A Late Quartet (2012)

Members of a world-renowned string quartet struggle to stay together in the face of death, competing egos and insuppressible lust.

Director:

Yaron Zilberman

Writers:

Seth Grossman (screenplay), Yaron Zilberman (screenplay),

Stars:

Catherine Keener, Christopher Walken, Philip Seymour Hoffman

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Catherine Keener	...	Juliette Gelbart
Christopher Walken	...	Peter Mitchell
Philip Seymour Hoffman	...	Robert Gelbart
Mark Ivanir	...	Daniel Lerner
Imogen Poots	...	Alexandra Gelbart
Madhur Jaffrey	...	Dr. Nadir
Liraz Charhi	...	Pilar
Wallace Shawn	...	Gideon Rosen
Pamela Quinn	...	Parkinson's Class Instructor
Brooklyn Parkinson Group	...	Parkinson's Class Participants
Cristian Puig	...	Flamenco Guitarist
Rebeca Tomas	...	Flamenco Dancer
Megan McQuillan	...	Sotheby's Executive
David Redden	...	Auctioneer
Ted Hartley	...	Winning Bidder

Storyline

After a classical string quartet's 25 years of success, Peter, the cellist and oldest member, decides that he must retire when he learns he has Parkinson's Disease. For the others, that announcement proves a catalyst for letting their hidden resentments come to the surface while the married members' daughter has disruptive desires of her own. All this threatens to tear the group apart even as they are famous for playing Beethoven's String Quartet No. 14, opus 131, a piece that is played non-stop no matter how life interferes.

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Plot Keywords:

string quartet | instrument maker | marital infidelity | concert | classical music | 

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Taglines:

No arrangement is more beautiful...or more complicated.

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Genres:

Drama | Music

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [jp]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 November 2012 (Canada)

Also Known As:

Keylim shluvim

Filming Locations:

Central Park, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$75,279 (USA) (2 November 2012)

Gross:

$1,561,577 (USA) (8 March 2013)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Opening Night Productions, Concept Entertainment, Unison Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The scene between Christopher Walken and Catherine Keener at the Frick Collection is the first time the Frick allowed filming a scene at their gallery since its opening 75 years ago.

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Goofs

When Peter calls and leaves a message on an answering machine, he identifies himself as Robert.

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Quotes

Juliette Gelbart: Why are you so angry with me? What did I do to cause you to talk to me in this way? I mean, did we just spoil you too much? Is that what it is?
Alexandra Gelbart: Do you think I had fun? Do you think it was fun growing up with two roving quartet players as parents? Who were gone 7 months of the year and I was always taking a back seat to a violin and a viola? Always. Is that fun? Does that seem fun to you?
Juliette Gelbart: You have always been our first priority.
Alexandra Gelbart: That is bullshit! That's bullshit, that's just words. That's ...

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Connections

Featured in Maltin on Movies: Skyfall (2012)

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Soundtracks

"Cello Suite No.4, Prelude and Allemande"
Written by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performed by Nina Lee

User Reviews

The powerful dynamics within a quartet

I was expecting "A Late Quartet" to rely on heady themes of classical musical. Before going into it, I did at least learn some of the emotions that are involved in Beethoven's Opus 131, and interestingly, that was probably enough. I still believe that music fans will get a lot out of it, but it's meant for fans of relationship dramas where the slightest word or indiscretion can do a number on the players' psyches.

The quartet is made up of cellist Peter (Christopher Walken), first violinist Daniel (Mark Ivanir), second violinist Robert (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Juliette (Catherine Keener) on the viola. Peter has just developed Parkinson's disease and is contemplating leaving the quartet. He's the oldest and the de-facto/emotional leader of the group and he's the only one that seems to have matured past the maturity level of a teenager. That's an insult to the other characters, but it works to the benefit of the film.

Daniel as the first violinist is the musical leader. They look to him for which direction their quartet should go musically. Which leaves us with Robert and Juliette, a married couple. Robert has the ego of a leader and Juliette has the determination of a leader. Their emotional instability is set to wreak havoc on the success of the quartet as well as on the life of their daughter Alexandra (Imogen Poots). There are affairs aplenty, passive aggressive snideness, violent outbursts of rage, and so many questionable decisions – on everybody's part. Daniel may be the leader, but depending where your sympathies lie he might also be the worst offender.

Above all else, "A Late Quartet" is an actor's film. Powerhouse performances from Hoffman and Ivanir; a fantastic powerful and sympathetic performance by Poots; and an emotionally strong performance by Keener. And somehow Walken fit in nicely in the more subtle and low- key role. Hoffman is funny when Robert's being passive aggressive, scary when he's mad, sympathetic when he's clueless, and incites our rage/passion when he's in the right. Keener manages to invoke the exact opposite responses through those emotions while Daniel walks the thin line between evil and sympathetic through all of his insidious and, at times, kindhearted moves.

To like this film you will need to be able to get invested in all the relationship dynamics going on. But if you're a fan of any of the five principal actors, that should be pretty easy. I'm in love with Philip Seymour Hoffman and while I didn't think it was possible to top his career best performance in "The Master" (2012), he just may have done that here.