A very original and interesting historic movie that tells the story of a famous French composer and cellist of the 17th century M. de Saint Colombe, who outcasts himself from the Court and society, refuses to play in public and teach anybody who is not his daughters, and lives simply with his three daughters in their countryside manor, devoted to a simple strict and almost ascetic life.
The script is very good as analyzes the opposition between fame-quality in Art and in the personal life of an artist, and between music as a bunch of sounds and music as a piece of art. The personal stories of conquest and love are quintessentially 17th century, very charming and naughty on one hand, very fresh and naive on the other. The atmosphere of the movie is very good, and mixes well both bucolic and baroque elements typical of the art and life in that period.
The acting is OK in their roles, although none of them shines especially. Moreover, the training of the actors to fake their playing of the instruments is poor, and you can see clearly that they are not playing. We all know that, but a little bit of more training in mimicking the play would have added credibility to those scenes, which, otherwise just look fake. The movie is very slow and unengaging at the beginning, but being a little patient pays off at the end.
The movie is a little bit dull at times, but it has a good script, wonderful viola and cello music, and explores interesting concepts.
The script is very good as analyzes the opposition between fame-quality in Art and in the personal life of an artist, and between music as a bunch of sounds and music as a piece of art. The personal stories of conquest and love are quintessentially 17th century, very charming and naughty on one hand, very fresh and naive on the other. The atmosphere of the movie is very good, and mixes well both bucolic and baroque elements typical of the art and life in that period.
The acting is OK in their roles, although none of them shines especially. Moreover, the training of the actors to fake their playing of the instruments is poor, and you can see clearly that they are not playing. We all know that, but a little bit of more training in mimicking the play would have added credibility to those scenes, which, otherwise just look fake. The movie is very slow and unengaging at the beginning, but being a little patient pays off at the end.
The movie is a little bit dull at times, but it has a good script, wonderful viola and cello music, and explores interesting concepts.