The film begins with us hearing Peter (Christopher Walken) talking about Beethoven’s Opus 131 to his students. He explains that Beethoven had expressed his wishes that the piece of music, to be his personal favourite which has seven movements, was to be played without pause and at a “attack” pace. Peter goes on to explain what this means for the musicians, not only is this a gruelling request because it’s hard in itself but it adds the challenge that during the run of the piece in time each musician’s instrument will begin to go out of tune. As Peter asks his class we’re left to ponder, when this point in life comes are we meant to attempt to compensate for the wear that’s now occurred with our instruments, or should we pause and reset them so as to keep a level of perfection that may not have even been intended in the first place?

The question that Beethoven’s Opus 131 asks of us is what this movie asks of its characters as when it begins it begins with twenty-five years of excellence with the quartet and finally their instruments (i.e. them) are beginning to go out of tune. It begins with Peter discovering that he has the early stages of Parkinson’s disease and has decided that he will retire from music, with hopes of playing one last concert with the quartet as his official farewell to such a glorious journey that he’s been on these last 25 years. This news, while tragic in itself, is logical. In this point of unevenness there is an opportunity, that is seized, wherein each member of the group manages to bring their own questions of how the groups should move forward that creates numerous riffs and therein the drama of the film.

A Late Quartet is a film that may feel very melodramatic at times, as we get wrapped up in everything that is these characters lives for this period of time that they are preparing for the new season, it never feels like it’s cheaply doling out these moments that we get to truly learn about these people. We see Robert’s (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) frustration as forever being the second violin, Juliette’s (Catherine Keener) despair at Peter’s leaving the group and Daniel’s (Mark Ivanir) obsession with perfection. These are all real lives that the film never undercuts with shallow plot points that define them but rather each character is given each their moment to shine and display what they have to give us as an audience.

Christopher Walken is given a stage with which to shine in this film. His entire career he’s been known as a wildcard who can’t really be typecast as anything other than someone who’s inflections never quite sound the same as his characters. Here however he’s given a role that allows him to be straight and rightly so. One of my favourite scenes in the movie involves him teaching his students and breaking into a story of when he met Pablo Casals. The story, why I love it, is one that asks us to stop being cynical about it all. In the world of criticism we’re asked so often to speak to the negative without ever being asked of the positives that one brings to the table, and this is what that story of Peter and Pablo Casals discusses, “What’s positive about this right now?” is what it asks and I’m happy to try my best to answer that more often than not.