Last night, the lovely Irish movie Once was on television just when I was in the mood for something to watch. (I sorely miss Netflix streaming here, but haven't yet figured out if there is a local alternative.) I decided to watch it for a second time, and in the process realized that both this and the last movie I watched ("Trust," with Clive Owen and Catherine Keener) offer wonderful examples of teshuva: the work of repentance/forgiveness/self-forgiveness that this season requires of us.
Spoiler alert: If you haven't seen Once, and want to see it and be surprised, you might want to skip down to the final paragraph.
At the start, this movie looks like any other "girl meets boy" type of story. Two attractive, working class people meet on the streets of Dublin, where he sings for a living after working at his father's vacuum cleaner repair shop and she roams the high street selling flowers and magazines. Immediately they begin to share their passion for writing and performing music. Sparks fly between them, but at the same time they discuss the sorrow they feel over failed relationships.
His ex-girlfriend has moved to London; nearly all of his songs are about his longing for her, and his anger at how she betrayed him. Her estranged husband, the father of their toddler daughter, still lives back in the Czech Republic; she came to Dublin with her mother and the baby. Even as the nameless duo becomes increasingly drawn to each other, they push each other about whether it's possible to repair their broken connections. They do this by sharing music, and by talking, and by meeting each other's families, and by writing songs together, and by not acting on the physical attraction between them.
In the end, they create art. With her encouragement and gumption, they secure a bank load to make a professional recording. They also prod each other to attempt to rebuild their past relationships. One senses that he goes forward because he loves his ex, and is willing to forgive her having cheated on him. She on the other hand, is perhaps ambivalent about the man she married because of an unplanned pregnancy---but she is certain that she wants to try to make it work for the sake of Ivonka, the baby girl who is the only one of them whose name is mentioned. (The other two are just listed as "girl" and "guy" even in the credits.)
True teshuva, teaches the RamBam (Moses Maimonides) is when we find ourselves in a challenging place in which we've stood before and erred, only this time we correct our past mistakes and do the right thing. Once offers a picture of such sweet possibilities of that. Too often movies that highlight the sexual attention between young, attractive people result in some sort of love-triangle that is trite and boring in its complexity. This movie is about simple strength derived from friendship, and how such a relationship between artists can result in beautiful music.
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