Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786301566667
Format: NTSC
ISBN: 6301566661
Label: Orion Home Video
Manufacturer: Orion Home Video
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Orion Home Video
Release Date: 1994-06-29
Running Time: 95
Studio: Orion Home Video

Customer Rating:
Summary: Among my favorite movies of all time
Comment: From its opening moments when the baritone Jose van Damm delivers a wonderful last public performance in his role as the hero of this movie ("The Music Teacher"), to its climactic vocal competition and sad ending as the Music Teacher leaves the world to Mahler's "In my Love, In my song," this beautiful and unique movie will captivate anyone who loves vocal music and the life of the artist.

This really is a movie about love and music and the triumph of the artistic spirit. The musical choices throughout the movie blend harmoniously with the plot and the characters.

Van Damm gives a masterful performance both as a vocalist and as the teacher. A touching, memorable, and artistic triumph as a movie, on a par with the best of operas, though one need not be an opera buff to enjoy the drama.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Competing in the world of Opera
Comment: Anyone in a profession where they have had to compete in order to be at the top could appreciate the French film THE MUSIC TEACHER. In the international Opera world, where the audience adores you one minute and the critics are praising your name, and in the next minute are dropping you for the next genius, director/screenwriter Gerard Corbeau examines this world through the eyes of the once famous baritone Joachim Dallyrac who retires to take on two students, Sophie and Jean. They are being trained to perform at an international competition hosted by Dallyrac's former rival Prince Scotti.

Where this film excels is in the staging and music. The story is relatively lightweight. The film is beautifully executed, but will likely appeal most to those with a love and knowledge of classical music.It is not at all on the par of AMADEUS or IMMORTAL BELOVED, but is beautiful to see if only for the music of Mozart, Mahler and Schumann.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: By the Vocalist For the Vocalist
Comment: We are all familiar with the cliche "art for art's sake." "Le Maitre de Musique" is "voice for voice's sake." Unlike "Farinelli," which spins a greater-than-biographical yarn about a known castrato, "Music Teacher" shows you the nuts and bolts of training for competition and the relationships created by such an emotionally intense environment. I loved it because I went through such training and there were moments so painfully true to what I experienced that I found myself turning my face away from the screen.

Those qualities, though, preselect a very particular audience. If you are not into opera, don't force yourself to watch it. The story was good--subtly told and perfectly, even brilliantly in some scenes, performed. But its focus is tight. Expect no grand stories, deep catharsis, or historical costume drama. You will be disappointed if you do. However, if you pick out this movie because you are a music lover, you will hear amazing vocals. What I most appreciated was that the scores are fully utilized to enhance the storyline. In many places subtitles were added for the arias and lieder. This movie succeeds in capturing the quintessence of all the relationships presented through the music performed. It is definitely worth watching, which is why I give it 4 stars, but I would not generally recommend it for a non-musical audience.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Available on DVD
Comment: This is the best movie. For those who were looking for it on DVD (just like me), I have good news: This movies is available on DVD.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Best movie ever made!
Comment: This is simply the best movie ever made, for those who love music.

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