Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Snippets of Pärt's Music and Life, October 14, 2005
One of the hallmarks of Arvo Pärt's music is that it tends to bloom over time and it requires a fair amount of close attention on the part of the listener. There are those, I suppose, who may simply sit back and let the music wash over them without making much effort to attend closely to what is happening in the music, but those who listen attentively are rewarded for their effort. This DVD, containing one main and three subsidiary documentaries shot over many months in cinema verité style by filmmaker Dorian Supin, requires rather the opposite approach due to its mosaic style. The main documentary, '24 Preludes for a Fugue,' is made up of 24 short snippets of film running a total of about 90 minutes. It juxtaposes interviews with Pärt with reminiscences of his earlier life, scenes of him composing or rehearsing his music, of premieres and seminars, and so on. The rhythm of the collage is a little distracting as we jump from one thing to another, but the calmness and slowness of Pärt's way of talking tends to counterbalance that. Still, it is hard to say that the whole adds up to a rounded portrait of the man and his music. And for those who want to hear much of his music the film could be a disappointment; we rarely get more than short moments of music at a time. Still, for those who are interested in Pärt the man, the film would be useful. There are three 'extras' that are simply shorter collections of the footage Supin had shot during his several years with Pärt. They are 'Cecilia,' a short film about the composition of 'Cecilia, vergine romana,' 'Your Name,' which presents shots of rehearsals and performance of his 'Which Was the Son of ...,' and 'Como Cierva Sedienta,' with soprano Patricia Rozario singing a recital of Pärt's music in Tallinn, Estonia.
I found myself distracted and my interest waning at times by the presentation, but I am probably not the most avid fan of Mr Pärt's music and that surely accounts for some of my reaction. His many fervent admirers will undoubtedly find the film more rewarding than I. And one must admit that the film is expertly made. The main documentary won a UNESCO prize for documentaries in 2002.
The photography is quite good, better than that in most cinema verité films. Sound in Dolby Digital 5.1 is fine. The excellent subtitles are in a vast array of languages (English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Finnish, Russian and Estonian) and are necessary because the spoken sound track includes sections in Estonian, Russian, German and English.
Scott Morrison
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not for the novice, January 4, 2007
This film is a collection of reminiscences, observations, and practice sessions with the Estonian composer, Arvo Pärt. For those familiar with him and his work, it is a delightful opportunity to literally spend time with him, as if one had the privilege of remaining in his presence, in the background while he spoke and worked. Otherwise, for those with less background, the film offers fewer clues than a typical CD's liner notes. We learn, for instance, what any Pärt aficionado already would know, that "Für Alina" was the first example of the "tintinnabuli" style, without any explanation of what "tintinnabuli" is. In other scenes, Pärt relates how his family used to eat tomatoes with sugar, rather than salt, and how he owned one of only two motorbikes in Rakvere. In an amusing scene, titled "A Sad Day," he recalls how he used to practice piano as a child. Since his mother didn't know what he was supposed to be playing, he practiced his own compositions. One day, his mother met the piano teacher on the street, and was told that Arvo wasn't doing very well, apparently because he wasn't practicing. His mother replied that this was impossible, as he was at the piano all day. In this way, Pärt relates, his lie was exposed.
A short montage of still photos of the composer, from childhood to the present, is accompanied with dates of important events in his life. Aside from this, the biographical data presented is minimal. There's also scant information on the phases of Pärt's musical development. One scene has him describing his creative lull in the 1970s, when he listened to (and sang) a great deal of Gregorian Chant, apparently without success. The scene that surely followed, describing his ensuing breakthrough, discovery of the tintinnabuli style, and the creative flow that continues to the present day, must have been inexplicably excised by the filmmaker. There is also no discussion of Pärt's religious beliefs, a curious omission, since so much of his work has been suffused with the spirit of Orthodox Christianity.
As an introduction to Pärt, this film would hopefully spur the novice to further inquiry into the work of this remarkable composer.
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11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Parts, not the Whole..., November 5, 2005
...but really a rich & magnificent treatment of this man & his music. Although previous acquaintance with the Hillier biography and Part's music would be advantageous, still the film stands alone as marvellous documentary.
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