12,13-ARTS REVIEWS_CAFP_v10.qxp 25/02/2020 09:22 Page 118

118 CAROLINE MEDAWAR

A Late Quartet (2012), directed by Yaron Zilberman Reviewed by Caroline Medawar

A long-established and distinguished group of musicians—members of the Fugue Quartet—who are bound together by strong emotional ties, is suddenly confronted with an announcement that seems to threaten its very survival. Fugue has two meanings: in music it is the repetition and develop- ment of a simple theme; and in psychiatry it is the loss of identity and flight from one’s usual environment. The film plays with both meanings and shows the group unravelling while they painstakingly rehearse Beethoven’s String Quartet No 14, Opus 131. In the opening scene the mood is set by Peter, the cellist and the oldest member of the group, who is talking to his students about Opus 131 and the demands it makes on its players and the state of mind of its composer who, by 1826, was stone deaf and close to death. We learn that Peter is facing his own mortality and he is about to announce to the quartet that he has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease and his playing days are numbered. The impact of this news on the quartet is profound and threatens to tear them apart. The marriage of the second violin and viola players, Robert and Juliette, is the most shaken by the news. The partners react in different ways. Robert asserts himself and demands more changes in the quartet’s style of perfor- mance; he wants to take more risks and suggests alternating roles with Daniel, the first violin, and that they should play from memory. Daniel rejects these suggestions. Juliette chooses to support Daniel. Peter’s leaving is particularly painful for her. She had been brought up by Peter and his wife after her mother had died in childbirth. She now feels incapable of love and unable to welcome more change at a time when Robert is needing more affection and reassurance. Robert is deeply wounded by what he sees as his wife’s disloyalty, gets drunk and spends the night with a beautiful flamenco dancer, which he regrets immediately. Daniel’s response to the impending loss of Peter is to become even more rigid in his attention to the tools of his trade. We see him meticulously planing the wood for a new bow, visiting a stable to choose the correct horsehair for the best sound, and studying his neatly annotated musical scores. Alexandra, the talented musician daughter of Robert and Juliette, then adds to the chaos by seducing Daniel. He falls in love with the lively, playful, Alex and they embark on a brief and passionate affair. Juliette, who herself had been involved with Daniel in the early days of the quartet, challenges her daughter about the affair. Alex angrily attacks her mother for neglecting her as a child in favour of her musical career. The physical violence escalates during a rehearsal when Robert knocks Daniel to the ground, shattering his violin and the orderly calm of Peter’s rehearsal room. It seems as though “the continuity, connection and the meaningful shared interpretation” which, in Daniel’s words, is at the heart of their playing

Contact: Caroline Medawar, email: [email protected] 12,13-ARTS REVIEWS_CAFP_v10.qxp 25/02/2020 09:22 Page 119

ARTS REVIEWS 119

together will be lost in a maelstrom of jealousy, rivalry, and self-destruction. Then Peter calls the group to order. He is the ideal father figure: wise, loving, concerned, authoritative, and the emotional lynchpin of the group. His neuro- logical tests show that he is losing his grip on his body; now it seems he is losing his grip on the quartet. This intense psychological drama echoes the moods of Beethoven’s Quartet, which Wagner described as “The fury of the world’s dance. Fierce pleasure, agony, ecstasy of love, anger, passion, suffering, lightning flashes and thunder rolls” (Parloff, 2016). In his analysis of the piece, Michael Parloff says “in the music there is haunting melancholy, gaiety, an upbeat scherzo, even goofiness, spirituality, world weariness and infinite sadness” (2016). Zilberman draws fully on this emotional palette. The presence of the music, although relatively brief, acts as a cohesive force, a welcome balm, a symbol of hope, and as respite from the torments of the characters. Zilberman’s motivation for creating this film, he said, was “an uncontrollable need to dwell on a family dynamic and long-term relationships” (2012). The focus on the marriage of Robert and Juliette raises the spectre of how an unexpected trauma can threaten an apparently stable union. The couple have relied on each other for many years. Yet the loss of Peter and the threat to the womb-like cocoon of the group seems to re-evoke earlier losses and makes their world unsafe. For a while they cannot trust each other or themselves. But they are a disciplined group of musicians, and ultimately their long- standing bonds, and the music, transcend their squabbles and rivalries. The film comes full circle with the four musicians coming on stage as they did at the beginning, but ready and able to accommodate a new member. There are signs of reconciliation as Robert hugs Juliette, Daniel closes his score and submits to Robert’s request to play from memory, and Robert lightly touches the second violin part as if accepting his role. The film is a homage to chamber music and the cultural world of New York. To a non-musician, the scenes of the musicians at work seem utterly con- vincing, and reflect the hours of coaching the actors were given to bring authenticity to the drama. However, it is worth noting that for a violinist in the Endellion Quartet the film lost credibility every time he saw them miming to the soundtrack, although he could relate to the loss of their cellist “because so often they are playing the bass line that holds the music together” (Watkinson, 2013). The life and physical intimacy of a well-established professional group of musicians is beautifully portrayed by all four main actors. How and what they play underlines a strong chemistry between them. Christopher Walken gives a sensitive performance as the guru figure, dealing with dignity with the loss of much that is precious in his life. Philip Seymour Hoffman wonderfully portrays a passionate, flawed, vulnerable man, and is all the more poignant because, in real life, this was one of his last performances. Catherine Keener’s rather subdued presence is a good foil to the passion and intensity of Robert. Mark Ivanir is interesting as a consummate musician with a rather ruthless edge, 12,13-ARTS REVIEWS_CAFP_v10.qxp 25/02/2020 09:22 Page 120

120 CAROLINE MEDAWAR

softened briefly by his dalliance with Imogen Poots who brings the lure and lightness of youth to her role as the daughter. Several vignettes with secondary characters enrich the action, notably Wallace Shawn’s character who reminds us that playing music can be fun. Visually the film reflects the textures and tones of the music. There is a painterly quality, and loving attention to detail. The overall mood is haunting and rather melancholy, and a bit claustrophobic, emphasised by the snowy rather bleak Manhattan landscape outside and the Dutch interior feel of the homes and practise rooms of the musicians. Although the setting is select and rarefied, the emotional reactions of the protagonists are familiar. According to Morgan (2018), James Fisher captures the spirit of the film when he “likens listening to the meaning of emotional experience … to listening to music” (p. 172). The music of this drama is intense and absorbing. We are caught up in the intricate threads that link the characters and tear them apart. There is a satisfying conclusion when the nobility of the music transcends the baser, ego-related havoc, and unites the players in sublime harmony.

References Morgan, M. (2018). A Couple State of Mind. Psychoanalysis of Couples and the Tavistock Relationships Model. London: Routledge. Parloff, M. (2016). Lecture on Beethoven’s String Quartets, Op. 131 & Op. 135, 10 June, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=NUkcxfTXLpo (accessed 18 June 2019). Watkinson, A. (2013). A violinist’s view on A Late Quartet. Interview by Laura Barnett. The Guardian, 16 April. Zilberman, Y. (2012). “A Late Quartet”: on “the beauty and inevitable pain of being alive”. Interview with Claire Easton, IndieWire, 13 September. https://www. indiewire.com/2012/09/tiff-futures-a-late-quartet-writer-and-director-yaron- zilberman-on-the-beauty-and-inevitable-pain-of-being-alive-44985/ (accessed 23 June 2019).