Will Thomas still lead a life of crime and cruelty, just like his thuggish father, or will he pursue his dream of becoming a pianist?Will Thomas still lead a life of crime and cruelty, just like his thuggish father, or will he pursue his dream of becoming a pianist?Will Thomas still lead a life of crime and cruelty, just like his thuggish father, or will he pursue his dream of becoming a pianist?
- Won 1 BAFTA Award
- 22 wins & 14 nominations total
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaRomain Duris's sister is a pianist, and she is the one who taught him to play piano for this film.
- Quotes
Sami: Playing piano is making you flip. Stop it now!
Thomas Seyr: Nothing's making me flip. I'm not flipping. I'm having a ball. I feel fantastic, dont' you see? It's important, I'm serious about it.
Sami: You gonna make dough from pianos?
Thomas Seyr: Not pianos, the piano! It's not about making money, it's about art.
Sami: What's in it for us? You coming to meetings all, 'Hi guys, I've been playing piano.' Shit, I'll take up the banjo.
Thomas Seyr: It's over your head
- ConnectionsRemake of Fingers (1978)
The plot is not so much of a linear story, but more of a cross-sectional cuts of various aspects of Thomas' life. On the more mundane side are his business activities that alway verge on being criminal, his affair with his partner's neglected wife and his relationship with his father to whom he seems quite devoted.
More interesting is his musical pursuits, triggered by a chance encounter with his late mother's manager who remembers his talent and invites him to an audition "when he is ready". This leads to his seeking help from an accomplished pianist Miao Lin, a young women who studied in the Beijing Conservatory, just arrived in Paris, speaking no French at all and "just a little" English. (Here we see the not unusual sloppiness when an Asian aspect is covered in a "western" movie. There is absolutely no logical reason for a woman from China to be speaking Vietnamese, except for one - the actress IS Vietnamese). Anyway, the communication purely through music and gesture is very well handled.
The shooting style is quite contemporary, and leans towards using darker scenes. Interesting to note that in the two series of piano practicing scenes, it's always dark and gloomy when he plays at home, but is reasonably bright when he is at coach Miao Lin's place.
As with such non-story-oriented movies, the ending is inconclusive. But that does not matter as it is the character study that is of prime interest.
- harry_tk_yung
- Dec 16, 2005
- Permalink
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- Kalbim bir an durdu
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- €5,300,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $1,023,424
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $65,365
- Jul 3, 2005
- Gross worldwide
- $11,757,109
- Runtime1 hour 48 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1