Without its characters, A Late Quartet has very little. Without its astonishing actors, it has no character. It is true, A Late Quartet will not appeal to everybody – it is very much based on passion for classical music – but for those audacious enough to see this movie and move past the music to the characters it presents us with, it is a very fulfilling, bittersweet portrait of human relationships and existence. Featuring one of the strongest ensembles in recent history, it tells the story of string quartet The Fugue, who are still at the top of their game after 25 years of touring the world and playing to refined audiences, but suddenly cracks start to emerge when the unofficial leader of the troupe may not be able to play again.
The incredible Christopher Walken plays Peter, the sagely cellist 20 years senior to the rest of the group, whose recent bereavement of his wife and now shattering diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease, leave him existential and unsure about the future of his beloved four-piece. Walken’s exorbitant talent for communicating many personalities and feelings through an expressionless face gives the character its vital intrigue, and provides the audience with its emotional identification with him.
Shattered by the heart-wrenching personal struggles of her lifelong father-figure, Juliette (on viola – Catherine Keener) and her second-violinist husband Robert (Philip Seymour Hoffman) soon find tension simmering in their own relationship; between her sorrow over Peter’s illness, and Robert’s insatiable idea of it as an opportunity to play the solos. Meanwhile, first violinist Daniel (Mark Ivanir) is serious about everybody’s roles within the quartet and within his private instruction: Juliette and Robert’s daughter Alexandra in particular.
Throughout many profound and often somber events in the unraveling of the quartet, there are dashes of unusual humour and light-heartedness, which acts as one of several methods of realism. The situations, and the flow of events, are tangibly believable, and dialogue is performed so naturally: people talk over each other extensively when fighting, rather than taking it in turns so every word is heard, and there are appropriate pauses of hesitation and contemplation. This realistic effect gives us an almost voyeuristic feeling at times, as if we are just gazing over the characters’ shoulders.
The leading group of actors deserve total recognition for the success of this picture. It is curious that while they have all served well in comedic roles – Walken especially – with good timing and delivery, they all perform such captivating personalities and emotions and situations. This is a line-up of versatile, gifted actors who produce real on-screen chemistry with one another. Their 25 year past is worn on each of them; in their faces and their attitudes, and we never once doubt that their struggles are real.
Throughout the movie, given the opening ultimatum of Peter making this season his last and the Fugue having to find a new cellist, we are left wondering how it will end. A turnabout happy ending? A miraculous recovery from Parkinson’s? True to the entire film, the ending is realistic, graceful and to an extent, comforting. We still wonder about the unresolved disputes between the quartet, but the writers couldn’t have created a more appropriate ending. It is grand, yet grave.
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