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Gee whiz, a film targeted to adults, with no gunfights, explosions, or car chases, rather the opposite of, say, the current '...Die Hard'.*
Stolen from IMDB:
'After a classical string quartet's 25 years of success, Peter, the cellist and oldest member, decides that he must retire when he learns he has Parkinson's Disease. For the others, that announcement proves a catalyst for letting their hidden resentments come to the surface while the married members' daughter has disruptive desires of her own. All this threatens to tear the group apart even as they are famous for playing Beethoven's String Quartet No. 14, opus 131, a piece that is played non-stop (SIC) no matter how life interferes.' Written by Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com)
This is a movie populated with people I grew quickly to care about and is about as perfect a movie as I know. I love large-scale Classical music but not so much chamber music, and I learned a bit about how 4 people have to work to create a group with a single musical purpose and spirit. All actors are really good, especially Christopher Walken. Also stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Katherine Keener, and Mark Ivanir. I loved the music so much that I bought an SACD of the Beethoven late string quartets.
Try it; you might like it.
* I love Bruce Willis and own lots of his stuff including four 'Die Hard' movies, but I will NOT be buying 'A good Day to Die Hard'.
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Tin-eared audiofool, large-scale-Classical music lover, and damned-amateur fotografer.
"Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted." Albert Einstei
Follow Ups:
I watched it last night "on demand" (fios)and enjoyed the movie very much. I don't want to provide any spoilers here. 'Just to say I liked the way the movie built up to the finale, and then finished on a very strong note...;-)
Note: I'm also a fan of the Beethoven string quartets. Maybe, quartet no. 14, the subject of this film, is not exactly my favorite pick out of the 16 that LVB wrote. Probably, I'd pick from his middle and early period first. Others might hear it differently. Nonetheless, this should be an interesting view for anyone who likes classical music and perhaps wouldn't mind to looking into the private lives of the fictional characters who in this movie perform it.
-Steve
For a movie claiming to be independent it had way too many Hollywood cliches everywhere.
Not a very bad movie, music and all, but with that definite "I have seen that about 10,000 times already!" feel.
d
My wife read me the story on how the actors learned to "play" for that film. Apparently they spent a LOT of time practicing in order to look half-decent, and I think they managed nicely. According to Walken, Hoffman learned to the point that he could actually play.
I have a recording of an Impressionist doing CW "auditioning"
for the role of Han Solo-and the Simpsons have an Homage in one episode that's also very funny - Scooch closer, children...
Only 71 minutes, but man does it explore music performance (and musical life)! The form is gentle comedy.
P.A.
During the intro, they said it was Beethoven's personal favorite of all his pieces.
Thanks for the review!
.
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Tin-eared audiofool, large-scale-Classical music lover, and damned-amateur fotografer.
"Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted." Albert Einstei
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