Franz Liszt Movies
There are approximately 73 films which quote from the music of this composer who, with Frederic Chopin and Robert Schumann, was a father of the grand Romantic piano style. The passions and pathos of Liszt's life are explored and outrageously amplified to the point of the cartoonishly surreal in Ken Russell's splendid Lisztomania (1975). His Hungarian patriotism, his playboy star-status (a crazed scene with fans riding a giant prop penis), his later turn toward religion and his struggle against the Faustian "demon" Wagner -- all are accompanied by perfectly chosen selections from the composer's oeuvre. The earlier Hungarian drama Szerelmi álmok -- Liszt (The Loves of Liszt, 1970) is considerably tamer.One of Liszt's most popular concert compositions, the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 is found in at least 11 films: the wonderful abstract animation An Optical Poem (1937), the Deanna Durbin comedy One Hundred Men and a Girl (1937), the cartoons Rhapsody in Rivets (1941), Rhapsody Rabbit (1946), The Cat Concerto (1947), and Color Rhapsodie (1948); the short with Bing Crosby, Judy Garland, Xavier Cugat, and many other famous pop singers and instrumentalists, Moments in Music (1950); one of the great Cantinflas comedies, Si Yo Fuera Diputado (1951); and even the animated live-action comedy Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988). The piece's moods range from heroic to lilting to ecstatic.
The moody orchestral-tone poem Les Preludes found its way into Edgar Ulmer's eerie The Black Cat (1934, which also quotes the Sonata in B minor and the tone poem Tasso); the Russian sci-fi film Kosmicheskij Rejs (Cosmic Journey, 1935); the American sci-fi fantasy Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940, aka Perils From the Planet Mongo, Purple Death From Outer Space [re-make 1966], and Space Soldiers Conquer the Universe [TV title, 1955]); and throughout the legendary television series The Lone Ranger (1949).
The lyrical melodist side of Liszt is represented by his popular Liebestraum in E flat (Dream of Love) in Ave Sin Rumbo (1937, aka Wandering Bird), The Girl of the Golden West (1938), Las Cinco Advertencias de Satanás (1945), the dramatic Bette Davis and Anne Baxter vehicle All About Eve (1950), and, of course, the mystery thriller Liebestraum (1991). The tune also occurs in the bizarre comedy Witch Hunt about an alternative 1940s Los Angeles where everybody employs magic toward their own ends.
À la Place du Coeur (Where the Heart Is, 1998) beautifully laces Liszt's Nocturnes Nos. 1, 2, and 3 throughout. Excerpts from the three books of the exquisitely impressionistic Les Anneés de Pelerinage (The Wandering Years) enhance the Maureen O'Hara and Dick Haymes musical Do You Love Me? (1946).
Liszt's music also graces Captain Blood (1935), Letter From an Unknown Woman (1948), Interlude (1957), Once More, With Feeling (1960), Karl May (1974), Extraordinaire Ascension de Maurice Bellange (1979), Impromptu (1991), Das Geschriebene Gesicht (The Written Face, 1995), Shine (1996), Eyes Wide Shut (1999), and Hamlet (2000). ~ "Blue" Gene Tyranny, All Movie Guide
- 2009
Famed classical concert pianist Misha Dacic headlines this concert film, interpreting compositions by Rachmaninoff, Liszt, Scarlatti, Chopin and Bach. Some of the many pieces on display include Chopin's Introduction et Rondeau in E-Flat Major, Op. 16, Liszt's Fantasie und Fuge über den Choral 'Ad nos, ad salutarem undam', and Rachmaninoff's The Little Island, Op. 14, No. 2. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Misha Dacic
- 2007
Neeme Järvi, longtime conductor of The Gothenburg Symphony and The Detroit Symphony Orchestra, returns to his native country to lead The Estonian National Symphony Orchestra in this live set commemorating Järvi's 70th birthday. Performed works include: Three Movements from The Aladdin Suite by Carl Nielsen, Finlandia by Jean Sibelius Three Pieces for Flute and String Orchestra by Heino Eller. Sharing conducting duties with Neeme are his sons, Paavo Järvi and Kristjan Järvi. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Neeme Järvi, Maarik Järvi, (more)
- 2007
In the classical performance release New Year's Concert in St Petersburg - shot on New Year's Day 2007 at St. Petersburg's Mariinsky Theatre Concert Hall - Russian maestro Valery Gergiev leads the Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre in interpretations of symphonic works by Wagner, Strauss, Verdi, Rachmaninov and a number of other composers. Two soloists - alto vocalist Yuri Bashmet and concert pianist Yefim Bronfman - provide added musical support. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bashmet, Yefim Bronfman, (more)
- 1997
Especially made for fans of arthouse fare, this intellectually challenging work from writer/director Anne-Marie Mieville offers a heady mixture of ancient and modern philosophical conversation and humor. The film is comprised of three segments. The first is an updated rendition of Plato's dialogues in which Socrates and Callicles discuss the qualities that make one man superior to another; they also explore which endeavors have the greatest value in the world. The joke of the segment is that the modern Socrates is portrayed as a suburban housewife who discusses these matters while redecorating her home. The second segment is set upon a stage. Mieville's husband, distinguished filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard steps out and recites passages from 20th-century philosopher Hannah Arendt's "The Nature of Totalitarianism." The film's final section was written entirely by Mieville and offers wry musings on the effects of romance upon creativity as seen from the view of a couple who have spent most of their lives together. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Aurore Clément, Jean-Luc Godard, (more)
- 1993
This documentary places the viewer at the feet of Adriaan Ditvoorst a much-lionized darling of Dutch avant-garde cinema, a largely unsuccessful adherent of the auteur school of filmmmaking who took his own life in 1987. His films (such as Flanagan and White Madness) recognized no need to please or acknowledge audience wishes or the demands of commerce, and Ditvoorst was puzzled by and disdainful of the success of those who did. He found it incredibly difficult to find financial backing in the Netherlands for even the most modest film projects, despite his prominence, innovativeness and originality. After his wife left him, he sank into a depression. The documentary explores his life via film clips and interviews with those who knew him. Some of those interviewed assert that he might have done well if he had moved to France, others felt he was always depressive and self-defeating. Whatever else he was, he was definitely a committed idealist who suffered for his principles. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bernardo Bertolucci, Gérard Brach, (more)
- 1991
- Add Evgeny Kissin: Plays Schubert/Brahms/Bach/Liszt to QueueAdd Evgeny Kissin: Plays Schubert/Brahms/Bach/Liszt to top of Queue
In this classical performance film, acclaimed concert pianist Evgeny Kissin interprets a series of works by Schubert, Gluck, Liszt, Bach and Brahms. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Evgeny Kissin
- 1984
After several years of making films to please only himself, French director Jean-Luc Godard once more invites the audience to the party with The Detective. Not that there's anything so blase as a linear plot or appealing characters, but at least some of Godard's isolated vignettes are accessible this time around. Set in the Hotel Concorde at St. Lazare, the film is set in motion when miserably married Nathalie Baye and Claude Brasseur attempt to collect a debt from mob-plagued boxing manager Johnny Hallyday. Meanwhile, hotel detective Jean-Pierre Leaud tries to solve an old murder case. These two gossamer plot strands are used to tie together Godard's scattershot views on modern life, with emphasis on the voyeuristic potential of the recent video-camera boom. The director dashed off The Detective to raise money for a film he truly cared about, the controversial Hail Mary. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claude Brasseur, Nathalie Baye, (more)
- 1977
In this scandalous film, footage from Marlene Dietrich's early films is combined with documentary footage of Adolf Hitler, along with newly filmed dramatic re-enactments, suggesting that Dietrich was Hitler's secret mistress. Dietrich brought the filmmaker to court to prevent the release of this film, though it was quietly screened at the Cannes Film Festival before anything was resolved. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kurt Raab, Margit Carstensen, (more)
- 1972
Acclaimed concert pianist Van Cliburn headlines his classical-themed performance compilation, which features footage from three separate live sets - one shot in 1960, another set in 1965 and a third set in 1972. Selections include such pieces as Liszt's Sonata in B Minor, Debussy's Prelude No. 19 and Scriabin's Etude in D-sharp minor, Op. 8, No. 2. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Van Cliburn
This classical concert film features several interpretations by acclaimed American pianist Harvey Lavan "Van" Cliburn, Jr, performed in Moscow, U.S.S.R. in 1962. Selections include: Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 and Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 "Emperor". The Moscow Philharmonic, led by Kirill Kondrashin, accompanies Van Cliburn. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Van Cliburn
- 1960
Yul Brynner and Kay Kendall star as Victor and Dolly Fabian in this successful cinematic version of the stage comedy by Harry Kurnitz. Victor is a larger-than-life symphony conductor who loves music but has all the social skills of a wounded rhinoceros. After his wife Dolly gets fed up with smoothing over his relationships with his musicians and everyone else, she dumps him and takes up an offer of marriage from a physicist. Alas! Documentation -- or the lack of it -- soon reveals that the Fabians were never really married in the first place. Unfortunately, they still have to get divorced in order to save face and this, of course, leads to an increasingly unexpected series of complications. Elegant and witty actress Kay Kendall died of leukemia three months after this film was completed. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yul Brynner, Kay Kendall, (more)
- 1960
Hoping to recapture the success of its 1945 Frederic Chopin biopic A Song to Remember, Columbia Pictures concocted the 1960 Technicolor costume drama Song Without End. Dirk Bogarde is cast as musical genius Franz Liszt. Bogarde's piano scenes are dubbed with another's singing voice, but this hardly matters in that the film is preoccupied with Liszt's infamous romantic entanglements. The crux of the matter is Liszt's desire to wed the already married Russian princess Carolyne (Capucine), which will necessitate an unpleasant breakup with his current lover, Countess Marie (Genevieve Page). Director Charles Vidor died after only a few weeks on the picture; he was replaced by George Cukor, who graciously insisted that Vidor be billed in letters larger than his. The chief selling point of Song Without End is its wall-to-wall music; the film won an Oscar for "best musical arrangement." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dirk Bogarde, Capucine, (more)
- 1954
Rhapsody is high-gloss soap opera in the grand MGM manner. Elizabeth Taylor stars as Louise Durant, the beautiful but spoiled daughter of millionaire Nicholas Durant (Louis Calhern). Accustomed to getting whatever she wants, Louise sets her sights on violin student Paul Bronte (Vittorio Gassman). Before long, however, she tires of Paul's all-consuming devotion to his music. Pianist James Guest (John Ericson) is the next moth drawn to Louise's flame. He is willing to put his career on the back burner for her sake -- and becomes an irresponsible drunk in the process. Anxious to win back Paul, who is now a famed concert violinist, Louise tries to rehabilitate James so he will be able to resume his concert activities -- thereby allowing Louise free rein to chase after Paul. Someone's going to have to eat humble pie before all this is over, and that someone has black hair and violet eyes. Rhapsody was adapted from Maurice Guest, a novel by Henry Handel Richardson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elizabeth Taylor, Vittorio Gassman, (more)
- 1953
Background is a tearful flashback drama centering around a dysfunctional family. Valerie Hobson and Philip Friend play a long-married couple on the verge of divorce. As they ponder the question of who will receive custody of their children (Janette Scott, Mandy Miller and Jeremy Spencer), the couple has second thoughts about their upcoming litigation. It is the children who eventually bring Hobson and Friend back together, though the reunion seems strangely without passion. Background was released in the US as Edge of Divorce. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Valerie Hobson, Rick Hart, (more)
- 1947
Song of Love is the MGM-ified version of the lives and loves of 19th century musicians Clara Wieck Schumann (Katharine Hepburn), Robert Schumann (Paul Henreid) and Johannes Brahms (Robert Walker, who the previous year had played another composer, Jerome Kern, in Til the Clouds Roll By). Clara gives up her thriving career as a concert pianist to devote herself to her struggling composer husband Robert. Unable to cope with disappointment and failure, Robert dies in an asylum, leaving poor Clara to cope with seven children and mounting debts. At this point, the eminently successful Brahms, who has loved Clara all along, proposes to her, but Clara insists upon going it alone, perpetuating her husband's memory on the concert stage. Also represented in this musical "through the years" pageant is Franz Liszt, played with remarkable understatement by Henry Daniell. Clearly designed to capitalize on the popularity of Columbia's Chopin biopic A Song to Remember, Song of Love is slow and poky at times, though it's fascinating to see Katharine Hepburn at the piano (reportedly, she learned to play enough classical music to get by in the close-up scenes, though her music is dubbed in medium and long shots). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Katharine Hepburn, Paul Henreid, (more)
The second film in the trilogy made by director Istvan Szabo and actor Klaus Maria Brandauer -- hammocked between Mephisto and Hanussen -- Colonel Redl continues Mephisto's fascination with a man overwhelmed by history. In that film, Brandauer played an actor who tried to ignore the rise of the Third Reich, and here he's an ambitious military officer in pre-World War I Austria whose career path is set early on. In military school, he's forced to inform on a student who's the source of a practical joke; though he beats himself up for being a Judas, he soon realizes that to rise in the ranks he must overcome his peasant background and hide his homosexuality by ingratiating himself with his superiors. In time, he becomes Chief of Military Intelligence for the Austro-Hungarian empire.
Though he professes to hate politics and politicians, Redl also can't avoid them. When the leader for whom Redl is supposedly spying among the officer corps, draws up a list of who can't be exposed for traitorous activities (including Austrian nobles, Hungarians, Czechs, Serbs, Croatians, and even the usual scapegoats, Jews -- the aftershocks of the Dreyfuss affair are still rumbling), he tells Redl that he must find a double of himself, a Ukrainian. Now certain that he will be exposed, Redl surrenders to fate, quoting to his wife from Montaigne: "It's no sin to be involved. It's a sin to remain involved." Brandauer is a wonder as the self-loathing Redl, and Szabo's camera picks up every nuance on his expressive face. The film eschews music except for several party scenes, and the absence of a score is most effective in the final shots of Redl's fellow officers awaiting his fate. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide
Though he professes to hate politics and politicians, Redl also can't avoid them. When the leader for whom Redl is supposedly spying among the officer corps, draws up a list of who can't be exposed for traitorous activities (including Austrian nobles, Hungarians, Czechs, Serbs, Croatians, and even the usual scapegoats, Jews -- the aftershocks of the Dreyfuss affair are still rumbling), he tells Redl that he must find a double of himself, a Ukrainian. Now certain that he will be exposed, Redl surrenders to fate, quoting to his wife from Montaigne: "It's no sin to be involved. It's a sin to remain involved." Brandauer is a wonder as the self-loathing Redl, and Szabo's camera picks up every nuance on his expressive face. The film eschews music except for several party scenes, and the absence of a score is most effective in the final shots of Redl's fellow officers awaiting his fate. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Klaus Maria Brandauer, Hans-Christian Blech, (more)
- 1975
- R
This audacious, vulgar, freewheeling fantasia on the life of pianist Franz Liszt ranks among director Ken Russell's most outrageous efforts. Roger Daltrey, lead singer for The Who, is awkward yet likeable as the flamboyant piano performer with a bevy of fetching mistresses and groupies, while Paul Nicholas is completely outlandish as the scheming opera composer Richard Wagner. There's no nod to reality here: Liszt and Wagner were in fact friends, and Liszt, who became Wagner's father-in-law, actually assisted in the production of Wagner's opulent productions. Russell, on the other hand, presents Wagner as Liszt's jealous rival ready to wreak havoc on the world by unleashing a cryogenic Viking (Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman) and a horde of machine-gun wielding robot Nazis. In a finale out of Flash Gordon serials, Liszt saves the day after surviving a guillotine designed for phallic dismemberment. The film is fast and loud and wildly undisciplined, much like one of Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies. Look fast and you'll see Ringo Starr as the pope. ~ Les Stone, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roger Daltrey, Sara Kestelman, (more)
Amandine Aurore Lucie Dupin, better known in the literary world as George Sand, not only took a man's name, but trotted around wearing pants and smoking cigars in public. No great shakes today, but in the 1800s she was perhaps the most famous (or infamous) woman in the world. One of the first original celebrities, aside from her garb and literary output, she was known to inspire many duels and broken hearts among other famous hedonist artists. One character describes her in Impromptu, as "that graveyard." The film engages in a sexual roundelay among Sand's (Judy Davis) many friends -- Eugene Delacroix (Ralph Brown), Alfred DeMusset (Mandy Patinkin), Franz Liszt (Julian Sands), and Frederick Chopin (Hugh Grant). The entire crew heads off to the summer estate of the Duke and Duchess d'Antan (Anton Rodgers and Emma Thompson), invited there by the culture-vulture hosts. Sand takes a bead on the sickly Chopin and spends her time throwing herself at him. Also on hand is Liszt's mistress Marie d'Agoult (Bernadette Peters) and Felicien Mallefille (Georges Corraface), Sand's recently jilted lover. Mallefille is jealous of any of the other guests who glance in Sand's direction and continually challenges them to duels. Marie, on the other hand, is enlisted by Sand to deliver a note to Chopin. But Marie, jealous of Sand, delivers the note substituting her name for Sand's. And as the weekend continues, the sexual merry-go-round continues at full tilt. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Judy Davis, Hugh Grant, (more)
