Movies about music
As far as I've seen, there is no such topic in this forum, therefore I'm starting one. I will of course begin with movies about classical music, of which I can think of the following:
Tous les matins du monde
The pianist
Shine
The competition
Immortal beloved
Copying Beethoven
Amadeus
Madame Sousatska
The piano
Music of the heart
Prova d’ orchestra
La pianiste
Impromptu
Mr Holland’s Opus
August Rush
The red violin
Hilary and Jackie
Les choristes
There is a movie from the 1950's called A Song to Remember starring Cornell Wilde as Chopin. It's an odd name considering there are no songs involved that I recall. Must be a Hollywood thing.
Very late one night when I couldn't sleep I turned on the TV. There was this period movie, foreign language (non-English) about a female cellist. The movie seemed pretty good but I was really tired so kept drifting in and out of it. I've always wanted to see the movie again, from the beginning this time, but never knew the name of the movie.
At the time what I found intriguing about it was the cellists all used an underhand bowing technique which I'd never seen before. Since then I've gotten interested in art and have noticed that in the older paintings when a group of musicians are shown the cellists are using that same underhand bowing.
Then the instrument you saw was probably not the cello but its predecessor, the viola da gamba, and the movie was Tous les matins du monde, with Gerard Depardieu, a French movie about a viola da gamba player and composer named Marin Marais. You should check him out.
Thanks for the information. Never heard of the composer but would like to watch the movie again. I see it was at the top of your list.Originally Posted by danae
Here's a few more I just thought of.
Wagner: The Complete Epic - starring Richard Burton, this however is utterly unwatchable, even by the staunchest music fan.
Beethoven Lives Upstairs -- this is a short piece, more of a coming of age story or after school special than it is about Beethoven, but not bad overall.
Eroica -- this is part film, part documentary about the private debut of Beethoven's Symphony No. 3. It is far more fiction than fact -- for instance it shows Haydn at the premier and if I remember my history correctly he was not. There is a very nice scene in which the actor paying Haydn (and he looks very much like him) has a poignant, proud, yet slightly sorrowful look as he realizes the young Beethoven has changed music forever. I enjoyed this film.
Lisztomania: a reliable biography of Franz Liszt. Makes you understand what music really is, and how great composer Liszt was.
Oh yeah I've seen that one!! I remember it! It's really really bad isn't it? It's fun though, in this mazochistic wierd sort of way...
La tourneuse des pages: A girl completely breaks down a pianist's career and personal life (epic win)
Le roi danse: dramatised version of Luly at Louis XIV's court.
Farinelli
Fantasia (both of them)
Thirty Two Short Films about Glenn Gould
Prova d'orchestra
Mahler
The Music Lovers (about the life of Tchaikovsky ironically played by Richard Chamberlain long before he came out of the closet)
Waltzes from Vienna (about Johann Strauss)
The Great Waltz (also about Strauss)
The Opera Lover
Song Without End (about Liszt)
The Great Mr. Handel
Appassionata
Broken Strings
Concerto in B Flat Minor
Ok its not classical but August Rush is a great film!
I also loved Shine but my partner hated it! (I hope my kids grow up to like classical so i have someone to share it with)
The only musical film I have is Amadeus which is fun if not historically correct.
Now the first film at the start of this thread,Tous les matins du monde, I'm sure thats the film I saw a few years ago and couldn't remember the title. Concerns Scarlatti?
And all those moments are soon lost,like tears in the rain•••
You can say that again! Pure crap, designed to appeal to the lower instincts. As for the music, it's rotten, being of 'Marriner' design. The great Mozart-killer. How the critics raved, everything he did was SOOO fantastic. They stopped praising him, one by one, and today - luckily - he is seldom mentioned among the greats.
Listen to Mozart when Karajan directs for instance, what a difference! Marriner is dry as sandpaper in comparision.
As for movies, LA TRAVIATA with Violetta Stratas
Well I enjoy amadeus anyway. I would like to see an accurate film of Mozart but you see I watch Amadeus as a bit of fun,a romp. The problem is when people take it seriously and say Oh mozart would never behave like that etc. We all KNOW that already, but its possible to enjoy it on a non intellectual level. The only problem with such movies is when non classical fans watch it and imagine thats how things were.
But really I'll watch any musical biopic,they're shown very rarely and you can guarantee when they are shown I'll miss it!
I do want a few more in my collection,namely Immortal Beloved. Only seen it once. And a film about Schubert would be nice to see!
And all those moments are soon lost,like tears in the rain•••
Yes of course. I have seen a real Mozart movie many years ago, a german TV production, then I thought it fantastic, but today I would'nt know. As for ppl thinking that this is what Mozart is, yes I think that is terrible...
A Schubert movie would be great if it was made as a real movie and not just out 'to shock'.
Somebody mentioned " A song to remember" with Cornell Wilde, it was a Godawful stinkie! So bad that one laughed.
Thats the problem tho isn't it. The big producers are only likely to make a movie is there's some shock value or controversy and I suppose if there is none they make it up!
But dear Hollywood,not everyone wants shock and schlock,a good story would be nice! And lots of people are interested in such things!
And all those moments are soon lost,like tears in the rain•••
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