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
Cloris Leachman	...	Assunta
Henry Dinhofer	...	Lexi at 5
Michael Angarano	...	Nick at 7
Robert Ari	...	Supervisor
Aidan Quinn	...	Brian
Teddy Coluca	...	Taxi Driver
Angela Bassett	...	Janet
Josh Pais	...	Dennis
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 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

Did You Know?

Trivia

After Madonna pulled out of the lead role, Sandra Bullock and Meg Ryan were briefly courted before the part went to Meryl Streep.

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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: [after finding out her violin program has just been cut] There's got to be some way we can fight this!
Janet Williams: Fight it for what? I don't have any extra programs I can give them instead.
Roberta Guaspari: Ohhh, I see! After 10 years, after 1400 kids have learned the violin, "this is just an extra program!"
Janet Williams: You know I don't feel that way! And you know *damn* well I've been standing by you all these years! You think I haven't noticed what you've done for these kids?
Roberta Guaspari: Well, then *do* something!
Janet Williams: I have been on that phone for the ...

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Crazy Credits

Please support arts and music education.

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Connections

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

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Soundtracks

Baila
Performed by Jennifer Lopez
Written by Emilio Estefan Jr., Jon Secada, Randall M. Barlow (as Randall Barlow), George Noriega (as George Noreige)
Produced by Emilio Estefan Jr., Randall M. Barlow (as Randall Barlow), and George Noriega for Estefan Enterprises, Inc.
Arranged by Randall M. Barlow (as Randal Barlow), Jon Secada and George Noriega
Jennifer Lopez appears courtesy of Epic/Work
By arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

User Reviews

an inspirational film that will touch everyone

"Music Of The Heart" is an awe-inspiring film that contains outstanding performances from every single actor and actress in the film. From Meryl Streep to Angela Bassett and Aidan Quinn to Gloria Estefan as well as the extras, the actors made "Music Of The Heart" a wonderful film.

Meryl Streep is exceptional in the role of the true life violin teacher who deserves most of the credit for this superbly performed film. The way that Along with Angela Bassett, Gloria Estefan and Aidan Quinn, "Music Of The Heart" is a success.

I particularly enjoyed the scene in which her former students came into the classroom to inspire her current students to doing their best in their concert. However, the best part of the whole film was at Carnegie Hall when the children performed in front of their parents and alongside world renownd violinists such as Itzhak Perlman.

Finally, Hollywood has recognized an excellent true story and brought it to the silver screen. I cannot begin to tell everyone what a movie this was to watch. I can't begin to tell everyone that the performances brought out every positive emotion.

Along the same lines as "Mr Holland's Opus," "Music Of The Heart" follows the life of violin teacher, Roberta Gaspiaurdi from the inception of the music program she created.

"Music Of The Heart" is a film that touched my heart and inspired me into really looking inside myself and want to do charity for others. I highly recommend this movie to everyone because it will move, touch, and inspire.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

29 October 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Fiddlefest

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

Gross USA:

$14,859,394

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$14,936,407

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