My first word was "Wow." I've begged permission to purloin five minutes of wifi from a joint that's closing just to say The Greatest killed an entire notebook for me (so much filigree to footnote in a gorgeously acted, poetically written story). It's a magnificent, heartfelt romantic melodrama with startling acting, bold yet telling production design, and a worthy great-granddaughter to the films of Douglas Sirk. Bonus: I think I spied at least one great homage to a particular painting of Vermeer, and a marital bed that is at once mid-20th century modern and suggestive of a troubled long-term marriage, and most strikingly, the killing cages that painter Francis Bacon often entrapped his screaming popes within. John Bailey shot Ordinary People, which director Shana Feste cites as a primary influence on her story of grieving, loss and love. I am shaken, almost as much as the multiple women near me whose shoulders were quaking during the debut's end credits. But I'm also grateful to have seen an accomplished debut so early in the festival. I think I've just fallen for 2009 Sundance's Once: a life-filled, love-filled, tear-filled gem. [More later.]