A Late Quartet (Blu-ray) Directed by Yaron Zilberman Studio: 20th Century Fox Year: 2012 Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 1080p AVC codec Running Time: 106 minutes Rating: R Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 English Subtitles: SDH, Spanish
Region: A MSRP: $ 29.99
Release Date: February 5, 2013
Review Date: February 5, 2013
The Film
3.5/5 The Fugue String Quartet has been together for a quarter of a century thrilling audiences with their uncannily in-sync playing. But when cellist Peter Mitchell (Christopher Walken) is diagnosed with the early stages of Parkinson’s disease, the group as it has existed for twenty-five years appears to be coming to an end. When a new cellist is suggested to join the company, this brings forth lots of pent-up feelings of frustrations amid the other three group members that have existed since the troupe’s origins. Second violinist Robert Gelbart (Philip Seymour Hoffman) wants to begin alternating parts with first violinist Daniel Lerner (Mark Ivanir), and when Robert’s wife and the group’s viola player Juliette (Catherine Keener) agrees that Robert shouldn’t play first chair, there begins a series of accusations and betrayals that lead to a serious schism of the quartet. Personal and professional lives coming apart simultaneously isn’t new to the movies, and director/co-writer Yaron Zilberman and Seth Grossman haven’t really introduced any novel twists to the scenario (apart from the stories happening amid the members of a classical string quartet). The jealousies and sexual betrayals are rather predictable and writerly, but the actors are so wonderful that the over-familiarity of the material doesn’t really matter much. The duo goes maybe a step too far in having Daniel begin an out-of-the-blue affair with Robert and Juliette’s daughter Alexandra (Imogen Poots) which is just as suddenly and wisely dropped (especially cringe-worthy since Daniel might well have been her father since he had been lovers with Juliette before she and Robert married after she got pregnant). The director’s great love of music comes through loudly and clearly as gorgeous classical pieces are played in part sometimes in concert and sometimes serving as segues between scenes, and the actors, especially Mark Ivanir’s Daniel, embrace the instruments, the bows, the strings with the caresses of lovers. There is also a marvelous moment when Walken’s Peter, teaching a class of talented young musicians, stops the class to relate a story about cellist Pablo Casals that every artist no matter his craft would find illuminating and inspiring. Though none of the four leading actors fully convince as the talented musicians they’re portraying, they get by with rudimentary fingering and bowing on their instruments. Dramatically, however, they’re peerless. Perhaps the film’s biggest revelation is Christopher Walken who’s for a change not playing an eccentric or a maniacal cutthroat. His low-key approach to the Parkinson’s diagnosis and subsequent dealing with the problem along with his wise and worldly way with his students and the younger members of the quartet give him his best acting showcase in many a year, and he’s great. Philip Seymour Hoffman is very effective, too, in his hurtful realization that perhaps his talent is not really suited for the role in the quartet he’s longed to occupy, and Catherine Keener who is caught between husband and former lover as she begins figuring out what her marriage really is also is ideally cast. The film’s two lesser known actors - Mark Ivanir as the mechanically expert Daniel and Imogen Poots as the vivacious student who becomes his lover – score as much with their talent as they do with our lack of familiarity with them.
Video Quality
5/5 The film’s 2.35:1 theatrical aspect ratio is faithfully delivered in a 1080p transfer using the AVC codec. (The liner notes detail the ratio as 1.78:1, but that’s clearly a misprint.) The image is stunning throughout featuring the sharpness one craves in high definition transfers and the wonderful solidity of color saturation and faithfulness of flesh tones that mark the best transfers. Black levels are also excellent, and the overall looks for the warm interiors of the concert hall to the chilly brightness of the rehearsal halls and schoolrooms are perfection. The film has been divided into 24 chapters.
Audio Quality
4.5/5 The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sound mix makes its greatest impression in the wonderfully full and immersive spread of the music through the soundstage as the Brentano String Quartet plays majestic works by Beethoven, Bach, Strauss, and Haydn. Dialogue has been masterfully recorded and appears in the center channel. Elsewhere there might be a lack of New York City ambience as the rears go silent for lengthy periods apart from the music, but otherwise, it’s a pleasing soundtrack.
Special Features
1/5 “Discord and Harmony” is the 7 ¾-minute EPK featurette featuring brief interviews about the film and its participants by writer/director Yaron Zilberman and stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Christopher Walken, and Mark Ivanir. It's in 1080p. There are 1080p promo trailers for The Oranges and Atlas Shrugged Part II.
In Conclusion
3.5/5 (not an average) The music is glorious and the acting sublime in A Late Quartet even if the drama being played out may seem overly familiar. The quality of this Blu-ray transfer is immaculate even without much in the way of bonus material. Music fans and those who admire the actors will likely enjoy it. Matt Hough Charlotte, NC
