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Sometimes, just sometimes, they get it right. Sometimes politics take a back seat to what is just instinctively meant to be. Last night, Falling Slowly from the film Once won Best Original Song. In the category the Disney film Enchanted had three of the five nominations, the odds were stacked heavily against the little Irish song. Yet it seemed liked the timing was fated. The song was snubbed at the Golden Globes, lost at the Grammys and nearly deemed ineligible for the Academy Awards. The ultimate underdog, they crept into the industry’s biggest awards show and walked away with what they so rightfully deserved.

Let me fill you in on my love affair with Once. I saw the film last year on a hot summer night for no apparent reason other than I was drawn to the title. “Once”. One time. One opportunity. In this strange thing called life sometimes that is all you get. After I watched the film I couldn’t get it out of my head. Raw honesty in art is rare and when you find it, feel it, you know that you are in the presence of something perfect. I discovered that it had been made for less than 200,000 dollars and that the two leads, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, were not professional actors, but rather, professional musicians. The film is about destiny and a chemistry so fated that in actual life Glen and Marketa fell in love.

They toured the soundtrack of the film around world last fall. I managed to get tickets and crept into the show on a cold icy Toronto night. It was like peeking through the window of two people who share a secret love. It was captivating and heartbreaking and overwhelming. Just like the film, it seems that against all odds they found each other and have succeeded beyond anyone’s wildest hopes because of the strength of what is right. As you dig deeper into the story you find that Glen wasn’t supposed to act opposite Marketa. The film almost was never made on several occasions. Glen and Marketa have a huge age difference. But it happened. The struggles and obstacles has only strengthened the realization that every obstacle was put there for a reason. Somehow it came together in the way that it was supposed to.

Watch the film. Buy the soundtrack. Support honest art, real music and believe that what is right will eventually unfold.

Photograph Courtesy Getty Images

Posted on Monday, February 25th, 2008 at 3:10 pm by Unknown and is filed under Celebrities & Pop Culture.

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