My Week of Movie Watching

Once – I kinda got an inkling early that Once was a film I was going to enjoy. The opening image is of a street performer singing Van Morrison’s “When the Healing has Begun”. The film tells the story of said street performer (Glen Hansard) and the relationship that he develops with a young Czech girl (Marketa Irglova). The two leads are so real and so quirkily likable that you forget you’re watching a movie. The film is masterful in the way it uses musical performances as the engine for the blossoming passion between the two. Thing is, it doesn’t go down the path we think, and it is pretty up front about the fact that it won’t. Heartily recommended.

Mauvaise Graine – Billy Wilder’s first film is the story of a spoiled rich youth who falls in with a gang of car thieves. It’s billed as a comedy, but in reality, this one shows quite a few traces of what would become Wilder’s Noir-esque tendencies. Lightweight, but enjoyable.