once (again)

it's been ages since i have been to see a film twice or more
baraka takes the award for me for film most likely to endure repeat viewings
but considering there is no dialogue and instead music and images
it's not like second, or third, or more, time around you know the plot, climax, etc
which was certainly not the case for a repeat visit to see the film titled once
a rare saturday night in the company of 3 teenagers and 1 just-over-teenager
and lack of choice in the film department meant repeat viewing was considered and agreed to
it also meant a visit to a small town with a theatre needing patronage
requiring a drive through the countryside on a beautiful summer evening
we arrived 20 minutes early to find the theatre all locked up - uh-oh
but the small scale of the theatre meant that the few patrons could be dealt with quickly
we started in the smaller theatre (the snug) with room for 15 people
and then moved to the larger theatre (30 people) as a few more people showed up
and it was generally agreed on this hot evening the air conditioning would also be required
i generally go to films in the company of myself
something to do with not wanting to inflict my preferences on anyone else
so rather than the usual excitement of mostly unknown self-indulgence
this one came with a known outcome and the complication of 4 young people
used to films of action, fantasy, animation, effects, superheroes, teen idols, etc
that is everything that the film we were locked into was not
so i settled in thinking i would have a possibly slightly boring time on repeat play
this film has such a simple story that you could miss large chunks of it and still get it
but even second time through i was picking up bits of dialogue i had previously missed
which added a depth to the film that though not essential made it very satisfying again
maybe because of that the old heart strings got tugged again
when we could see that our 2 main characters were just so right for each other
but the pull of past love and current responsibility overcame that connection
the music in the film really does dominate
it could be as high as a 50/50 split music/dialogue
it is worked in very naturally with the theme of the film
and so the film goes by quite quickly and very easily
the big test of course was whether our 4 guests enjoyed it
the unanimous decision was that it was 'really good'
leading to a bit of discussion in the car on the return journey
through the late dusk of the lovely summer night
once - not enough - twice - is good