Basic Info
Title: A Late Quartet
Genre: Drama
Country: United States
Language: English
Running time: 105 minutes
Release date: September 10, 2012 (TIFF), November 2, 2012
Staff
Director: Yaron Zilberman
Producer: Yaron Zilberman, Mandy Tagger, Vanessa Coifman, David Faigenblum, Emanuel Michael, Tamar Sela
Written by: Yaron Zilberman, Seth Grossman
Music: Angelo Badalamenti
Cinematography: Frederick Elmes
Edited by: Yuval Shar
Cast
Philip Seymour Hoffman as Robert Gelbart
Christopher Walken as Peter Mitchell
Catherine Keener as Juliette Gelbart
Mark Ivanir as Daniel Lerner
Imogen Poots as Alexandra Gelbart
Anne Sofie von Otter as Miriam
Madhur Jaffrey as Dr. Nadir
Liraz Charhi as Pilar
Wallace Shawn as Gideon Rosen
Summary
“A Late Quartet” is a 2012 American film directed by Yaron Zilberman, which premiered in the Special Presentation program at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival. The film has been theatrically released in over 30 countries and received generally positive reviews.
Inspired by and structured around Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 14, Op. 131, this film tells the story of the world famous Fugue String Quartet after its cellist Peter Mitchell (starring Christopher Walken) is diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.
The Brentano String Quartet from the United States played the string quartet music for the soundtrack, and Swedish mezzo-soprano singer Anne Sofie von Otter appears as the cellist's late wife, singing "Marietta's Song" from three-act opera “Die tote Stadt” by Erich Wolfgang Korngold.
Anne Sofie von Otter
Plot
As the 25th anniversary of the Fugue String quartet approaches, cellist Peter Mitchell is diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, and then the members reevaluates their relationship. Peter, diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, considers the 25th anniversary concert as his last concert and suggests playing Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 14, Op. 131, which is famous for its high difficulty. (Continue)
Movie Review
“A tender, beautiful film that stirs feelings of sadness, contempt & judgment”
“Simply Excellent”
“Touches on many broad themes”
“Moving, subtle, musically insightful...great stuff”
Interesting stories about the film
1. The scene when Peter Mitchell tells students about an anecdote of meeting the legendary cellist Pablo Casals in his music class is a real incident that happened to another legendary cellist, Gregor Piatigorsky, which is found in Gregor's autobiography "Cellist".
Pablo Casals
Gregor Piatigorsky
2. The concert scene in the film was played at the Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was the same stage where the legendary Guarneri Quartet held its farewell concert in 2009 after 45 years of playing together.
The Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Guarneri Quartet
3. T. S. Eliot's Four Quartets, which Peter reads at the beginning of the film was inspired by Beethoven's late quartets.
T. S. Eliot
Thank you.
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