Quartet
Tags: comedy

Plot synopsis:
The plot takes place in Beecham House, a retirement home for former professional musicians, patterned after the real-life Casa di Riposo per Musicisti founded by Giuseppe Verdi.
Reg, Wilf and Cissy are retired opera singers who often worked together in the past; among other residents are Cedric Livingstone, a former director, and diva Anne Langley. All the guests in the retirement home continue to be engaged in their former professions in one way or the other, including lecturing and initiating young people to music.
Finances threaten closure of the home but proceeds from a yearly gala concert on Verdi's birthday hold hope for a continuation of the place. However, Cedric has become rather desperate because some of the most prominent singers have either died or decided not to participate at all. Reg, Wilf and Cissy were in the cast of a very highly rated recording of the opera Rigoletto, which includes a famous quartet for soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor and baritone ("Bella figlia dell'amore"). This version is very prominent among opera buffs as THE Rigoletto of the post-war era.
One day, Reg is shocked to find his former wife Jean Horton, the missing soprano of the Rigoletto recording, turning up to live at Beecham House. Reg is angry not to have been warned as their parting was on very sour terms.
At first Jean tries unsuccessfully to mend things with Reg. In the ensuing conversations her infidelity arises, as well as her past marriages, but Reg comes to understand that all that is past. In the meantime, Wilf and Cissy convince Cedric that bringing together those who sang the quartet on the famous recording to sing it again for the Verdi Gala concert will sell enough tickets to save the home. Enchanted with the idea, they persuade Reg to overcome his objections to performing with Jean again. However, she is harder to persuade as she vowed never to sing again after retiring.
Cissy takes Jean flowers from the garden to cheer her up and asks if she wishes to discuss the quartet, but Jean becomes violent and attacks Cissy, which only aggravates Cissy's already delicate senile condition. Jean apologises and is finally persuaded to sing in the quartet from Rigoletto, after learning that Anne Langley will be singing "Vissi d'arte" from Tosca. The group prepares for their performance and, moments before their curtain call, Cissy gets very confused and attempts to walk out the door, saying that she has to go back to her family, but Jean manages to salvage the situation. During her conversation with Cissy, Jean expresses regret for all her past bad behaviour towards Reg and admits that she is still in love with him. Reg overhears this.
Just as the recital is about to start, the director of the home is amazed at the energy displayed by the guests of the home. The idea of rehearsing and playing before an audience brings life back to them, leading her to the conclusion that old age and art go together. As they are about to enter the stage, Reg asks Jean to marry him again, and once on stage she whispers her acceptance.

Review: Some moments hit you hard man, real hard, you might be laughing one scene and then the next scene you just realized that the 'thumb up' from one old man to the next gives chills on how life can end at any moment and at any time.Dustin Hoffman, my man, you have made many people, many seniors of this country really happy, you have done what most always want but never will.Thank You, to the cast and to the crew!!!!!.
This is a movie for actors, and there are many terrific performances in this wonderful ensemble piece about the residents of a home for aging musicians, which we saw at our movie preview club.But the warmth of the story - the vibrancy of the seniors playing string quartets and practicing their cellos and clarinets, their friendships, annoyances, disappointments, and even loves - marks this film as something very special.Hoffman has taken a beautiful English estate and turned it into a world of music filled with well-drawn and compelling characters: the woman with advancing dementia who relishes the CD of her performing Rigoletto 40 years ago; the flirtatious Wilf, whose "advances" towards the women on staff are never offensive and always charming; the aging diva - the always wonderful Maggie Smith - who is horrified by the thought that by moving in her life is over.The best drawn (and in my mind, played) character is Wilf's best friend Reggie, who doesn't get Wilf's preferential treatment but has a quiet dignity and love of his life and his art that quietly shines through.
It's not often that I feel out of place at a cinema, but I on this occasion I did.Quartet, as you probably know, features a stellar cast of older actors; Maggie Smith and Tom Courtenay playing the reunited divorcées with a history; Billy Connolly as a pottering and senile old tenor, cracking double-entendres at every opportunity; and Pauline Collins, who in my opinion steals the show, as the ditzy ex-opera singer.
Yes ,you can see its development from a mile off, and it rarely addresses the more serious and harrowing aspects of old-age as Haneke's 'Amour' did, but it's good natured, well scripted and amusing fun.It's all through the typical rose-tinted, Downton-esque portrayal of Britain that we're all accustomed to, but with a cast like that and a gentle, sweet story, it's hard not to be eventually won over by its charm.
Here Reg found his niche in caring for his friends and holding classes for young people.Into this garden spot comes a new resident, a noted opera star played by Maggie Smith.
Life is definitely not retiring in this home because, as Cissy is fond of quoting Bette Davis' remark, "old age is not for sissies".Director Hoffman gives us many quiet moments to observe the entire ensemble as life swirls around the preparations for the all-important concert.
The other is that any film with Billy Connolly, Tom Courtenay, Maggie Smith and Michael Gambon is very unlikely to be less than very good.As it turns out, the film - set in a retirement home for classical musicians - is simply perfect: touching and amusing from the start, with generous but judicious doses of lovely music, shifting gears in an in-obtrusively sure-footed way.
Maggie Smith shows far more range than her now- stock Grande Dame parts usually allow her, including an unaccustomed vulnerability and a charming exercise, at one moment, of calculated yet shy girlish charm.As one would expect from a director who is a great actor himself, the palette of characters here is vividly and colorfully incarnated by actors who are often memorable even in the most minor parts.The music is both respectfully and affectionately integrated throughout, moving from noble classical pieces to a cheerful bit of music hall.
And is paid a surprising homage in the credits, which continue the film's nod to age and accomplishment well past its not very surprising but still satisfying end.Very few viewers, by the way, will sense the echos here - but no more - of a lovely French film from 1935 about a retirement home for actors: "La Fin du Jour":http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031309/combinedRonald Harwood ("The Pianist", "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly", etc) tells a very different story, but anyone who enjoys this one and understands enough French should certainly seek out the older film (with the great Michel Simon)..
Based on Ronald Harwood's play of the same name, the film takes place at Beecham House, a home where retired opera singers Cissy (Pauline Collins), Reginald (Tom Courtenay) and Wilf (Billy Connolly) live.
As she is the ex-wife of fellow member Reginald, old rivalries, theatrical temperaments and drama evidently ensues and it becomes unclear whether or not the show will go on.While the film never gets any more drastic than this, it is delightfully charming to see veteran actors Smith, Courtenay, Connolly and Collins strut their stuff.
But as we see Courtenay's Reggie harbour old feelings for his ex-wife and Collins play the lovable confidante Cissy, it's Connolly who steals the show as the hilariously lustful Wilf.Although there isn't much material to let the actors stretch their acting capabilities, Quartet is a pleasure to watch.
This is the sort of film I normally strenuously go out of my way to avoid: the feel-good movie, especially the feel-good movie (Billy Elliot comes to mind) in which characters find "redemption" and "meaning" through Art. As a rule, the Brits do this kind of film much better (Brassed Off, the Full Monty) than Hollywood (no examples I would care to cite, I haven't had my breakfast yet); this is a hybrid, being a British written and produced movie, with an American director (Dustin Hoffman) making his directorial debut at the tender age of 74.So, why did I go to see this?
I can't say that I noticed the direction, one way or the other: I suppose you would have to categorize Dustin Hoffman as an "actors' director", which is what's called for in a film like this.
And stay for the end credits!A note on the actors: Michael Gambon and Billy Connolly carry the comedic parts and do so with obvious joy.Maggie Smith and Tom Courtenay are Jean and Reggie, a couple with a past, on whom the plot centers.
Maggie Smith's performance is flawless; Tom Courtenay looks a bit wooden opposite her (or is it the role?).Since the couple's love story is a bit dry and shallow, the key role in "Quartet", though, falls to Pauline Collins as Cissy - the emotional heart of the film.
This might explain why both films are about groups of British retirees and star Maggie Smith--and why both came out only about a year apart.The film occurs in Britain at a place called Beecham House--a retirement home for musical artists.
"Quartet" is a beautiful film directed by Dustin Hoffman, about a retirement home for musicians as the residents prepare for a benefit concert to keep the place going.The film stars Maggie Smith, Tom Courtenay, Michael Gambon, Billy Connelly, and Pauline Collins, as well as opera performers, including Gwenyth Jones, Nuala Willis, John Rawnsley, Melodie Waddingham, Cynthia Morey, Justin Lavender, Vivienne Ross, and Patricia Varley.The arrival of diva Jean Horton (Maggie Smith), once married to Reginald (Courtenay) is a reason for Reginald to completely panic.
As she's traveling to the home, she's rehearsing what she'll say to him: "We were different people then." Problems worsen when the well-meaning Cissy (Pauline Collins) who has moments of dementia, suggests that she, Cissy, Reginald, and Wif (Billy Connolly) perform the Quartet from Rigoletto at the benefit, something they performed many times.
The "quartet" of actors, along with Michael Gambon, are fantastic, as is the glorious soundtrack.Opera lovers and those who appreciate great acting will love this film.
The veteran writer, Ronald Harwood, adds the wonderful screenplay, based on his own play.The lead actors namely, Maggie Smith, Tom Courtenay, Billy Connolly, and Pauline Collins are all at the top of their game here.
Can the Quartet overcome their interpersonal resentments of the past and their problems with aging to help the gala be a lifesaver?I might mention that Michaqel Gambon, in a supporting role, as the Director of the upcoming gala adds very well to the mix, as does Sheridan Smith as the residence doctor and manager.I, not being an opera or classical music buff, had no idea that many of the residents of the home, who performed at the gala, were actually famous singers and musicians of the past.
Therefore Quartet is his proper directing debut and given his reputation as the infant terrible of the method acting school in the 1970s and 80s, Quartet is an unlikely story for Hoffman to direct.Hoffman has gathered Maggie Smith, Tom Courtney, Michael Gambon, Billy Connolly and Pauline Collins as patients in a retirement home putting on a show in this case an operatic and musical one to raise funds for the home for retired performers.It is a genteel, slight film and a kind of thing you feel you have seen it all before.
The acting is fine not only from the main stars but also many of the supporting and smaller roles all veteran performers of stage and screen.Smith plays a retired star who is adjusting to life in the home, she is a new arrival and she has history with Courtney's character as they were once married.
Set in a British retirement home for ageing musicians, Dustin Hoffman's directorial debut is a well-crafted drama, which deters away from negativity to focus on the bright side of elder life.
Randy old wolf Wilf Bond (Billy Connolly) and the Alzheimer challenged Cissy Robson (Pauline Collins) were competent voices, but the quartets strengths lay in their star duo of ex-lovers Reginald Paget (Tom Courtenay) and Jean Horton (Maggie Smith).
I'm sure this is a good film for the right audience -- by that I mean people who liked the set-piece bitchiness of Gosford Park, the long-playing social relationships of Downton Abbey, the humour of old folk forgetting things, or the nostalgia of opera.
He had a great cast with which to work: Maggie Smith, Tom Courtenay, Billy Connolly, Michael Gambon, and Dame Gwyneth Jones.They're all wasted in this movie that starts with a cliché and goes downhill from there.
Quartet isn't that film.All is pleasant at Beecham House for retired musicians, until the arrival of Jean (Maggie Smith), a diva who has history with and a mutual enmity for Reggie (Tom Courtney).
Together with Wilf (Billy Connolly) and Cissy (Pauline Collins) they comprised a renowned quartet and must perform together again to save the home from closing.Although the home's survival is dependent on the annual concert, no explanation is given as to how a beautiful stately home with such eminent figures from the operatic and classical music world could be forced to rely on its residents' fading abilities to limp through another year.That lack of depth is the major issue with Quartet.
Most of the residents appear to be at least a decade away from requiring constant care and surely they can't all be penniless and without families.Quartet is a sweet film from Dustin Hoffman, in his first foray into directing for 34 years (he was uncredited as co-director on Straight Time), with an enviable cast of British stalwarts.
Four cherished old British thespians playing retired opera stars living in a luxury retirement home: you can see how easy it was to pitch this movie to the Money Men. It's MARIGOLD HOTEL without the Club Class fares for cast and crew.
Pavarotti and Sutherland provide some of the background muzak, which clearly cannot be bad.Dustin Hoffman has directed a 'nice' little movie with a few acerbic lines, but the actors are in no way stretched and the script is too predictable.
This film about classical musicians living in a retirement home may not be entirely convincing in its casting of Billy Connolly and others as opera stars of the past, but it more than makes up for it in performances, individual appeal and humour.
Some lovely (if predictable) cameos from the stars and has a little of the feelgood factor we've come to expect from 'aging slightly disgracefully' British films but with a fairly unlikely story of a home for retired musicians where all they seem to do is play and sing and the home itself set in miles of unspoilt countryside where surely the residents can only expect to go barking mad, it really didn't cut it for me.
Many details of the movie probably worked better on stage, but Tom Courtenay, Billy Connolly, Maggie Smith and Pauline Collins are wonderful as renowned singers famous for their rendition of Verdi's "Rigoletto".In a convoluted plot mechanism, Beechum House needs a cash infusion to keep its doors open, and the answer comes from a hoped for reunion of the above mentioned quartet in this year's fundraising gala.
A first rate cast included Dame Maggie Smith; Sir Billy Connolly; Pauline Collins and Sir Tom Courtenay as the quartet in the film.
Quartet is a lovely entertainment with first class performances by Tom Courtenay, Pauline Collins Michael Gambon and Billy Connolly, but if you wish to see a real life version seek out Tosca's Kiss..
At a home for retired musicians, the annual concert to celebrate Verdi's birthday is disrupted by the arrival of Jean Horton (Maggie Smith), a long retired opera singer and the former wife of one of the residents, Reginald Paget (Tom Courtenay).Genial springs to mind.
Given a cast headed by Maggie Smith, Tom Courtenay, Billy Connolly, Pauline Collins and Michael Gambon, the film, though undeniably warm at heart and pulsing with graceful old age beats, strangely has to rely on light entertainment brought out by Connolly's randy old man act and Collins' "genteel" dementia!
Director Dustin Hoffman, for his first big screen directing appointment, inches things along at a leisurely pace, and the strong cast respond with good performances; even if they are hardly challenged by a script and screenplay (Ronald Harwood) that is going only one way.
This well crafted movie about a home for retired classical musicians is, in spite of its American director (Dustin Hoffman, very British in feel, both because of its intelligence and subtlety and because Americans just don't make movies about old people.
Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Billy Connolly, and Pauline Collins are great as the main characters, accompanied by a solid performance of Sheridan Smith as the house doctor.If all retiree could live this well, the world would be a better place.Unless you'd be bored by the subject of retired musician, you should watch this..
In the last couple of years, Hollywood has given us "It's Complicated" and "Hope Springs", while British cinema has offered up "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" and now "Quartet" - all films majoring on characters in older age but designed to demonstrate that being in one 60s or 70s does not mean that one is not interested in love and even sex.
Of the four, "Quartet" has the oldest combined cast age but the slightest storyline.Set in a beautiful English residential care home for retired musicians and singers, the eponymous four are Reggie (75 year old Tom Courtenay) and Jean (78 year old Maggie Smith), who have some history, plus Wilf (70 year old Billy Connolly) and Cissy (72 year old Pauline Collins), who have incontinence and dementia respectively.
Directed by Rain Man himself, Dustin Hoffman, in his curiously bland first attempt at a feature film, "Quartet" isn't an insightful tale about getting old or as witty of a British comedy as it wants to be, or thinks that it is.The Plot: So while it's not about saving a community center per se, the plot of "Quartet" centers around a retirement home (mansion really) filled with a slew of curmudgeon opera singers, that is about to be shut down.
But that's not the biggest problem with this film.The ensemble cast here is pretty notable, with the likes of Maggie Smith, Tom Courtenay, Billy Connolly and Pauline Collins.
And having Pauline Collins' deeply senile character as part of an operatic quartet to be performed at the home was really stretching it a bit.Yet the film was entertaining,while also being disappointing..
Its scenes, emotional background more subtle, even despite the lot of jokes and humour that come from a few characters, especially the brilliant Billy Connolly.Filmed on set in the wonderful British countryside, full of great music, the film has a fantastic cast and it sends out a powerful message to everyone irrespective of age: we shall all get old one day, the fleeting moments of our lives are to be cherished because it will all be gone one day...It made me feel tearful a few times throughout it and I'm sure others in the auditorium felt the same.
Quartet (2012)** 1/2 (out of 4)Dustin Hoffman makes his directorial debut with this predictable but charming film about residents at a retirement home for musicians.
Its not perfect, but as you get older you work your way through that crazy idea.Loved it --------- Time stood still ----------Fantastic cast ------------Thought provoking ---------great countryside , --------can I book a room for my retirement there please.-----------You felt as if you were there, that's how could the filming was ---------- Billy Connolly a very famous Scotsman does slightly grab the limelight, but oh to be old like him..
In the movie The Quartet directed by Dustin Hoffman the character Cissy Rubson (Pauline Collins) quotes Betty Davis as saying that "old age is not for sissies".
It took only 75 years for Dustin Hoffman to direct his first movie.That he chose a film project way outside of Hollywood comprised of an entirely foreign cast (for an American actor and director) comes as a further surprise.But the biggest shock of all is how his new movie, Quartet works so well.