Raise Your Hopeful Voice
02/1/08 | Movies, Clips, Trailers | 3 Comments
Don’t you love hearing amazing success stories? Here’s one for you:
WATCHED
This is the independent movie to beat all other independents. It was made for a measly $150,000 (no, I didn’t forget any zeroes), and went on to make $10M in limited release in the Unites States alone…
Numbers aside, this movie is incredible. It’s pegged as a modern day musical, but I wouldn’t go that far. No one breaks out into random song and choreographed dance, but there is a lot of singing in the movie; about 60% of screen time, as a matter of fact!
This is the story of an Irish Guy, stuck in a rut and wanting nothing more than to earn a living as a musician. Enter an immigrant Girl with an affinity for the piano and a voice to match. Together, they make stunning music, and make you fall in love with them all at the same time.
I have watched this movie three times in the last two weeks, downloaded its soundtrack about ten minutes after watching it for the first time (and listened to it a minimum of 60 times since then, some songs more than others), and plan to watch and sing along to it for years to come.
What’s really extraordinary about this movie is that these are not actors, but real musicians. The director (John Carney) was setting up to make this movie and asked his friend, Glen Hansard, to write some music for it. After John heard the music, he realized that no one was going to be able to pull those songs off like Glen; he’d rather have a great musician who was an okay actor, than a great actor who was an okay singer. And it really paid off. After that came Marketa Irglova, a friend of Glen’s, and a fellow musician. Together, they are able to wend one of the most heartwarming and beautiful movies I have seen in a long time.
Here is the song Falling Slowly, sung by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova:
Definitely worth a watch… and believe me, once you hear the soundtrack, you’ll never get it out of your head...!
Until next…
Kyle W. Kerr
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Comment by Megan :: Feb 10, 2008
F***ing Brilliant…
CoolUUH! You were the 3rd person to mention this movie, so I figured I had to watch.
I love indie films, love this type of music, love love stories that are sweet and tender. Although I could analyze that for days
When they sat down at that piano for the first time, I thought, okay, here goes a little singing. Then, oh, my, this is really good. Then all the sudden, you see him change, you see the look, the look of emotion and pain wash over his face and you hear her voice in the back of your skull, and a lump forms in your throat because you know how that feels.
Then when she sings as she’s walking down the street. GOD I wanted to sing with her but I didn’t know the words! (But I had to use subtitles, too, so I could have done a little karaoke)
The hubby and I watched those two songs again as soon as it was over.
Can’t wait to download the album…
Thanks!
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Comment by Jeneratörler :: Mar 29, 2008
This is a wonderful, fun and touching movie. At a screening at Sundance 2007 the director described it as a musical, and it really is. The primary actors are musicians and their songs tie the movie together and tie you to them. Although the primary cast aren’t actors as a first profession, they are very natural together and the film flows very well because of it. Everyone involved in this film has a great passion for music, and it is very infectious. It is one of the few films I have seen in 7 years at Sundance that received a standing ovation.
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I thought this was interesting because I got a hold of the music long before I even knew there was a movie so it was cool to see it already loving the music. Great movie! I had to watch it with subtitles though!