Language: English (Surround), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
Dubbed: English, Spanish
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Number of discs: 1
Rated: R (Restricted)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: April 1, 2014
Run Time: 87 minutes
In the golden age of Hollywood cinema musicals seemed to have the most
extravagant budgets, and these films were a huge success as well as a grand
spectacle, but it wasn’t the sets and the costumes or dozens or chorus dancers
that made the films musicals. Traditionally the songs helped to advance the
plot, telling part of the story or developing the character within the song,
and within these terms Once is a true
musical. While there are essentially only two important characters and they are
the only ones to sing, these songs help to advance the story in many ways,
often having nothing to do with the music itself. The male protagonist is
physically unable to speak about his heartbreak in one particular scene in the
film, so instead he sings about it with improvised songs on the back of a bus. Despite
a low budget, shaky camera work that often goes out of focus, and a storyline
so simple that it nearly hits the same note for 86 minutes, Once is clearly one of the greatest
modern musicals in all the ways that matters.
