughout the day, but I don't remember being as exhausted at the end of every day," he recalls.

"We were up at six every morning, we were working all day, and it drains the life out of you. Being in a band is so much easier. You get up at midday, you head to the airport, you get on a plane, you get to another country, you sound check around five or six, doors are at eight, you've got your gig at nine. It's very chilled-out. It's all evening work. With this, we were just knackered, going back home and literally being a shell of yourself. You were just completely gone until the next morning. It was very intense."

It was a similar experience for Marketa Irglova, who admits that she has "mixed feelings" about the shoot "because it was really exhausting. If you woke up and had some problems in your personal life, you had to be up for the scenes you were shooting and you had to be convincing, because being an actor is being a good liar. You have to convince everybody that you're feeling everything that you're supposed to be feeling, which is really hard, and really demanding of your emotions. We had really tough days; it was nothing like when you play music."

Ultimately, though, she found the experience very fulfilling. "I really enjoyed being a part of a team. It was very compact. John, Glen and I were at the center, but there were other people around it that took care of their own parts and I really enjoyed working with everybody, meeting new people, and watching the film afterwards, and this feeling of achievement of doing good art; looking at it afterwards and feeling we did something good here."

The songs are, obviously, an essential element of ONCE. The fact that Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova ultimately played the parts of the Guy and the Girl could only add layers of emotion, not just to their roles, but especially to the songs they had recorded together.

John Carney describes Hansard as "a good lyricist because his songs are never literal. His songs are very much about pictures and images and ideas, and moments in time. They're quite vague, in a very good way that good songs are. And they're also very open to interpretation, they're like a good poem, which is meaningless one day and then suddenly has real meaning when you've been there, or when you've had that experience. He paints little pictures with the songs. I'd write a scene, or come up with a character note based on a song.

"Then, occasionally, it would be the opposite situation where I would ask Glen to write, not a tailor-made song, but I would give him some ideas about a scene and he would come back to me with a song. A lot of the material that Glen brought in, he had already written. They're not tailor-made songs for the film. Nor is the film tailor-made around a bunch of songs; but they meet somewhere in the middle, and I like that idea."

What also appealed to Carney about this project was the fact that it allowed himself and Hansard to combine their talents and interest in each other's craft. "I left The Frames to make films," he recalls. "But Glen was always very interested in films, we always had a lot to talk about, about movies. He was doing THE COMMITMENTS just as the band started. But apart from that, Glen was always interested in Bergman films and French films. He's certainly a film fan, and an independent or arthouse film fan as well."

And despite taking different paths, the two remained friends and would discuss the possibilities of working together. "Occasionally our paths would cross and we always had a quick chat about doing something collaboratively, whether it would be that I'd make a rock video for them, or that he'll write a song," Carney recalls. "And I used his songs in a couple of other films that I'd made, but it was never quite satisfying enough, so this was a great opportunity to really work together.

"Glen loves films, but he's not a filmmaker. He's a very visual guy, he does a lot of artwork for their albums. And I'd be the same, in reverse. I'd spend half my day at the computer screen writing a script, then I'd go off and play the piano, for no reason other than it entertains me. I don't do it professionally, but it means a lot to me. I love music. It was never a career for me, really, apart from when I was young and in the band. It's an entertainment thing. For Glen, film is an entertainment. So it was interesting, the two things coming together. That was a good experience we both, I think, responded well to that."

Glen Hansard sees ONCE as a source of much pride as well as an exceptional experience. "It's definitely a lovely thing for me to look back and say that I was involved. It basically came up trumps as far as I'm concerned. I can look back and be proud of it, and not only for the fact that we managed to act our way through it, but also that the songs are there and they're kind of immortalized in this film. Which is great."

Carney reflects on ONCE with a lot of personal satisfaction. "Experience is good; it's easy to get people to have confidence in you when you have a bit of experience," he says, looking back on the production. "Also I was at a particular stage in my career. I was a filmmaker for a while and then I got sucked into TV. So when I came back to filmmaking I'd lost a hold in the ladder slightly, and I was finding it hard to get a film made. Making ONCE wasn't a career move, so much, it was just a decision to go back to basics, and prove myself again."

About the Cast

GLEN HANSARD (The Guy)

Born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1970 Glen Hansard is lead singer, guitarist and founding member of Irish rock group The Frames. He quit school at the age of 13 to begin busking on Dublin streets and gradually established himself as one of Irish music's most popular and greatest talents. He first came to public attention as guitar player Outspan Foster in the Alan Parker film THE COMMITMENTS.

Prior to THE COMMITMENTS, he secured a record deal with Island Records and subsequently formed The Frames in 1990. The band has been recording and touring ever since, and included filmmaker John Carney as bass player in its earliest incarnation. The band released their sixth studio album The Cost in September 2006 to widespread acclaim. The Frames are currently touring around Europe and will reach the USA in early 2007.

In April 2006, Hansard released his first solo album, The Swell Season, in collaboration with Czech singer and multi-instrumentalist Marketa Irglova.

MARKETA IRGLOVA (The Girl)

Born in Monravia in 1988, and a resident of Prague in the Czech Republic, Marketa Irglova is a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter.

Although only 19, she has proved to be quite a talent, having already recorded an album of music with Glen Hansard while also co-starring alongside him in ONCE.

She began playing music at the age of seven, when her parents got her a piano and piano lessons. When she was nine, her father bought her a guitar and she immediately began playing and learning songs by ear. She met Glen Hansard when he was visiting Prague, and they began playing together and eventually collaborated musically, which resulted in the release of an album, The Swell Season.

About the Filmmakers

JOHN CARNEY (Writer-Director)

John was born in Dublin in 1972, and began his film career writing, producing and directing two award-winning short films, SHINING STAR and HOTEL, and directing videos for Irish Band The Frames, with whom he also played bass guitar from 1991 to 1993.

His first feature film, NOVEMBER AFTERNOON, a low-budget black-and-white production, was voted Best Feature of 1997 by the Irish Times, and ran on the U.S. festival circuit.

John wrote, directed and scored his next project, the hour-long TV film JUST IN TIME, starring Frances Barber and Gerard McSorley. The Irish Times voted it Best TV Film of 1998.

He subsequently co-wrote and directed ON THE EDGE, starring Cillian Murphy and Stephen Rea, for Universal Studios. John won the Silver Hitchcock Award for the film at the 2001 Dinard Film Festival. The film received positive notices for its "fine understated performances ... alternating between heart-warming and heartbreaking in equal measure …" and "Carney's slick visual style and ear for quirky soundtrack choices." The film was distributed internationally by UIP.

After completing post-production, John turned his hand to TV writing, co-writing and directing three series of the hit RTE television series BACHELORS WALK, the most successful independently produced drama in the history of Irish television. BACHELORS WALK was called "the Irish TV success story of the year" in 2002 by the Evening Herald.

John currently resides in Dublin and London.

MARTINA NILAND (Producer)

Martina Niland began working with Samson Films in the late '90s and has produced all of the company's short films, including: SHORT (1999), written and directed by Imogen Murphy; RTE/IFB Short Cuts productions DOGSBODY (2000), written and directed by Karl Golden, BEACHED, also written & directed by Karl Golden and ALL GOD'S CHILDREN (2002), written and directed by Tom Cosgrove. In 2001 she produced the documentary HIGH FIVE for RTE as part of their True Lives series.

Over the past seven years Niland has been developing a slate of feature film projects with Samson. In 1999 she was Associate Producer on the quirky, offbeat comedy THE MOST FERTILE MAN IN IRELAND, directed by Dudi Appleton. In 2002 she produced the critically acclaimed debut feature THE HONEYMOONERS, directed by Karl Golden, and in 2005 the multi-award-winning debut feature by Perry Ogden PAVEE LACKEEN, which received the Best Irish Film Galway Film Fleadh 2005, IFTA Best Irish Film & Best Break Thru Talent and the Satyajit Ray Award London 2005. She has also completed a Bachelors Walk one-hour special, which was broadcast on RTE Christmas 2006. ONCE had its international premier at The Sundance Film Festival in January 2007, where it won the Sundance Film Festival World Cinema Audience Award.

She is an honours graduate of Communications (Film & Broadcasting) at the Dublin Institute of Technology.

DAVID COLLINS (Executive Producer)

David Collins, Managing Director of Samson Films, one of Ireland's leading independent film and television drama production companies, co-founded Strongbow Film & Television Productions with John Kelleher in 1985. The company's productions include EAT THE PEACH, the Channel 4 television series WHEN REASON SLEEPS and the Revcom/ABC production ACT OF BETRAYAL.

Collins also co-founded Radius Television, one of Ireland's largest independent TV companies, producing over 60 hours a year of new programming for Irish and overseas broadcasters.

He is Chairman of Film Makers Ireland, the representative association for Irish producers and directors, and he is also on the board of directors of Ireland's EU MEDIA Desk and the recently established Irish Screen Commission. He is also a member of the European Film Academy and a board member of the Film Institute of Ireland.

Samson has been awarded Incentive Funding by the European Script Fund and has a wide range of film and television projects in active development. Recently Collins has established a joint venture television drama company with Ed Guiney of Temple Films to specialize in long-running drama series for the international market. This company has been provided Company Development Funding by the Media II Programme.

Samson has developed strong links with many of the major film and television funding agencies in Ireland, the UK and Europe. In the last five years, Samson has produced and co-produced film and television projects with funding from, among others, Universal Pictures, British Sky Broadcasting, Channel Four, the Irish Film Board, the Northern Irish Film Commission, BBC Television, BBC Worldwide, British Screen, Eurimages, RTE, and has accessed significant funding from private Irish investors.

In addition to its own production portfolio Samson has worked in production partnership with a wide variety of independents through Europe, including Road Movies (Germany), Parallax (UK), Zephyr Films (UK), Victoria Film (Scandinavia), Fandango (Italy) and The Shooting Gallery (New York).

Samson also provides budgeting, location and logistical support on a regular basis to incoming feature films and television series, and can access funding where appropriate from the Irish Film Board, RTE as well as from Section 481 incentive pools.

His credits include: PURE MULE, BLIND FLIGHT, WATERMELON, BACHELORS WALK - SERIES 2, THE MOST FERTILE MAN IN IRELAND, THE ABDUCTION CLUB, COUNTRY, RAT, DOGSBODY, LOVE AND RAGE, JUST IN TIME, I WENT DOWN, THE AMBASSADOR, A FURTHER GESTURE, LOVING, GUILTRIP, THE DISAPPEARANCE OF FINBAR, EAT THE PEACH, THE WOMAN WHO MARRIED CLARK GABLE, PIGS, A BASKET FULL OF WALLPAPER and SHORT ORDER.

TIM FLEMING (Director of Photography)

Involved in films for over 12 years, Tim Fleming's recent work includes SMALL ENGINE REPAIR (2006), TURNING GREEN (2005) and the award-winning documentary CINEGAEL PARADISO (2004), TV dramas WHATEVER LOVE MEANS (2005) AND MALICE AFORETHOUGHT (2005), and award-winners PAVEE LACKEEN (2005), MY SUMMER OF LOVE (2004), THE LAST TIME (2002) and NOSTRADAMUS AND ME (2004). He has also worked on many documentaries, both for Irish and British broadcasters.

PAUL MULLEN (Editor)

Paul recently edited, for Accomplice Television, THE BACHELORS WALK CHRISTMAS SPECIAL. Other television work includes sports, wildlife and comedy documentaries. He is currently editing Druid Theatre's interpretations of J.M Synge's THE SHADOW OF THE GLEN and THE WELL OF THE SAINTS for Wildfire Films.

TAMARA CONBOY (Production Designer)

Conboy is a prominent young Irish designer with over 12 years experience in the world of film and television in Ireland and the U.S. She has worked in the capacity of graphic designer and Art Director on a variety of projects, including SPACE TRUCKERS, THE MEDALLION, IN AMERICA, BLOOM, KING ARTHUR and ISOLATION.

She has always encouraged film education and indeed has herself been involved in various workshops with organizations such as Film Base and Moonstone.

TIZIANA CORVISIERI (Costume Designer)

Italian-born costume designer Tiziana Corvisieri is based in Ireland, where she has been in the film industry since 1994. She has worked with a number of Irish directors including Thaddeus O'Sullivan and Richie Smyth. The director John Carney has used her on most of his projects to date, including the acclaimed, prize-winning television series BACHELORS WALK. In addition to her film work, she continues to work with music acts, styling them for stage and tour, and producing her own edgy handbag line.

MAUREEN HUGHES (Casting Director)

Maureen Hughes also serves as Casting Director for the Druid Theatre Company in Galway in addition to her film and television casting work. She cast THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE, winner of four TonyR awards in 2000, and THE LIEUTENANT OF INISHMORE, which recently played in London's West End. She formerly was Head of Casting at the National Theatre of Ireland (Abbey Theatre) from 1991 - 1994.

Her Casting Director credits include: BACHELORS WALK CHRISTMAS SPECIAL, HIDE & SEEK, STUDS, JELLYBABY, SIX SHOOTER, PROOF, LOVE IS THE DRUG, STEW, RIGHT NOW LADIES AND GENTS, BURNING THE BED, BODYBLOW, WATERMELON, THE ROMAN SPRING OF MRS. STONE, LSD '73!, SPIN THE BOTTLE, ANY TIME NOW, THE ABDUCTION CLUB, THE MAPMAKER, ON HOME GROUND, DISCO PIGS, SALTWATER, BORSTAL BOY, THE CLOSER YOU GET, I COULD READ THE SKY, AGNES BROWNE, THE MOST FERTILE MAN IN IRELAND, ACCELERATOR, CHRONO-PERAMBULATOR and CRUSH PROOF.

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