Thu - Sun, Aug 27 - 30 / 7 pm
Directed by Ethan Hawke
2014, USA, 84 min
Classical concert piano player Seymour Bernstein isn’t well known but he’s deeply cherished by those who do know him. Veteran New Yorker at age 85, he is fully content teaching music. Ethan Hawke, one of his greatest admirers, takes us into Bernstein’s world with this delicately crafted film, offering a wise and charismatic reflection on art and life. In the film, Hawke mostly stays off camera and lets Bernstein do the talking with thought-provoking stories as he reminisces about growing up, playing piano for soldiers in the Korean War, and struggling with performance anxiety. As Hawke recalls, he first met Bernstein at a dinner party while grappling with the question “why make art?”, and that theme winds its way through the film as the teacher carries on conversations with accomplished friends such as art critic Michael Kimmelman and religious scholar Andrew Harvey. Reflecting on the careers of pianists Glenn Gould and Clifford Curzon, his deep love of piano music proves infectious.
