Sunday Review: Quartet

Don't act your age

By Morris Dean

The title of Quartet—this glorious first directorial effort by Dustin Hoffman (2012), about not living your age any more than you would your street address—refers to two things: the Bella figlia dell'amore quartet of Giuseppe Verdi's opera Rigoletto


and to the four friends who performed it many years ago: Reggie (Tom Courtenay), Jean (Maggie Smith), Cissy (Pauline Collins), and Wilf (Billy Connolly).
    Three of them have for some time been retired to Beecham House, a retirement home for gifted musicians, patterned [according to Wikipedia] after the real-life Casa di Riposo per Musicisti founded by Verdi. In a way, Verdi is a character in this movie too, for the house keeps the tradition of performing a yearly gala concert on his birthday (October 10, 1813), proceeds from which help fund the home. Funding is currently in trouble because some of the most prominent singers have either died or decided not to participate anymore, and the event's director, Cedric (Michael Gambon), is concerned that they won't be able to attract a big paying crowd this year.
    The arrival of Jean (the Maggie Smith character) changes the outlook, for Cedric can hope to include a reprise of the foursome's Bella figlia dell'amore. Of course, there are some problems, and therein lies the dramatic conflict that keeps you wide awake and hopeful...and eventually thrilled that the one-time lovers can be....[no apologies for my coyness, for I don't think you'd appreciate knowing in advance].

Michael Gambon and Tom Courtenay

    All involved, characters and players, have become old. Tom Courtenay, born in 1937, was in Doctor Zhivago in 1965. Maggie Smith, born 1934, was in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie in 1969. Pauline Collins, born 1940, was in the original Upstairs, Downstairs forty years ago. Billy Connolly, born 1942, was a shipyard welder in those days....And Dustin Hoffman, born 1937, their much-liked director because he had been an actor like them, was in The Graduate, Midnight Cowboy, and Little Big Man in those early, common years. (Plus, Michael Gambon, born 1940, was very active in TV productions throughout that period.)

Billy Connolly, Maggie Smith, and Dustin Hoffman at the premiere

    There are many memorable lines in this film, my favorite's perhaps being the following: After learning of Jean's disappointment in love, Cissy says to her, "We have the rest of our lives ahead of us."
    Unreassured, Jean replies, "Not much of it. Most of it has already been."
    More-pleasurable lines arise from Wilf's stylish flirting with virtually all of the women:

Wilf flirts with Dr. Cogan (Sheridan Smith, born 1981):
bending his knees to get low enough for her to pin on the flower, he says,
"If I go any lower I'll be on my knees and can propose to you"

I think it's fair to say that, comically, Billy Connolly steals the show.
    Enjoy! I know you will.
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Copyright © 2013 by Morris Dean

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