Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Good piano movies? besides shine

I watched Shine last night, and quite liked it. Any other recomendations for good piano movies?

The Competition (with Richard Dreyfuss and Amy Irving)

Intermezzo (with Ingrid Bergman--Rubinstein coached Bergman for this film)

The Accompanist (French film, quite good)

If you want something pretty bizarre, check out Fingers, with Harvey Keitel.

koji (STSD)

I liked The Competition alot too.

I am also interested in hearing about these.. In fact any movie which has a plot that integrates classical music is cool, like The Red Violin.

I'm also wondering about novels, either ficitional or biographical, or whatever, just as long as they read like a novel and not a textbook-like biography, that have to do with piano/pianists.

Amadeus and Immortal Beloved...Amadeus is about Mozart and Immortal Beloved is about Beethoven there both in my like top 5 favorite movies ever there really good.

The Piano Teacher is an, um, interesting film...!

(Not one for the family, though.)


David

I was flipping through channels one evening and that was on showcase or some artsy channel. I thought .. oh cool a music movie... now I'm a little scarred for life..

Yes, the playing in it is awful, isn't it?


David

legend of 1900, with Tim Roth as the pianist on the ship.

Straight, No Chaser (about Thelonius Monk) is also really good.

koji (STSD)

I loved this movie. Though I'm not sure how I didn't realize it was Tim Roth. I actually went and checked when I read this because I was sure it wasn't. So much for being infallible.

Movies: "The Piano" with Holly Hunter, "The Pianist" with Adrian Brody. Books: "The Piano Tuner," by Daniel Mason, is very interesting and exotic.

Very disturbing, but an incredibly powerful film.

Ray. This movie blew me away. The playing was excellent. I actually picked up some things from seeing it. Its coming out on video in about a week. I'll be there on day one to buy it.

i was told there's a movie about chopin, but i can't recall the name.. help? lol

Impromptu, it's rather dreadful. Although Julian Sands bears a striking resemblence to Liszt in his blonde wig.

koji (STSD)

Was the movie in Polish, with a Polish Title, i remember seeing a movie about Chopin aswell.

I recently saw a Polish movie about chopin. It was the worst movie I've ever seen, and I'm glad I didn't see all of it... Most of the time, he was arguing with whoever he had a relationship with at that time (don't remember her name). The arguing was mostly about that she didn't want to have as much sex as he wanted to. When Chopin wasn't arguing about that, he was playing piano and during that time other people argued about why he had to play so much.

After watching half of it, I couldn't stand it anymore. The rest of the family watched the whole movie, and they said that I hadn't missed anything. They kept arguing about the same BS throughout the movie...

Remember Roger Ebert's first law of film: a film is not what it's about but how it's about it.

Song of Love Released 1947. 
Starring: Katharine Hepburn as Clara Wieck Schumann

I saw this movie on TCM one night.

I liked it.

Madam Sousatska is a pretty good movie.......I'm kinda surprised it has't come up yet!

My teacher said that Amadeus is a very good movie.

For the book suggestion I read one a while ago called "Prodigy"; really short, but quite good. It uses streaming consciousness in the view point of a 5 year old, so it's very interesting.

And thanks a lot for the movie suggestions.

I have yet to see a good piano movie - if one comes along, lemme know...

How about 1945's "A Song to Remember" with the robust, darkly handsome and hale-looking Cornel Wilde as Chopin and Merle Oberon as George Sand?

About as far from accuracy as Hollywood could get, but Chopin's piano music, however, was played by Jose Iturbi, a better-than-average pianist of his day.

Regards,

A while back a few members here recommended the book "Body and Soul" by Frank Conroy. I just finished it last month and it was terrific, about a young prodigy, growing up neglected by his mother and raised and trained by others who see his talent. Couldn't put it down!

My favs:

The Piano

Immortal Beloved

The Pianist

Tirez sur le Pianiste (Francois Truffaut)

amadeus was in fact a very well made movie.

ironically though it revolves around a contraversy which isn't historically valid, and so movie itself doesn't paint a good picture of reality. sadly though, most common people believe it is.

I think "well made" is an understatement. It won best picture amongst many other accolades. Since the movie is not intended to be a biography, in accuratacies are forgivable.

Song of Norway.

I loved Amadeus and Immortal Beloved. The issue of whether they are historically accurate aside, they are good movies and the music and movie go well together, making both a joy to watch IMO.

I liked the music in the Piano (Holly Hunter) and think it's a good movie, but I NEVER want to see it again, the thumb thing is too much for me!

I enjoyed the Pianist, although that movie is also distressing.

Legend of 1900 and Shine were both good too. 1900 is a more light-hearted movie, and the piano battle is fun.

It's is not a music movie, but I enjoyed the music in the Thomas Crown Affair (with Pierce what's his name? right?)

What is Intermezzo about?

How about the Red Violin? Any good?

"SONG WITHOUT END" it's a biography on Liszt when he was in his 20's. I'm surprised it hasn't come up. it was a fairly popular movie, probably can be found at any local video store. That being said the movie isn't great by any means...I mean as a pianist it's fun to watch and Bolet plays the music in it. There's quite a bit of performance action and musical references to enjoy...but like Wagner and Chopin and Thalberg are all really, really weird looking. The acting is terrible...but whatever I've seen worse and it's a fun movie, hey it's Liszt caught up in a love triangle on tour.

I really enjoyed one documentary (that didn't seem as dull as most documentaries do at all!) in particular, which was "32 Short Films About Glen Gould". Very artistic and the autobiographical ones really provide insight as to the interesting personality behind his recordings that many are already familiar with.

Red violin is a violin movie, and it is good. the film score by John Corgliano(? never know how to spell it) is beautiful.

Most of the instrumentalist, composer, dancer films have been unswervingly ghastly. From absolute inaccuracy to bad acting, they pick "music" films to trash...

I still say, if you ever see a good one, lemme know...BTW, I would hesitatingly suggest that just perhaps Hugh Grant was, indeed, the best Chopin and that's not saying much...

I've never heard of "The Piano Teacher" what's the deal with that? sounds like it freaked some people out! strange.... whatever

The Red Shoes (1948, starring moira shearer, marius goring, and aton walbrook) is an excellent movie! It isn't exactly a music/piano film. It's about a dancer, a composer, and an impresario. The music is great btw. If you're into dance at all you'll probably really enjoy it. It's really beautifully done.

Quidam, I haven't seen "The Piano Teacher", but I just read a summary of it at IMDB.com:

"How far is a man willing to go to be with the woman he wants? Erika is a veteran piano instructor at a famous music conservatory in Vienna. Erika is highly respected for her remarkable talent and strong discipline, but she's also known to be a harsh taskmistress and does not suffer fools gladly; among her students, Erika's class is considered a highly rewarding challenge, but difficult to weather. Erika seems to get her stern and unforgiving nature from her mother, with whom she still lives, and without a husband or a lover, Erika satisfies her strong but frequently perverse sexual appetites through extreme porn videos, voyeurism, and masturbatory practices that sometimes involve pain and self-mutilation. Erika discovers she has attracted the attentions of one of her students, Walter, a gifted and good-looking young man who does not seem at all put off by her icy personality. She refuses to acknowledge Walter's romantic overtures, but when he rises to the defense of a fellow student after a recital, Erika is enraged, and Walter pursues her, finally following her as she storms off to the women's room. Erika abruptly approaches Walter in a rough sexual fashion, but refuses to fully satisfy him until he is willing to allow her to control the relationship. When Walter becomes aware of just how much pain and humiliation is involved in Erika's erotic bill of fare, he refuses to participate, but in time his attraction to her causes him to weaken, and he begins to accede to her sexual demands."


I think I will miss that one.

"The Pianist" was an awful movie, but a good movie. Or the other way around? It was very well done, but the true story is terrible. The book wasn't well-written, but the point gets across.

I heard "Mr. Holland's Opus" is good.

-- Why????????

I like classical music videos. I don't think that's necessarily what you're looking for, though!

In what movie does Hugh Grant play Chopin? Haven't heard of that one yet.

Impromptu.

Julian Sands redeems it.

"The Enigma" (about Sviatoslav Richter) and "The Gift of Music" (about Evgeny Kissin) are great documentaries.

I also heard that "Hilary and Jackie" is good, but I guess that's not really a piano movie (it's about the cellist Jacqueline du Pré)

I second Madame Souzatska. I love the Schumann Piano Concerto.

Definitely "Intermezzo" with Ingrid Bergman. A must see. Way melodramatic and a little campy in retrospect, but still a great bit of really good Hollywood kitch. Very entertaining!

I can't believe this hasn't had a mention:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067419/plotsummary

That movie about the self-absorbed woman who carts her little girl and horrid piano halfway 'round the globe while the surf sprays saltwater all over it and that really gross guy, Harvey Keitel? was it, was her love interest, yuk. Where was it set? French Guinea? Gabon? or was it Sri Lanka? Labored and painful, wherever it was...

That's a GREAT movie. Even if it isn't about piano, it's still about music and musicians. GREAT music too.

How about Rhapsody in Blue (The George Gershwin Story)? It stars Robert Alda (Alan's father) as George Gershwin. Movie also features Oscar Levant.

"Hilary and Jackie" is really good, IMHO. Great acting for starters, and it's a pretty good view of the pressure, work and stress of being a reasonable musician living in the shadow of a remarkable musician (Hilary), and being a remarkable musician and having to live up to the hype every time you play (Jackie).

Not at all flattering to Jackie as an individual, though, IIRC. Barenboim came off pretty well.

I just finished reading Frank Conroy's Body and Soul - a recommendation I got off PW. It was a great read!A lot of musical and human interest.

I have to agree that there are a lot of well done "piano" movies out there. BUT.... when it comes to watching true genius at the keys, the tip of my hat has to go to the one, the only, that "Great Dane" himself..... Victor Borge.

Lets face it, after a long and frustrating practice session, nothing beats popping in a Victor Borge video just to remind yourself that you should never take yourself or the piano too seriously!!

After all, who else could take a simple word like "wonderful" and expand it to "twoderful"

Nina, did you read the book first? I finished it on the bus ride to the NY PW party. Facinating and sounds like the movie gave the same impression of the book...The book ended very much as a call for more research on MS...Must rent the movie next..

As for "music" movies, besides "The Red Violin" one of my other favorites is a Chinese film called "Together". About a boy, a violin prodigy, in a small village in China and his father's sacrifice to bring him to Bejing for training to become something great...Get out the tissues for that one!

holy wow the piano teacher would be scarring to watch!.... yikes!

Hilary and Jackie... hmm will definitely check that out! I think it was on TV a long time ago (on one of the movie channels anyway) but for some reason the first thing that popped into my head was Hilary Clinton and Jackie Kennedy, so I passed. darn. that was dumb. Have to fire up the good old amazon.com! Did someone say that there was a book too?

Jackie du Pré is amazing. I lent one of her recordings of the Saint-Saens A Minor Concerto to a friend of mine, which he's performing with our high school orchestra this June, and he didn't return the CD for nine months. I reminded him lotsen, but he just didn't want to give it back!

(By the way, 'lotsen' is one of my new favorite adjectives, since I saw it in the score of Percy Grainger's "Molly on the Shore" - that piece contains such cool directions, let me tell you! )

lotsen! lol! another recent nonsense adjective I've met was "messful." much more effective when said out loud. I have heard that Jackie Du Pre is amazing, but I've never heard a recording of her

Mr. Holland's Opus!