Maestro - The Movie

[gradus]

The dialogue sometimes verged on mumbling, at least on our TV via Netflix. I found Cooper's version of Bernstein unappealing, was he actually like the actor's impersonation or is it a parody? But I liked the musical excerpts. How on earth did the actors survive the incessant smoking. Some views of Bernstein remind me of Depardieu's treatment currently- a figure so culturally significant that for some he transcends all moral judgements.
Does anyone know what the piano piece is that introduces the film?

[Ein Heldenleben]

The dialogue sometimes verged on mumbling, at least on our TV via Netflix. I found Cooper's version of Bernstein unappealing, was he actually like the actor's impersonation or is it a parody? But I liked the musical excerpts. How on earth did the actors survive the incessant smoking. Some views of Bernstein remind me of Depardieu's treatment currently- a figure so culturally significant that for some he transcends all moral judgements.
Does anyone know what the piano piece is that introduces the film?

Yes I was wondering that . On the subtitles it says Postlude Act One . By referring to the many sites that list the music featured that must be Postlude to Act One A Quiet Place. I’ve never heard the opera which is a sequel to Trouble In Tahiti . Having heard that piano reduction I must hear the whole thing.
PS Bernstein has never been accused of non -consensual sex. He was a genius and and Depardieu is just a once good actor who is now burnt -out talent . . No one , how matter how talented , transcends all moral judgements. Not even Wagner - the prime example of such a figure,

[richardfinegold]

[QUOTE=richardfinegold;n1294888]

I enjoyed it too although I certainly couldn't hear/understand all the dialogue.[/

we streamed it on Netflix. I had my newish hearing aids, and we were watching on a new LG TV that we had bought and installed at my mother in laws house, and had the close caption option. Midway my left hearing aid began to distort, so we paused it and I removed them. Perhaps it was the closed captions, but I had no trouble hearing the dialogue after I removed them. I think the TV does a pretty good job with dialog

Got my hearing aids checked yesterday. The are working fine, and I was told that the distortion that developed during Maestro was probably due to perspiration. I do sweat a lot. There are apparently two types of technology used to deal with this so apparently it’s a common problem

[richardfinegold]

Yes I was wondering that . On the subtitles it says Postlude Act One . By referring to the many sites that list the music featured that must be Postlude to Act One A Quiet Place. I’ve never heard the opera which is a sequel to Trouble In Tahiti . Having heard that piano reduction I must hear the whole thing.
PS Bernstein has never been accused of non -consensual sex. He was a genius and and Depardieu is just a once good actor who is now burnt -out talent . . No one , how matter how talented , transcends all moral judgements. Not even Wagner - the prime example of such a figure,

Lumping Bernstein and Depardieu together makes no sense. One was just an actor. Bernstein had careers in composing, performing, education, and on it goes. He was absolutely unique.
I have no opinion about his private morality. It does count for something in that he apparently , as far as we know, never used his immense authority in a coercive fashion. As portrayed in the movie, his wife knew that he had relationships with men when they first met. Perhaps he had promised to be monogamous with her, but that isn’t made explicit. She seems to have been bothered more by his lack of discretion. It is a private matter and unfortunate that this is the focus of the movie, given that there probably never will be a cinematic treatment that will attempt to do full justice to his many talents.

[gradus]

Yes I was wondering that . On the subtitles it says Postlude Act One . By referring to the many sites that list the music featured that must be Postlude to Act One A Quiet Place. I’ve never heard the opera which is a sequel to Trouble In Tahiti . Having heard that piano reduction I must hear the whole thing.
PS Bernstein has never been accused of non -consensual sex. He was a genius and and Depardieu is just a once good actor who is now burnt -out talent . . No one , how matter how talented , transcends all moral judgements. Not even Wagner - the prime example of such a figure,

I suppose it was reading a piece in today's Observer that brought the case of Depardieu to mind and Macron's controversial defence of him on pretty much the grounds that Depardieu's genius places him beyond the range of moral censure and legal sanctions that apply to everyone else - not that Bernstein had the law on his tail..

[Ein Heldenleben]

Lumping Bernstein and Depardieu together makes no sense. One was just an actor. Bernstein had careers in composing, performing, education, and on it goes. He was absolutely unique.
I have no opinion about his private morality. It does count for something in that he apparently , as far as we know, never used his immense authority in a coercive fashion. As portrayed in the movie, his wife knew that he had relationships with men when they first met. Perhaps he had promised to be monogamous with her, but that isn’t made explicit. She seems to have been bothered more by his lack of discretion. It is a private matter and unfortunate that this is the focus of the movie, given that there probably never will be a cinematic treatment that will attempt to do full justice to his many talents.

Couldn’t agree more . Although I found the film interesting LB’s life was so much more than a soap opera and he wasn’t really a tortured genius at all.The real tension in his life was his growing realisation that he had spent too much time conducting and living it up and not enough composing . Though perhaps the creative tanks were running dry. It’s a conundrum.

[Dave2002]

Lumping Bernstein and Depardieu together makes no sense. One was just an actor. Bernstein had careers in composing, performing, education, and on it goes. He was absolutely unique.

Yes!

I have no opinion about his private morality. It does count for something in that he apparently , as far as we know, never used his immense authority in a coercive fashion. As portrayed in the movie, his wife knew that he had relationships with men when they first met.

Yes, and they became engaged soon afterwards. However that was broken off, and it was several years later that they decided to get married. Letters - perhaps recently released - indicate that Felicia was prepared to "give it a go".

[Perhaps he had promised to be monogamous with her, but that isn’t made explicit. She seems to have been bothered more by his lack of discretion.

It seems unlikely that LB ever promised to be monogamous. Lack of discretion does seem to have been the case, though apart from the sex issues, they appeared to have very aligned values.

It is a private matter and unfortunate that this [presumably the sex issues] is the focus of the movie, given that there probably never will be a cinematic treatment that will attempt to do full justice to his many talents.

Surely that is the whole point of the movie! It is not a film about music, or only about LB. If it were, then other references to music could have been used to extend this.

Some people who like LB's performances and music have been put off by what the film perhaps attempts to reveal, and several music "fans" have stated that they would rather have had a film about the music. It is what it is ... We can't force film makers to only make films which put a gloss on things - to avoid upsetting some who might watch their work.

Maybe Felicia wanted children, and that seems to have worked. Lenny did appear to be concerned for his children, and spent considerable time with Felicia when she was dying.

An unusual relationship, but clearly not totally impossible.

[richardfinegold]

Yes!



An unusual relationship, but clearly not totally impossible.

There was a movie about Cole Porter starring Kevin Kline, where his fiancée was fully aware of his proclivities and per the movie helped facilitate his liasons

[Serial_Apologist]

There was a movie about Cole Porter starring Kevin Kline, where his fiancée was fully aware of his proclivities and per the movie helped facilitate his liasons

I used to think it strange that some women went for gay men, until I watched a programme in which several women were in agreement that gay men were often (a) very handsome, (b) had good dress sense and looked after themselves, (c) tended to be fastidious tidyers, unlike many straight men! (d) had good taste generally, especially in food, and (e) were great on interior design!

[duncan]

I used to think it strange that some women went for gay men, until I watched a programme in which several women were in agreement that gay men were often (a) very handsome, (b) had good dress sense and looked after themselves, (c) tended to be fastidious tidyers, unlike many straight men! (d) had good taste generally, especially in food, and (e) were great on interior design!

Gay or bisexual men may also be relaxed about wives' sexual proclivities which may suit the wives if these are divergent from the cultural norms of the time and place. Or a bisexual man who only takes male lovers might be less likely to abandon their wife than a heterosexual philanderer. Or, more straightforwardly, people tolerate spouses' philandering of any variety if the spouse is an exciting, rich, high status personality. I'm not implying any of these are the case with Felicia.

I enjoyed Maestro as a big, bold portrait of a complex, contradictory couple, that happened to be set in the world of classical music. As with Tar, it wasn't really about classical music and yet simultaneously assumed the viewer would have a fairly good knowledge of the world.

[Bella Kemp]

It's a great, sprawling film that lacks focus - but maybe that's how Bernstein himself was. I enjoyed it because I know the music and know the characters - those cameos of famous musicians of the time were delightful - but, as others have said here, they mean nothing to those viewers who don't know the background. There is a wonderful Deutsche Gramophon recording of Copland's Third Symphony conducted by Bernstein, with a touching photograph of the two on the cover, when Copland was beset with Alzheimers. Somehow, seeing the two of them as young men in this film made that picture all the more poignant and sent me back to this magnificent recording.