An individual's response to art can be intensely personal, and I often miss the days when I wasn't perpetually defending my reaction to films. For instance, the tiny Irish indie "Once" might be the most perfect creation of the year, but I wish I could explain the exploding of my heart with a "Because; that's why" and not dissect the enchantment right out of the movie. Somehow, filmmaker John Carney has taken three ordinary elements - a guy, a girl, and some music - and alchemized an extraordinary work of art.

"Once" stars Glen Hansard (he fronts Ireland's second-favorite band, the Frames) as a sidewalk busker who sings crowd-pandering cover songs by day and his own compositions by night. The ardent delivery of his self-penned melodies attracts the attention of a strolling girl (Czech musician Markéta Irglová), and through her open smile and prying questions the Girl discovers that the Guy (both characters remain nameless) is no stranger to broken hearts. Or broken vacuums, for that matter, which causes the Girl to return the next day, ailing little Hoover in tow, in hopes that he can fix it.

The Guy learns that the Girl loves the piano; every day she stops at a music store and tangles her fingers in the ivories for an hour, and it's during their first interlude at the keyboard that "Once" completely redefines the movie musical. The Girl wants to hear a song, but the Guy won't play it unless she accompanies him. And while he didn't write it for her, as he quietly delivers the first lines of the stunning "Falling Slowly" - "I don't know you/But I want you/All the more for that" - the song suddenly becomes about her. It's as romantic and real as can be, and it sets the tone for a week of their lives in which they'll get to know each other, understand even more about themselves, and craft a bit of ravishingly graceful pop.

Artists bare their souls through their medium: painters paint, writers write, singers sing. Despite knockout performances, Hansard (his only other acting experience was in that other Irish musical, 1991's "The Commitments") and Irglová are not professional actors, but they did compose the score, and that's probably why the tunes seem to be woven through "Once" so organically. Other song highlights include the country-tinged "Broken-Hearted Hoover-Fixer Sucker Guy," in which we learn about the Guy's lost love, and "If You Want Me," sung by the Girl as she pads home from the store in slippers, testing out her first stab at lyrics. Writer-director Carney shot the Dublin street scenes through a long lens (and without permits), allowing his cast the freedom to improvise. I know how simple it all sounds, but it simply works.

Transcending both the romance and musical genres, "Once" has elicited a ton of hype, but remember that each of us brings more to a movie than just what we're actually carrying, and everyone's baggage is unique. Me, I love the Frames, and Hansard's songs (check out their lovely 2001 CD "For the Birds") have been alternately thrilling and wrecking me for years. Also, I am a saucer-eyed dreamer as well as an utter chump. But I can't be the only one rendered helpless by beauty.

Georges Bizet's classic opera "Carmen," about the doomed love affair between a gypsy and a soldier, has been reimagined many times over the past century, but the latest version might be the most inspired. Titled "U-Carmen" and filmed by Mark Dornford-May, this still-faithful incarnation is set in modern-day South Africa and tells of a bewitching cigarette factory worker whose power over men, especially a naive police sergeant, leads to her tragic downfall.

One of the awesome things about opera is that allure has never been confined to a size 4, which means that a juicy powerhouse like the astonishing Pauline Malefane can play Carmen (she also helped translate the libretto into the Xhosa dialect) and make it entirely believable that men would be tripping over their di... er, tongues to get next to her. The feisty Carmen seduces a cop (the recognizable "Habanera" sends chills down the spine), gets him in trouble, and miscalculates his all-consuming love. Dornford-May makes great use of the people and sights of the colorful township, and the cast is as glorious a company as you're likely to hear interpret this revered tale of wayward passion.

"Once"(R), directed by John Carney, is now playing at Little Theatres | "U-Carmen" (NR), directed by Mark Dornford-May, screens at the George Eastman House's Dryden Theatre on Saturday, June 16, 8 p.m., and Sunday, June 17, 4:30 p.m.