Category Archives: Classical musicians

2020, Acceptable for teenagers, Based on true facts, Bisexual theme, Classical musicians, Cult Brainwashing, Divorce, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Explicit sexual discussion, Failing Marriage, Family Conflict, Gambling, Gay theme, Good Acting, Hasidic Jews, Jewish Culture, Lesbian Theme, Mother-daughter relations, Mother-son relations, Netflix Streaming, Religious Theme, Sex Scenes, Wife leaves husband, Wonderful acting, Yiddish

Unorthodox (2020)

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From IMDB:

Story of a young ultra-Orthodox Jewish woman who flees her arranged marriage and religious community to start a new life abroad.

From Netflix you can stream the 4 hour long episodes of this masterpiece.

At this point in April 2020  critics are raving about the film. For example you can find a discussion in the New York Times.  Unfortunately you must subscribe to the NYT to read full articles. From that review we read:

“Unorthodox” is loosely based on the best-selling 2012 memoir by Deborah Feldman, who left the Satmar sect of Hasidic Jews in Williamsburg and ultimately settled in Berlin.

In the film the young woman Esther Shapiro, who is called Esty, is played by the slight pixie of an actress Shira Haas.  Shira Hass is an incredible performer who presents her role to perfection. 

There are also short documentaries on the making of this film and how it strived for correct Hasidic details by hiring Hasidic men to help with the filming. Only the mink fur men’s hats are fake.

Constant switching between the past and the present, between New York and Berlin, might be a tad confusing.  Just keep in mind that the Berling portion of the film is fictional while loosely based on the memoir.

For me the most stunningly breathtaking moment in the film occurs when Esty auditions at a music school. We are talking real gooseflesh.

DO NOT MISS!

2014, 2015, Amazon Prime, Ambitious Dirty Tricks, Classical musicians, Crude Talk, Feel Good Not For Children, Gay theme, Lesbian Theme, Mostly About Sex, Orchestral Music, Sex Scenes, TV Series, Vulgar

Mozart in the Jungle (2014)

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From Amazon Prime:

A new Amazon Original Series: What happens behind the curtains at the symphony is just as captivating as what happens on stage. Created by Paul Weitz (About a Boy), Roman Coppola (The Darjeeling Limited), and Jason Schwartzman (Rushmore). Brash new maestro Rodrigo (Gael Garcia Bernal) is stirring things up, and young oboist Hailey (Lola Kirke) hopes for her big chance.

Most what this wonderful series is about is music and sex and sex and sex. Get the picture? Also the F-word is used quite a bit. Is it a soap opera? – You bet! Is it something that you do not want to stop watching? – You bet!

Amazon Prime offers free streaming of both seasons, each season containing 10 episodes.

There are too many enjoyable characters to name them all. Gael Garcia Bernal stands out as the young new conductor of the fictitious New York Symphony. Of all the fine female actors, Lola Kirke as Hailey, an aspiring oboist, is probably the second most important character. Malcolm McDowell is perfect as the crusty, aging, and wildly eccentric former conductor.

But don’t miss Bernadette Peters as Gloria, one of the board members. Her character is a non-musician who really wants to be at least an amateur singer. In one memorable scene she gets a chance to sing at an open-mike night where she proves that as a singer she still has what it takes. Think goose flesh.

Give this Amazon Original Series a DO NOT MISS!

2014, Classical musicians, Imperfect, Not Recommended, Nothing special, Suspense, Violent

Grand Piano (2014)

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From Netflix:

A pianist returning to the stage five years after a public meltdown learns that a sniper will shoot him and his wife if he plays just one wrong note. But the gunman’s twisted motives go far deeper than anyone suspects.

Although the idea behind the story is novel (some say ridiculous), the film itself was nothing special. Critics panned the film.

After the film was over I still did not know the motives of the killer. Even Wikipedia offered no clues.

Try some other film.

Acceptable for children, British, Classical musicians, Feel Good For All, Love Story, Melodrama, Senior citizens

Quartet (2012)

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From NetFlix:

A trio of retired opera singers’ annual celebration of Verdi’s birthday sours when their estranged fourth member shows up but refuses to sing. Tensions rise and diva drama erupts — will personal problems prevent the show from going on?

Do not confuse this British film with the American film A Late Quartet.

Maggie Smith (“Downton Abbey”), Tom Courtenay (“The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner”), Billy Connolly (Thomas Bell in “House M.D.”), and Pauline Collins (“Shirley Valentine”) form the quartet of retired opera singers. Michael Gambon (Professor Albus Dumbledore in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2”) is a self-appointed impresario.

They and a large group of retired musicians reside in a beautiful palace-like home for retired musicians set in glorious British countryside. In fact, the other aged actors are real-life retired musicians. Stay for the final credits in which you see for many of these characters a double set of photos: one photo from the present paired with a photo of them in their performing prime.

If nothing else, the scenery is gorgeous and well worth seeing the film on a large screen as we did in a movie house. Additionally the music is wonderful. Although the story is a bit melodramatic, it is still worth the watch.

Enjoy!

2012, Classical musicians, Drama, Marital Infidelity, Orchestral Music, Parkinson's disease, Sex Scenes, Wonderful acting

A Late Quartet (2012)

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From NetFlix:

Tempers flare, old jealousies reignite and new passions are sparked when the members of a world-renowned string quartet are preparing to celebrate their 25th anniversary and learn that their leader must step down due to a grim medical diagnosis.

Do not confuse this film with another 2012 film entitled “Quartet” which features Maggie Smith and others.

Beethoven’s Opus 131 String Quartet belongs to the set of 6 string quartets known as his “late quarrtets”. Thus the name of this film. Moreover the film centers around the professional quartet with the name “The Fugue” getting ready to perform Beethoven’s Opus 131. For the first movement of his Opus 131 (consisting of 7 connected movements with no break between movements) Beethoven wrote a fugue which is a polyphonic (many voiced) musical form heavily used by the composer Bach. Thus the name of the professional quartet.

Christopher Walken, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and Catherine Keener are familiar actors to us all. However the first violinist Daniel Lerner was played by Mark Ivanir who was for me a new face. His first major role was in Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List”.

Clash of personalities is indeed the force behind the story. But of equal importance is the fact that the cellist (Christopher Walken) starts to suffer from Parkinson’s disease. Needless to say he cannot continue to play cello with the quartet. So amidst the other players’ fighting he struggles to keep the quartet alive.

Acting is wonderful in this drama. You will probably enjoy this film more if you are a fan of classical music (or even better a fan of Beethoven’s “Late Quartets”). Throughout, the background music is classical and appropriate.

Hopefully many of you will enjoy this well-done film.