Robert Schumann Movies
The works of this major Romantic period composer range from charming, characterful small works, for example the Kinderszenen: Von fremden Ländern und Menschen (Scenes From Childhood: Of Strange Lands and People), to the expansive, dramatic large works like the Symphonic Etudes or the famous Piano Concerto in A Minor.The Kinderszenen enhance such films as El Día que nací yo (1991), Sophie's Choice (1982), and My Brilliant Career (1979). The Symphonic Etudes support scenes in Colonel Chabert (1994), and the Piano Concerto in A Minor occurs in Höstsonaten (Autumn Sonata, 1978). Schumann's Piano Quintet in E Flat, Op. 44, 2nd Movement is heard as Fanny och Alexander (Fanny and Alexander, 1982) opens on a shot of young Alexander Ekdahl dreamily musing over a small toy theater lit by candles. He moves cutouts of knights and ladies about on the stage. He hears a noise outside the door and calls out, "Fanny? Mama?" He opens another door, "Edith? Papa?" More flapping noises as the music continues. The music changes to a serious march as he unlocks another door to a bedroom and says to the air, "Grandma?" He throws himself into a large old-fashioned bed. The scene cuts to his hand against a frosty window pane as he observes a horse-drawn wagon bearing a family and what seems to be their possessions slowly moving through the snowy street outside. The music fades.
Schumann's brilliant vocal cycle Dichterliebe (The Loves of a Poet) was realized in Dichterliebe (2000), and heard in excerpts in the television production of The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (1987). The composer's Carnaval appears in two strange films from the 1940s, the film noir Possessed (1947) and Night Song (1948), a drama/romance about a socialite who likes classical and falls for a blind jazz pianist.
Frühlingssinfonie (Spring Symphony, 1983), starring Nastassja Kinski and Herbert Grönemeyer, examines the relationship between the composer and Clara Wieck, the brilliant pianist and composer who was his wife and saved many of his compositions from destruction by Schumann himself. She is depicted as being taken advantage of by both the composer and her father whose personalities are similar. The movie is rather melodramatic and sometimes corny but offers a historic overview and a generous amount of the composer's music.
Other works by Schumann are excerpted for De eso no se habla (I Don't Want to Talk About It, 1993) which uses the Etude, Op. 68; La Fille de Quinze Ans (The 15-Year-Old Girl, 1989) with the Davidsbündlertanze; Douglas Sirk's Interlude (1957); the Happy Farmer in The Wizard of Oz (1939); and the Spanish documentary Almadrabas (1934). ~ "Blue" Gene Tyranny, All Movie Guide
- 2008
A talented woman becomes a muse to two of the world's great composers in this historical drama. Clara Schumann (Martina Gedeck) is a gifted pianist and composer, but her talents are overshadowed by those of her husband, Robert Schumann (Pascal Greggory). Robert is supportive of Clara's creative ambitions, while she loves him and clearly admires his work. But Robert is a troubled man whose mental illness is aggravated by his appetite for alcohol and drugs. One night, Clara hears a performance by the young Johannes Brahms (Malik Zidi) and she's transported by the beauty of his music. Clara befriends the budding composer and helps him guide his talents while striking up a strong friendship with him; he becomes a frequent presence in the Schumann household, and brings happiness to a home that's been darkened by Robert's growing instability. Geliebte Clara (aka Clara) was written and directed by Helma Sanders-Brahms, who happens to be a distant relative of one of her principle characters, Johannes Brahms. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 2008
The Zurich Opera House mounted this 2008 production of Robert Schumann's only opera, the 1848 Genoveva. It stars Juliane Banse, Shawn Mathey, Martin Gantner and Cornelia Kallisch. Martin Kušej handles stage direction, while the Orchestra and Chorus of the Zurich Opera House, under the baton of Nikolaus Harnoncourt, provide symphonic accompaniment. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Juliane Banse, Shawn Mathey, (more)
- 2007
This musical release from renowned baritone Thomas Hampson captures a live concert by the vocalist, performing selections from composer Robert Schumann, focusing on Zwolf Gedichte, and later on the original Dichterliebe. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Thomas Hampson, Wolfram Rieger, (more)
- 2003
French filmmaker and professor of music Denis Dercourt directs the family drama Mes Enfants Ne Sont Pas Comme Les Autres (My Children Are Different). Widowed cellist Jean Debart (Richard Berry) is strict with his two children in regards to their musical education. Teenager Adele (Elodie Peudepiece) studies the cello but yearns for some rebellious independence while 11-year-old Alexandre (Frederic Roullier) is firmly committed to playing the piano and observing his father's wishes. Their stern grandfather Maître Erhardt (Maurice Garrel) is an orchestra conductor and their uncle Gerald (Mathieu Amalric) is a less-ambitious musician who finds work making background sounds. Soon Adele finds herself growing away from her father's harsh rules when she meets fellow musician Thomas (Malik Zidi). ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Berry, Mathieu Amalric, (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)
French filmmaker Eric Rohmer begins his Tales of the Four Seasons series with A Tale of Springtime. Parisian philosophy teacher Jeanne (Anne Teyssedre) is temporarily without a place to stay as her cousin occupies her own home and she refuses to stay in her boyfriend's messy apartment while he is away. A young pianist, Natasha (Florence Darel), offers the use of her house and she accepts. After the two become friends, it is apparent there is a rivalry between Natasha and her father Igor's girlfriend, Eve. As Natasha's father drifts away from Eve, Natasha unwittingly finds herself embroiled in the mess. A Winter's Tale is the following installment. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anne Teyssedre, Hugues Quester, (more)
- 1989
British engineer John Armstrong (Simon Casel) is sent to the island of Minorca in 1738 to map the region and give a detailed account of the history, plants, and animals. John gets on the bad side of the British governor and finds comfort from a native woman and a reclusive British female. The photography is excellent in this feature where both English and Catalan are used for the dialogue. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Simon Casel, Mara Truscana, (more)
TV's sitcom teen (Family Ties) Justine Bateman is cast as the leader of a four-girl/one-guy rock band who's first real gig is an all-summer job playing at a resort club. The gig includes living accommodations--one room--which the entire band shares for the summer. That memorable summer, with all its emotions, plans and pains, provides the substance of the film. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Justine Bateman, Liam Neeson, (more)
- 1986
This meticulously produced 153-minute character study explores the iniquities of class consciousness in contemporary Poland. A teacher of modest means moves in with a wealthy family in order to tutor their good-looking daughter. Love blooms, but the family is convinced that the tutor is merely a fortune hunter -- and besides, how dare he try to emulate his betters? The film is based on a novel by Andrzej Mencwel, who co-wrote the screenplay. Sceny Dzieciece a Zycia Prowincji (Childhood Scenes of Provincial Life) was directed by actor Tomasz Zygaldo, who resists the temptation to appear in the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1985
As mounted and shot in 1985, this live set finds the eminent maestro Leonard Bernstein conducting the Wiener Philharmoniker in performances of the complete symphonies of Robert Schumann. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- 1985
- Add Leonard Bernstein: Schubert - Symphony No. 9/Schumann - Manfred Overture to QueueAdd Leonard Bernstein: Schubert - Symphony No. 9/Schumann - Manfred Overture to top of Queue
In this classical concert release from 1985, preeminent maestro Leonard Bernstein conducts symphonic performances of Schumann's Mannfred Overture and Schubert's Symphony No. 9 by the Wiener Philharmoniker. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
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)
Hanna Schygulla and Angela Winkler are the stars of the German psychological drama Friends and Husbands. Having both been burned by unhappy relationships with men, Schygulla and Winkler become more and more reliant upon each other. The men in their lives can't come to grips with their strong friendship, and begin writing off Schygulla and Winkler as "oddballs." As in most of her films, writer/director Margarethe von Trotta probes the unspoken human complexities that draw people together. Von Trotta also weaves a political subtext into the proceedings: it isn't immediately obvious, but it's there all the same. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hanna Schygulla, Angela Winkler, (more)
Whatever it is about 19th century composer Robert Schumann and his pianist wife Clara Wieck that fascinates filmmakers, it is a strong enough fascination to prompt a retelling of the Schumanns' lives every few years. First, there was the 1947 Katharine Hepburn/Paul Henreid film vehicle Song of Love. Then there was a well-received 1950s episode of The Loretta Young Show. And in 1983, we were treated to the German-made Spring Symphony (originally Fruehlingssinfonie). This time around, Nastassja Kinski is Clara and Herbert Gronemeyer is Robert; the story of how fame can destroy the relationship between a sensitive woman and a workaholic man remains the mixture as before. Oddly, given the usual "warts and all" movie mentality of the 1980s, Spring Symphony is even more fanciful and romanticized than earlier versions of the Schumann saga. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nastassja Kinski, Rolf Hoppe, (more)
- 1983
This concert release captures the gifted pianist Emil Gilels performing works by some of the most revered composers of all time including Schumann and Brahams. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Emil Gilels
Though he made allusions to his own life in all of his films, Fanny and Alexander was the first overtly autobiographical film by Ingmar Bergman. Taking his time throughout (188 minutes to be exact), Bergman recreates several episodes from his youth, using as conduits the fictional Ekdahl family. Alexander, the director's alter ego, is first seen at age 10 at a joyous and informal Christmas gathering of relatives and servants. Fanny is Alexander's sister; both suffer an emotional shakedown when their recently-widowed mother (Ewa Froling) marries a cold and distant minister. Stripped of their creature comforts and relaxed family atmosphere, Fanny and Alexander suddenly find their childhood unendurable. The kids' grandmother (Gunn Wallgren) "kidnaps" Fanny and Alexander for the purpose of showering them with the first kindness and affection that they've had since their father's death. This "purge" of the darker elements of Fanny and Alexander's existence is accomplished at the unintentional (but applaudable) cost of the hated stepfather's life. Ingmar Bergman insisted that Fanny and Alexander, originally a multipart television series pared down to feature-film length, represented his final theatrical film, though within a year after its release he was busy with several additional Swedish TV projects, and his final work, the 2003 Saraband (also produced for Swedish television), eventually received global theatrical distribution. Oscars went to Fanny and Alexander for Best Foreign Film, Best Cinematography (Sven Nykvist), Best Costume Design and Best Art Direction/Set Decoration. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pernilla Allwin, Bertil Guve, (more)
- 1982
Director and writer Klaus Kirschner has deftly put together a combination of musical scores, visual images, and the philosophical writings of Robert Schumann(1810-1856), himself to extract the best qualities of each medium. While Schumann's words provide a textual mode of thought, the music conveys an array of emotional tonalities, and the visual images (such as rain in a summer landscape) evoke a setting that encompasses the whole. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- 1978
Concert pianist Emil Gilels headlines this classical music performance release, filmed live in Moscow in 1978, where he interprets pieces by composers Johannes Brahms, Frédéric Chopin and Robert Schumann. Selections include: Sonata in B. Minor, Op. 58 by Chopin, Four Ballades, Op. 10 by Brahms, and Four Piano Pieces, Op. 32 by Schumann. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- 1976
Celebrated concert pianist Emil Gilels (1916-85) headlines this 1976 classical performance film, with on-camera interpretations of Robert Schumann's Piano Concerrto and Pyotr Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1. The USSR State Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Vladimir Verbitsky, provides accompaniment. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Emil Gilels
- 1975
This intelligent film is also rollicking, slapstick farce and musical comedy. It tells the story of a large extended family involved in all phases of the music business, from classical to pop. As the story unfolds, an eccentric music publisher (Otto Sander), his wife, mistress, and daughter (Angelica Milster) live in a Berlin villa. Newly welcomed into the family fold is their recently discovered relative Rita (I Sa Lo), who is simultaneously a stepdaughter and a half-sister. Rita's fondness for the band "The Coconuts" brings two of their players, Rod (Roderick Melven) and Franz (Franz Hummel), into the villa. The hijinks grow fast and furious when a long-lost Chopin piano piece is discovered. Filled with musical spoofs and brilliant pastiches of classical works, as well as send-ups of the pop music world of the time (1975), this movie also finds time to spoof surrealism. One highlight is the deadpan pianistic comedy of concert pianist Franz Hummel, who composed the phony Chopin piece. Angelika Milster's ragtime improvisations in this film won an Ernst Lubitsch Film Prize. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- I Sa Lo
