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 | female protagonist | musician | 

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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 USA:

$3,653,281, 31 October 1999, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$14,859,394

Company Credits

Production Co:

Craven-Maddalena Films,Miramax

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Immediately following a phenomenally successful preview screening of the original Scream (1996), Bob and Harvey Weinstein offered Wes Craven a three picture deal, two of which were to be horror films, the last of which was to be "a petticoat film" (i.e. a costume drama for which the Weinsteins were known at the time) which Craven, a fan of classical music, chose to be this film.

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Goofs

In the very opening sequence, Roberts picks up a picture with her right hand, and holds the picture in the middle of the edge. In the next cut, her fingers have move from the top corner to the middle. Then when she goes to tear it, she moves her right hand first, but in the next cut, her left hand is at the top of the photo.

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Quotes

Roberta Guaspari: This beautiful concert that you've just heard could be the very last concert for the East Harlem Violin Program. The board of education and the district attorney think that music isn't important. But they are wrong! And they're gonna get a *big* fight!
[thunderous applause]

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Crazy Credits

Please support arts and music education.

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Connections

Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Music of the Heart/House on Haunted Hill/Being John Malkovich/Princess Mononoke (1999)

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Soundtracks

Minuet No. 1
Performed by Young Musicians Foundation
Written by Johann Sebastian Bach (as J.S. Bach)
Arranged by Dr. Shinichi Suzuki
Courtesy of Warner Chappell Music Inc.
By Arrangement with Summy-Birchard, a division of Warner Bros. Publications

User Reviews

A truly amazing movie that is actually Wes Craven's best film.

Can you picture this odd couple: Meryl Streep stars in a Wes Craven movie? Seems like a joke at first, but it really isn't. "Music of the Heart" is the second film that horror director Wes Craven has made and surpasses his first non-horror film, "Vampire in Brooklyn".

It based on the life of Roberta Guaspari (Streep), a violin teacher who moves to East Harlem with her two sons after her husband left her for another woman. Roberta starts a program of her own, teaching young kids how to play the violin. One mother of one of her students describes it as "dead white man music", but Roberta uses the late Arthur Ashe, who was black and a great tennis player as a great example. In another scene, the mother tells Roberta that she was right.

Ten years later, Roberta has taught over a thousand children how to play the violin and some of her former students have either gone onto college or become violinists. A problem surfaces, the superintendent and board of education have made budget cuts. Roberta is told by Janet Williams (Angela Bassett), the princpal that the music program has been cut.

So Roberta vows to keep the program alive and gets the idea of having a benefit concert. She gets help from some of her friends and some parents to help promote the concert and the place where it'll be held. Bad news, the first place where the concert is going to be held in has a flood. The only other place that is mentioned is Carnegie Hall in Philadelphia.

The concert scene is one of the best scenes in the movie. Some of Roberta's first students come back to join some of current her pupils. Also, some of the best-known violinists in the world have come as well, Issac Stern, Mark O'Connor, Arnold Steinhardt, and Itzhak Perlman are among them. Watching O'Connor play was fun to see. I admit that is the concert is memorable and great to watch as the one put up in "The Blues Brothers".

The emotional energy in this film never lets down at one moment. Bassett, Quinn, and Jay O. Sanders are good in their supporting roles. The movie is great and it stays with the story. Wes Craven deserved an Oscar nomination for Best Director and Streep is great.