THE FILM'S NOSTALGIA FOR "OLD IRELAND"

Glen Hansard: "One thing that we did set up in the beginning was that this character didn't have a mobile phone, and neither did she. Not because we wanted to go back in time, but just because he didn't have one. He drinks water out of the tap. Even saying those things, they sound so futile, but no one does them anymore. We could set up the idea of who he is. He works with his da, he is not interested in getting rich."

From The Chicago Tribune:

"Carney's characters are getting by, but they're not exactly emblems of the current Irish economic boom. Irglova, a Czech Republic native who says she's 'half-living' in Ireland at the moment, says ONCE is more an ode to 'Dublin as it used to be a few years ago.' She misses that friendlier, more welcoming Dublin; the new, forbiddingly pricey one, she says, is becoming far too Americanized."

Next: ONCE Goes Out to the World