(Netherlands, 94 min.)
Dir. Heddy Honigmann
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| Photo: Mariss Jenkins |
Maestro, if you please! Let the conductors of the Hot Docs hit Around the World in 50 Concerts be your
guide to sonorous world tour that hits a high note. This behind-the-scenes
music doc travels the globe and connects subjects around the world with the
glissandos and trills of the Dutch Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Director Heddy Honigmann acts as a conductor
of this musical train as she tours the world while keeping the orchestra in
time with the global pulse of classical music. It’s no wonder that the double
meanings of conductor have such a strong presence in the film, since Around the World in 50 Concerts conveys
how music transports us to places we can only imagine. Music is the universal
language and Honigmann finds a common voice around the globe using the music of
this wonderful orchestra.
The title of the film misleads somewhat since Honigmann only presents a few of the fifty concerts that the RCO played around the world to mark its 125th anniversary, but less proves to be more as she takes the film from Berlin to Buenos Aires, Soweto, and St. Petersburg. The filmmaker interviews a handful of musicians as they prepare for their concerts and each one explains the art of his or her instrument (“percussion is all about waiting” one drummer says) before the film shows how the musician plays an integral part of the whole. (The subsequent cutaway to the percussionist patiently waiting to bang the drum is rather droll.) Behind-the-scenes glimpses show how the musicians tend and care for their instruments and keep the company in tune.
The film
also shows how music and the arts provide a great outlet in life in addition to
being magical entertainment. A session with a cab driver in Argentina, for
example, adds a poignant note as he describes how classical music lets him
escape the isolation he feels while driving. In Soweto, the RCO plays to great
acclaim to an audience of students (their jest with a magical wand is quite
funny) and Honigmann underscores the value the arts bring to the community by
interviewing two young girls who explain their hopes and dreams to the camera
while noting the hardships of the community they escape in their marimba band.
Similarly, a village elder shares a story of a Jewish professor who taught him
to play the violin and invited him to come in the front door for lessons when
other teachers wanted him to take lessons on the sly and enter through the back
door to hide from the neighbours. The elderly man now teaches violin to a new
generation of students in Soweto, some of whom could be prospective members of
the RCO in documentaries to come.
Around the World in 50 Concerts bridges cultures and communities using
the power of music that endures. Weaving together this international ensemble,
Honigmann finds common themes, experiences, and pitches that let the classical
work resonate with musicians and music lovers around the globe. Audiences
expecting to see reserved and frumpy players might be surprised by the jovial
spirit and camaraderie of the musicians. Their fun and amiable guides, simply
because they’re pure music lovers at heart. It’s easy to sit back and enjoy the
music when all the tour guides want their concertos to be your guide.
Rating: ★★★ (out of ★★★★★)
Around the World in 50
Concerts opens in
Toronto at The Bloor on August 14.
