A Late Quartet

Set in the privileged world of upperclass Manhattanites, with their elegant apartments, rare instrument auctions and musical recitals, Yaron Zilberman’s drama is a meditation on ageing, friendship and the perils of ego. Chronicling the breakdown of a classical quartet, the beautifully acted film is an old-fashioned emotional journey, just like the music at its centre.

Christopher Walken is irresistible as Peter, the gentle cellist of a renowned quartet celebrating their 25th anniversary.
The leader and eldest member of the group, Peter throws his fellow musicians Robert, Juliet and Daniel (Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Mark Ivanir) into an emotional discord when he reveals that he has Parkinson’s. Facing an upcoming performance of Beethoven’s infamously difficult ‘Quartet In C Sharp Minor’, the ensemble panics and begins to unravel. Long simmering resentments emerge between Robert and Daniel, while Juliet and Robert’s marriage falters.
Cold but conflicted Juliet and hot-headed Robert are roles Keener and Hoffman have played before. Their restraint and shaken vulnerability imbues the occasionally melodramatic action with a quiet devastation. Walken, a trained dancer, is stunning as a man who remains philosophical, despite the betrayal of his ageing body.
Former documentary maker Zilberman has a brilliant eye for the practical, and his realistic evocation of rehearsal spaces and classrooms ground the piece.