The last Note - Sinfonie des Lebens

Coda centers itself on the coda of fictional pianist, Sir Henry Cole. A true Meastro, who has dedicated his life to the art of the classical piano, he is now at the end of his path, and finds himself lost and looking for clarity.

Patrick Stewart brings a stillness and meditative grumpiness to the role and is supported by Katie Holmes as a writer for the New Yorker who finds herself drawn to Cole's enigmatic loss.Giancarlo Espacito (Breaking Bad) is excellent as Cole's agent, as is Christophe Gaugler as the night porter.

This is an actor's film, if you like nuance, thought, pause and Beethoven then this is rewarding. The direction by Claude Lalonde is good, particularly the pacing and framing. But this is Patrick Stewart's film, he takes Louis Gadbout's script, and delivers a beautiful performance.

This is a film about the piano and it's demands, but not in an overdramtic way, it rather questions artistry and what it means to reach the coda. This viewer enjoyed it very much and found the change of tempo a refreshing change.

Rare to see such deep movie with beautiful piano music and story and scenery. I do feel it's just an art movie with not boring storyline of a pianist and journalist. Also, if you get some age, you will feel something.

This is a beautiful film about music, classical music, in a world on wich pop culture reigns like there will be no tomorrow. Of course, Nieztsche is present since the beginning, without being a philosophical film. German culture is all about, specially German composers, like says Henry Cole (Patrick Stewart) on some point of the film.

What is amazing is the way music is interconnected with the story, how is not only an ambiental music, but a kind of companion and most of the time it gives a clarity to the scenes. Is like a movie inside the movie, but full of sound, full of stories, full of meaning.

This is a film that only could be the way it is: slowly, meditative, almost poetic, against the hurries and rushes from today cultural mainstream. A very beautiful and meaningful film that deserves a better qualification on IMDB, but I guess many of the reviewers doesn't understand the nuances and little twists here and there, and less about classical music, so at least they loss a half of the meaning of the movie when the doesn't get that message. I'm pretty sure that many reviewers doesn't know anything about classical music, so probably they only identifies the first piece of music when are transcurred 24 minutes, and many other pieces were played and telling things they don't understand.

So, this is not a film for people immerse on today's pop culture.

...If it's beautiful. It is. Put away the Fast and Furious and watch some acting if you dare.

I loved the film which shows the power of this music to inspire others. Patrick Stewart plays Henry Cole, an aging concert pianist, possibly modeled on Alfred Brendel, dealing with psychological problems interfering with his performances. Katie Holmes plays a young writer for the New Yorker who wants to write a profile about Henry.

In addition to great performances by Stewart and Holmes, the minor characters are superbly done, especially one of the staff of a hotel in Switzerland where Cole is staying.

If you don't love classical music, particularly the music for solo piano by Beethoven, Bach (and many others) don't bother with this film. Even if you do love this kind of music, you might find it rather slow.