A Late Quartet

A Late Quartet

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Yaron Zilberman
Produced by Yaron Zilberman
Mandy Tagger
Vanessa Coifman
David Faigenblum
Emanuel Michael
Tamar Sela
Written by Yaron Zilberman
Seth Grossman
Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman
Catherine Keener
Christopher Walken
Music by Angelo Badalamenti
Cinematography Frederick Elmes
Edited by Yuval Shar
Production
company
Opening Night Productions
RKO Pictures
Distributed by Entertainment One
Release dates
  • September 10, 2012 (2012-09-10) (TIFF)
  • November 2, 2012 (2012-11-02)
Running time
 105 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Box office $1,562,546[2]

A Late Quartet is a critically acclaimed 2012 American film co-written, with Seth Grossman, and directed by Yaron Zilberman starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christopher Walken, Catherine Keener, Mark Ivanir and Imogen Poots.[3][4] The film premiered in the Special Presentation program at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival. The film was theatrically released in over 30 countries.[5] It was a New York Times Critics' Pick which Stephen Holden called a magnificently acted, "deeply felt, musically savvy film".[6] Rolling Stone's Peter Travers called it "a shining gem of a movie"[7] and Roger Ebert said "it does one of the most interesting things any film can do. It shows how skilled professionals work."[8] On Walken's performance, Lou Lumenick of the New York Post said "you won't see a better piece of acting this year than his final speech."[9]

Inspired by and structured around Beethoven's Op. 131, the film follows the world-renowned Fugue String Quartet after its cellist Peter Mitchell (Christopher Walken) is diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. Cinematographer Frederick Elmes lensed the film and composer Angelo Badalamenti composed the score for the film. The Brentano String Quartet played the quartet music for the soundtrack and Anne Sofie von Otter appears as the cellist's late wife, singing Korngold's "Marietta's Song" from Die tote Stadt.

The film was released in Australia as Performance.

Plot

As the Fugue String quartet approaches its 25th anniversary, the onset of a debilitating illness to cellist Peter Mitchell (Christopher Walken), forces its members to reevaluate their relationships. After being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, Peter announces his decision to play one final concert before he retires. Meanwhile the second violinist, Robert (Philip Seymour Hoffman), voices his desire to alternate the first violinist role, long held by Daniel (Mark Ivanir). Robert is married to Juliette (Catherine Keener), the viola player of the group. Upon discovering Juliette does not support him in this matter, Robert has a one-night stand. Further complicating matters, their daughter, Alexandra (Imogen Poots), begins an affair with Daniel, whom her mother once pined for. Yet bound together by their years of collaboration, the quartet will search for a fitting farewell to their shared passion of music and perhaps even a new beginning.

Cast

Adaptation from source material

The scene in which Peter Mitchell tells his music class an anecdote about meeting Pablo Casals is adapted from an anecdote found in Cellist, the autobiography of cellist Gregor Piatigorsky; the circumstances of the encounter and the pieces played are changed in the film, but Casals's words are essentially identical to those recounted by Piatigorsky.[10]

The subway poetry the Little Girl reads from when Juliette visits Peter is from Ogden Nash's poem "Old Men".

Soundtrack

Reception

A Late Quartet received generally positive reviews, currently holding a 78% "fresh" rating based on 108 critics from Rotten Tomatoes and a 85% from Top Critics.[11]

Production Notes

See also

References

  1. ↑ "A Late Quartet (15)". British Board of Film Classification. March 6, 2013. Retrieved March 7, 2013.
  2. ↑ "A Late Quartet (2012)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
  3. ↑ "A Late Quartet (2012)". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
  4. ↑ Brooks, Katharine (September 11, 2012). "A Late Quartet review". The Huffington Post. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
  5. ↑ Internet Movie Database - A Late Quartet, 2012-11-23, retrieved 2016-09-24
  6. ↑ Holden, Stephen (2012-11-01). "A Late Quartet, Directed by Yaron Zilberman". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-09-24.
  7. ↑ Travers, Peter (November 1, 2012). "A Late Quartet". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2016-09-24.
  8. ↑ Ebert, Roger. "A Late Quartet Movie Review & Film Summary (2012)". www.rogerebert.com. Retrieved 2016-09-24.
  9. ↑ Lumenick, Lou (2012-11-02). "Strikes all the right chords". New York Post. Retrieved 2016-09-24.
  10. ↑ Piatigorsky, Gregor (1965). Cellist (1st ed.). Retrieved July 7, 2013. The greater was my shame and delight when, a few years later, I met Casals in Paris. We had dinner together and played duets for two cellos, and I played for him until late at night. Spurred by his great warmth, and happy, I confessed what I had thought of his praising me in Berlin. He reacted with sudden anger. He rushed to the cello. 'Listen!' He played a phrase from the Beethoven sonata. 'Didn't you play this fingering? Ah, you did! It was novel to me... it was good... and here, didn't you attack that passage with up-bow, like this?' He demonstrated. He went through Schumann and Bach, always emphasizing all he liked that I had done. 'And for the rest,' he said passionately, 'leave it to the ignorant and stupid who judge by counting only the faults. I can be grateful, and so must you be, for even one note, one wonderful phrase.' I left with the feeling of having been with a great artist and a friend.
  11. ↑ "A Late Quartet". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
  12. ↑ "A Late Quartet Press Kit" (PDF).
  13. ↑ Zilberman, Yaron (2012-11-23), A Late Quartet, retrieved 2016-09-24
  14. ↑ Zilberman, Yaron (2012-11-23), A Late Quartet, retrieved 2016-09-24

External links

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