Tuesday 8 January 2013

Quartet

director: Dustin Hoffman
year: 2012
with: Maggie Smith, Tom Courtenay, Billy Connolly, Pauline Collins, etc.



story: The inhabitants of a retirement home for former musicians and opera singers prepare for their annual concert when former star soprano Jean Horton moves in and brings trouble...

what I liked: a beautiful English country house, Dame Maggie Smith, classical music and some theatrical backstage magic and eccentric characters spell my sort of setting.
I really liked the idea of showing old pictures of the actors during the end credits, added to the feeling that they all were young and successful once...Another plus was that the final sung quartet from Rigoletto was heard but we didn´t see it - there is nothing more cringe-worthy then watching actors pretend they can sing.

what I didn´t like: Billy Connolly. -  I hate his Scottish accent, don´t find him funny as a stand-up and found him fairly annyoing in this film too. And the scene when a school class works out that opera and hip hop are actually very similar - if all classes were that tame, enthusiastic and behaved even I would consider a career in teaching lol

verdict: A nice little film though not very realistic. Nothing spectacular but worth it...and even if it´s only to hear Maggie Smith say "Fuck you" on the screen :-)

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