Music from the Inside Out

I just got the chance to see this screened at the 2006 Wisconsin Film Festival, and I'm so glad I did. This was one of many documentaries I saw this weekend. It had the distinction of bringing me closest to it's subjects. The music is wonderful, and the film answered a question I've always had about Symphony musicians. Namely: what do they do when they are 'not working'? While I enjoy classical music, I am a casual consumer. I don't think unfamiliarity with classical music would make this inaccessible. On the contrary, it brings that music down from the heights and puts a very human face on it. Recommended to all music lovers.

Enjoyable, sweet, sometimes moving documentary about the lives and approaches to music of various members of the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra.

While a very good film, its not quite a great one, as it stays a little on the surface (it could actually use more running time).

Plus talking in literal terms about the feelings of playing music seems like it is sometimes simply hard to do. So some of the stated insights seem obvious. (e.g. one has to subsume one's ego when playing in an orchestra).

The sections where we see music itself being played(of a wide, appealing variety) played are well-photographed and absorbing.

I was lucky enough to hear director/producer Daniel Anker speak at my screening in Washington, DC. He said that the genesis of the film was from the Orchestra musicians themselves. After their "bitter" 1997 strike, they were brainstorming ideas on how to restore some of the luster to the orchestra's reputation, and they approached Anker about making a film. The film is subtitled "A collaboration with the musicians of the Phil. Orch."

To me, that explained why the film didn't touch on some hard realities of the struggle for mainstream interest, questions about relevance, old music vs. new music, the huge difficulties of making a living if you're not in a big orchestra, etc. Instead, it seemed on the edge of being a vanity project.

As a classical music lover, it's hard to rate this film. I echo the comments and reasonings of others who found it uninteresting. On the other hand, it may be fascinating to those who don't know much about the classical music world. Really hard to say. I did like the way the performances were shot.

I loved this movie.

One thing that I've found to be so interesting about this film is the very strong emotion that it frequently evokes in the audience. The first time I saw it (opening week in downtown Philadelphia), both my husband and I cried, and so did the friends that came with us, and judging by the sniffling going on around us, so did a number of others. The second time I saw it, I could only find a seat at the end of the back row in a neighborhood art-house theater. When the big Brahms finale came up, the entire back row burst out humming the tune with huge enthusiasm (and yes, you do know it, even if you didn't know it was Brahms). The third time I saw it, I came with my extended family, and we had to sit way down front. When the movie ended, the group of people sitting behind us stood up, leaned over and said with urgency, "Did you LOVE this movie?" They had that blissful look on their faces that said that they had seriously connected with the film and really wanted to feel that others shared that connection.

I think it's not surprising that people who go to see it expecting that it'll be "about" the Philly Orchestra, or that it will somehow reveal the inner mysteries of music, or that it will lay out the back story of professional musicians rehearsing and performing a whole piece, or that it will have a linear narrative structure of, say, a documentary about the Civil War, might feel a bit baffled or restless.

But I do think that the movie uses the music and the musicians' personal stories to illuminate corners of the human experience we all share--which is why so many different kinds of people find it so meaningful. If you listen to what people are talking about after seeing it, they're all responding to different, and elemental, things that music can dig up inside us. Some really respond to the connections that music can make between parent and child; some with the vignettes showing kids laughing like crazy with a violinist playing up the hammy side of a sprightly little bit of a tune; some are teenage boys who don't give a rip about classical music but who completely got the exchanges about teamwork vs. individual effort; and a lot of people just like the joy the musicians find in bluegrass, or salsa, or painting.

The point is not what the music, or the movie, is saying literally; it's what you are open to hearing with your heart. Go see this movie, and listen from the inside out. You'll hear it too.

In addition to Trickysam's very insightful comments I will add a few of my own. In addition to telling of the names of the musicians, they could have reminded us of their instruments. I don't believe they ever identified Daniel Kim as Concertmaster. That's a big deal and we should have been told about it. He could have said something about what the Concertmaster does and he relates to the conductor. Also, not a word about the conductor. It would have been interesting to know more about how people got started and how they made their way to the Philadelphia Orchestra. There are a limited number of world class orchestras and it would have been nice to know more about what it takes to get there. Also, something about the logistics of travel, etc would have been interesting. I wanted to love this movie, too. But the movie makers made it very difficult.