Music of the Heart (1999)

Story of a schoolteacher's struggle to teach violin to inner-city Harlem kids.

Director:

Wes Craven

Writer:

Pamela Gray

Stars:

Meryl Streep, Cloris Leachman, Henry Dinhofer

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 5 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Meryl Streep	...	Roberta Guaspari
Cloris Leachman	...	Assunta Guaspari
Henry Dinhofer	...	Lexi at 5
Michael Angarano	...	Nick at 7
Robert Ari	...	Supervisor
Aidan Quinn	...	Brian Turner
Teddy Coluca	...	Taxi Driver
Angela Bassett	...	Principal Janet Williams
Josh Pais	...	Dennis Rausch
Barbara Gonzalez	...	Janet's Secretary
Jade Yorker	...	DeSean at 11
Victoria Gómez	...	Lucy at 10 (as Victoria Gomez)
Justin Pierre Edmund	...	Bongo Kid
Justin 'DJ' Spaulding	...	Naeem Adisa at 9 (as Justin Spaulding)
Zoe Sternbach-Taubman	...	Guadalupe at 9

Storyline

The true story of a young teacher who fights against the board of education in her bid to teach underprivileged kids in a Harlem school the beauty of music through the violin. In her struggle she loses everything as the system comes down on her with all their might but her determination for the kids happiness helps her to battle back with wonderfully inspirational results.

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Plot Keywords:

violin | teacher | school | ghetto | yelling | 

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Taglines:

She gave them a gift they could never imagine. They gave the system a fight it would never forget.

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Genres:

Drama | Music

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for brief mild language and sensuality

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

29 October 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

50 Violins

Filming Locations:

Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$27,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$3,653,281 (USA) (29 October 1999)

Gross:

$14,849,583 (USA) (14 January 2000)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Craven-Maddalena Films, Miramax Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director Wes Craven's first and only non-horror/thriller film.

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Goofs

In one of the classroom scenes early in the movie, Streep is shown wearing boots; when the camera comes back to her later in the same scene, she's wearing shoes instead.

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Quotes

Nick at 17: [after looking at many letters answering a fake singles add they secretly put in the paper for their mom] Come on, Mom, obviously a lot of guys are interested in dating you.
Roberta Guaspari: No, a lot of guys are interested in dating *you*! And Lexi!... What did you say about me, anyways?

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Crazy Credits

Please support arts and music education.

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Connections

Referenced in Film Geek (2005)

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Soundtracks

"Down by Law"
Performed by M.C. Shan (as MC Shan)
Written by M.C. Shan (as Shawn Moltke) and Marley Marl (as Marlon Williams)
Courtesy of Songs of Marl and Third Power Enterprise Inc.

User Reviews

One of the best movies of all time

I happened to be clicking through the channels & this was on. I was instantly hooked mainly because of Meryl (I had heard so much about her). She's so great in this movie. I cried when she cried & I actually felt myself drawn in. Incredible. I could watch this a million times & never tire of it. It is an absolute gem! so you know, Meryl Streep is one of my favourites now!(I can't believe she didn't win!!) The music was great to listen to (The real life musicians were a real bonus)& now I wish I could play the violin! This movie has had a powerful impact on me mainly because I knew it was a true story. If you are looking for a movie about real-life issues you can watch with all your family or alone this is highly recommended. If only Hollywood made more movies like this one.