The Great Pretenders

This book focuses on the most successful feature films of John Carney, namely Once (2006), Begin Again (2013) and Sing Street (2016). Drawing on narrative, formalist and genre theories of film, the book presents an in-depth examination of how the formal and stylistic choices made by Carney allow each film to narrate a story in a coherent way. It shows how aural and visual contrivances are hidden behind a façade of realism, and how the films engage with universal, national and personal concerns a