Review of Quartet (2012) by Malcolm N — 08 Feb 2013

Great acting performances by Maggie Smith & Tom Courtenay. Snappy, hilarious repliques, sparkling dialogue for a bunch of.

"old fogeys" who clearly show us that despite the obvious & inevitable depradations of old age, they still are fully alive, sentient human beings that with encouragement & by working together can still prove that "Yes, we can!".

Soundtrack is superb, an opera lover's delight.

& Dustin Hoffman's cinematographic intuition is impeccable to the very end. I was very glad that with great finesse, Hoffman has his camera back off into a distant shot of Beecham House as we hear the famous Pavarotti/Sutherland version of the Rigoletto quartet. It would have diminished the cachet of this film & turned it into pathos, had we been subjected either to lip-sing or even worse, a cracked and off-key rendition. A great ending that leaves a good taste & great sound to wrap up this bijou of a film.