… will it make me annoyed? I wonder.
“August Rush” tells the story of a charismatic young Irish guitarist (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) and a sheltered young cellist (Keri Russell) who have a chance encounter one magical night above New York’s Washington Square, but are soon torn apart, leaving in their wake an infant, August Rush, orphaned by circumstance. Now performing on the streets of New York and cared for by a mysterious stranger (Robin Williams), August (Freddie Highmore) uses his remarkable musical talent to seek the parents from whom he was separated at birth.
Hmmm. Doesn’t really sound promising to me.
I want to start a list of movies that are about musicians (in the classical awesome style. I’m even listing some that aren’t really about the music so much, but contain at least an oboe (!) or some bit of classical music that makes it of interest to me. Anyone wanna help with this? Please note, some of these may be awful! I’ve not seen many. I’ve put an asterisk by movies I’ve seen. Just FYI. (One asterisk means I’ve seen it. Two means I’ve seen it and oboe is featured. Three means oboe is featured but I’ve yet to see it.)
Humoresque (1920)
Intermezzo (1936)
The Great Waltz (1938)
Intermezzo (1939)
Rhapsody In Blue (1945)
A Song To Remember (1945)
Humoresque (1946)
Song of Love (1947)
The Great Caruso (1950)
*The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T
Puccini (1953)
Song Without End (1960)
Tchaikovsky (Chaykovskiy) (1969)
Five Easy Pieces (1970)
The Music Lovers (1970)
Song Of Norway (1970)
*The Great Waltz 1972)
Lisztomania (1975)
Mahler (1975)
Fingers (1978)
The Competition (1980)
Spring Symphony (Frühlingssinfonie) (1983)
*Amadeus (1984)
**The Mission (1986)
Impromptu (1991)
*Meeting Venus (1991)
Tous les matins du monde (1991)
**Enchanted Aril (1992)
*The Piano (1993)
Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould (1993)
Farinelli (1994)
*Immortal Beloved (1994)
Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995)
Shine (1996)
Hilary and Jackie (1998)
The Red Violin (1998)
Edvard Grieg: What Price Immortality (1999)
Music of the Heart (1999)
***Taking Sides (2001)
Chopin: Desire for Love (Chopin. Pragnienie milosci) (2002)
The Pianist (2002)
Sibelius (2003)
Les Choristes (2004)
Copying Beethoven (2006)
how about “The Competition”, 1980?
oops- sorry, you wanted just oboe.
Oh no … not just oboe! The two asterisk ones feature oboe in some more prominent way, but I’m looking for anything that is “classical music oriented” in some way.
I had forgotten all about The Competition; San Jose Symphony was actually invited to preview the movie and they changed one scene because of our hysterical laughter. (When Dreyfuss nails his piece the teacher goes outside and jumps up … in slow motion … and it was so funny we couldn’t stifle our laughter!)
How about “Tous les Matins du Monde” (1991)?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103110/
or, on the ultra-campy side, there’s “Counterpoint” (1968) — where Charleton Heston plays a conductor!
Here are a few potential additions:
Intermezzo
Fingers
The 5000 Fingers of Dr T
Five Easy Pieces
There was also the move “Taking Sides” which is a double asterisk. Very good/sad movie but I can’t recall the year it was made.
I liked Farinelli. The singer who over-dubbed Farinelli was just incredible.
(Made in 1994)
there’s some older italian movies. there’s one that’s actually about an oboist, and it uses the marcello concerto as its main theme. it’s called “”anonimo venziano.” and there’s also “allegro non troppo,” which is kind of like fantasia, but not.