John Carney's 'Once' is a small, tender Irish musical romance shot on a shoestring, in which a Dublin busker (Glen Hansard) and a Czech immigrant musician (Marketa Irglova) connect over a week of writing and recording songs together. Understated and achingly honest about missed chances, it lets the music carry the emotion; its song 'Falling Slowly' won the Academy Award. A modest indie that became a sensation and later a hit stage musical. A quietly perfect film about art and near-love.