Is ‘Falling Slowly’ really being investigated?
Sunday, January 27th, 2008I picked up The Sunday Tribune today largely because of the front-page reference to ‘Falling Slowly’, the freshly Oscar-nominated song from surprise Irish hit ‘Once’.
The front-page lead-in reads “Could Once be disqualified? - Irish film’s Oscar hopes in doubt” with the headline of the article itself (written by Una) reading “Hollywood probe to decide if ‘Once’ song is eligible for Oscar”.
The rules in question are available here with the important bit relating to this nomination reading:
An original song consists of words and music, both of which are original and written specifically for the film. There must be a clearly audible, intelligible, substantive rendition (not necessarily visually presented) of both lyric and melody, used in the body of the film or as the first music cue in the end credits.
So here are the facts - ‘Falling Slowly’ first saw the light of day on ‘The Swell Season’, an album released by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová in April 2006. It subsequently appeared on The Frames’ ‘The Cost’, released in Ireland in September 2006 and, according to The Sunday Tribune, was on the trailer for Czech film ‘Beauty in Trouble’ in October 2006. The film ‘Once’ was released a few months later, March 2007 to be precise. ‘The Swell Season’ album originates from sessions performed by Hansard and Irglová at the request of director Jan Hřebejk, who wanted songs for his upcoming film (the aforementioned ‘Beauty In Trouble’).
‘Once’, which was filmed over a 17-day period in January 2006; months before ‘The Swell Seasons’ or ‘Beauty In Trouble’ came out - something that wasn’t mentioned in The Sunday Tribune article.
From this muddled time-line it seems as though the only revelation that could disqualify the song would be if it could be proven that either ‘Beauty In Trouble’ or ‘The Swell Season’ were wrapped and fully produced before Hansard was approached by John Carney in relation to ‘Once’. Given the respective release dates of the two, that seems unlikely.
After all, even if the reality is far different, Hansard can easily claim that he wrote ‘Falling Slowly’ for ‘Once’ at any time as long as it can be shown that he was aware of the film’s production. It doesn’t matter where or when the song was used after that fact. Even if the first proper recording of ‘Falling Slowly’ was the one made for ‘The Swell Seasons’, the only important aspect is what it was written for in the first place.
However my question isn’t whether an investigation could discover anything - it’s whether there’s one happening at all. The thing that’s most suspect about the existence of any “Hollywood probe” is the fact that the aforementioned article makes no reference whatsoever to any aspect of the investigation, nor does it quote any Academy official (named or unnamed). Indeed John Carney himself is quoted on the matter but he seems to be equally unaware of any investigation, saying he hasn’t been contacted by the Academy. While he does say “we’re all discussing that at the moment to get clear, exactly, and figure this out”, that doesn’t refer to anything of substance that could lead one to believe that an investigation is imminent or expected.
So is this a non-story? Wouldn’t the eligibility of something not be sorted out well in advance of it getting nominated? Wouldn’t the likes of John Carney be the first port of call to an investigator trying to establish the exact origin of a song?
Only time will tell, I guess.
edit: Speaking of non-stories, “Irish man from the telly has opinion about other Irish man from the telly”
Update: There’s a speculative (and mildly misinformed at times) post on a New York Times blog about this - the post seems to have been made before Una’s article was printed on Sunday. (Thanks to Derek for the link).
A comment on that post suggests that the movie was screened before either CD appeared on the shelves, which is quite possible.
Another blogger at the Sun Times in the US has picked up on the issue too - again there’s no sign of anything solid coming out from the Academy, just the online echo chamber in full swing.
Blogs elsewhere
January 27th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
Trailer for the 2006 flick is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATQ4KhmkDVM
Poor Aul Glen, the only deserving song in the category, and it could be pulled out.
How often do you get a kick in the teeth like this in life?
Once.
January 28th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
[…] Is it ‘cos he’s ginger? more: Song Getting the “Once” Over (New York Times) Is ‘Falling Slowly’ Really Being Investigated? (Adam Maguire) Listen: Glen Hansard Interview […]
January 28th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
It’s definitely a story, one that’s been getting some ink (or its on-line equivalent) from the US end:
http://carpetbagger.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/26/song-getting-the-once-over/?hp
Fair play to Miss Rocks for rolling with something that plenty of other journos had been whispering about - be interesting to see how it plays out. Considering that it’s running against a tune from the horrible August Rush, I’m definitely with The Glen on this one.
January 28th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
I wouldn’t pay too much attention to that blog post as it seems to be quite uninformed about the whole thing and is probably posting on the back of the rumours more than anything solid.
As the article itself says, these rumours are par for the course at this time of year.
When I picked up the Tribune I’d wondered if it had managed to get something fresh on an issue that I saw raised and resolved on places like ‘boards.ie’ right after the nominations were announced. It didn’t.
I also find it hard to believe that this wasn’t twigged by the Academy before the nominations as it’s an issue that can be spotted via a google search.
January 29th, 2008 at 7:28 am
simply put the song is plenty eligible, the timeline has been established and the academy are well aware of is release on swell season & the cost, as well as it being played without the permission of the glen on czech tv.
Also its being in a trailer-the director of the czech film has gone on tv there in their defence stating he wanted star star and what happens when the heart just stops for his film & falling slowly was just recorded the same day while they had studio time & they made it clear it was promised to another movie belonging to their friend.
they just have to confirm the song was written specifically for the film Once, which it was, Hansard having mentioned it at at least 2 shows in years past.
hopefully its in the bag for them.
January 30th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
Good one Adam. I saw the story on Sunday and could not understand why the Academy had missed such an obvious thing to establish or not. Hell, “google” has become a verb its so easy to use.
Pity the Trib did not see fit to do the research you did. Thought that they were a bit better than the usual empty vessel Sunday newspapers…