"And now, for a man who needs no introduction – Seymour Bernstein!" While such a statement may be appropriate in some circles, if it were universally true, there might not be a need for the documentary "Seymour: An Introduction" (PG, 1:24). Seymour Bernstein, among fans of classical music, is a well-known New York concert pianist and music teacher. Viewers of this film will get to know him as such and will want to add to that resume "wise man and all-around good guy". Actor Ethan Hawke seems to think so. He was so impressed by meeting Bernstein that he decided to make a documentary about his life. The resulting film was seen on the festival circuit in the U.S. and Canada during the late summer and fall of 2014, received a limited theatrical release in those two countries in March 2015 and appeared at international film festivals throughout the spring of 2015. And if film festival love weren't enough, as of the writing of this review, on the Rotten Tomatoes website, this movie has an 88% rating from audiences and a 100% critics rating! When have 100% of film critics agreed on anything? I try not to be swayed by critics or popular opinion when I write my reviews, so I am now prepared to make my assessment as to whether I agree with the nearly universal acclaim this documentary has received.
Seymour Bernstein demonstrated extraordinary talent on the piano as a teenager, grew up to become a world-renown concert pianist and composer, but then suddenly gave up performing at the age of 50 to focus on music education. Bernstein has had remarkable success in many aspects of music and his life is a very interesting story waiting to be discovered. But this documentary doesn't stop there. It reveals Seymour Bernstein as a remarkable person. He has a tremendous passion for classical music and has learned and taught much along those lines, but it's how his love of music has informed his life that is most compelling to those of us who know more about Post-It notes than musical notes.
In directing this film, Hawke never gets flashy with his cinematic portrait of Seymour Bernstein, but uses a variety of effective methods to introduce us to the man and his music. We see archival footage of piano concerts and more recent footage of the master teaching his students. As we watch the latter, we are struck by the instructor's perfectly balanced approach – a dogged pursuit of perfection sometimes nearly overshadowed by his generous and encouraging nature. We also learn who Bernstein is as a man and a musician through interviews with his current and former students and conversations with the man himself, as he tells his story and reveals what he learned about life along the way. To illustrate this last point, it may be easiest to give you a sample of Bernstein's pearls of wisdom, in his own words: "The true essence of who we are resides in our talent – whatever talent we have." "The people who don't want me to succeed for their own selfish reasons can't touch me." "The most important thing that music teachers can do for their pupils is to inspire an emotional reaction, not just for the music, but more importantly, for life." "We sense in music a reflection of ourselves, a reminder of our own potential for perfection." "I never dreamt that with my own two hands, I could touch the sky." There's plenty more where that came from, but beyond telling Bernstein's story and encouraging him to reflect back on his 88 years, there's a bit of a real-time drama going on in this movie as well. In the midst of the interviews and the background footage, as the documentary is being filmed, Bernstein is preparing to perform his first public concert in many years. We see him choose his piano like a master chef selects just the right spice and uses just the right amount. Bernstein has the refined ear of a man who has been doing this for decades, but the boyish enthusiasm of someone sitting behind the keys for the first time. As he plays the piano he selected just for this occasion at New York's Steinway Hall Rotunda for an audience consisting of Hawke's theater group, the moment elicits an emotional reaction in Bernstein. The music still touches him, much as his story and his generous and wise spirit touch us.
"Seymour: An Introduction" is the rare completely non-controversial, heart-felt documentary that you can just sit back and enjoy, but it could have been a little sharper than it was. The bare-bones style of telling its story was generally appropriate for the film, but it wouldn't have distracted from its subject to be just a little more creative in its presentation. In addition, some of the camera work and some of the editing choices came across as slightly amateurish. This documentary isn't as close to perfect as the music that Bernstein plays, but definitely has the power to elicit an emotional reaction of its own. I'm giving this one a "B+". That qualifies as a general recommendation from me and is positive enough to group me together with all those professional critics who favorably reviewed this movie. Count me in, ladies and gentlemen. Seymour Bernstein is a man well worth meeting and I'm glad Ethan Hawke made the introduction.
Seymour Bernstein demonstrated extraordinary talent on the piano as a teenager, grew up to become a world-renown concert pianist and composer, but then suddenly gave up performing at the age of 50 to focus on music education. Bernstein has had remarkable success in many aspects of music and his life is a very interesting story waiting to be discovered. But this documentary doesn't stop there. It reveals Seymour Bernstein as a remarkable person. He has a tremendous passion for classical music and has learned and taught much along those lines, but it's how his love of music has informed his life that is most compelling to those of us who know more about Post-It notes than musical notes.
In directing this film, Hawke never gets flashy with his cinematic portrait of Seymour Bernstein, but uses a variety of effective methods to introduce us to the man and his music. We see archival footage of piano concerts and more recent footage of the master teaching his students. As we watch the latter, we are struck by the instructor's perfectly balanced approach – a dogged pursuit of perfection sometimes nearly overshadowed by his generous and encouraging nature. We also learn who Bernstein is as a man and a musician through interviews with his current and former students and conversations with the man himself, as he tells his story and reveals what he learned about life along the way. To illustrate this last point, it may be easiest to give you a sample of Bernstein's pearls of wisdom, in his own words: "The true essence of who we are resides in our talent – whatever talent we have." "The people who don't want me to succeed for their own selfish reasons can't touch me." "The most important thing that music teachers can do for their pupils is to inspire an emotional reaction, not just for the music, but more importantly, for life." "We sense in music a reflection of ourselves, a reminder of our own potential for perfection." "I never dreamt that with my own two hands, I could touch the sky." There's plenty more where that came from, but beyond telling Bernstein's story and encouraging him to reflect back on his 88 years, there's a bit of a real-time drama going on in this movie as well. In the midst of the interviews and the background footage, as the documentary is being filmed, Bernstein is preparing to perform his first public concert in many years. We see him choose his piano like a master chef selects just the right spice and uses just the right amount. Bernstein has the refined ear of a man who has been doing this for decades, but the boyish enthusiasm of someone sitting behind the keys for the first time. As he plays the piano he selected just for this occasion at New York's Steinway Hall Rotunda for an audience consisting of Hawke's theater group, the moment elicits an emotional reaction in Bernstein. The music still touches him, much as his story and his generous and wise spirit touch us.
"Seymour: An Introduction" is the rare completely non-controversial, heart-felt documentary that you can just sit back and enjoy, but it could have been a little sharper than it was. The bare-bones style of telling its story was generally appropriate for the film, but it wouldn't have distracted from its subject to be just a little more creative in its presentation. In addition, some of the camera work and some of the editing choices came across as slightly amateurish. This documentary isn't as close to perfect as the music that Bernstein plays, but definitely has the power to elicit an emotional reaction of its own. I'm giving this one a "B+". That qualifies as a general recommendation from me and is positive enough to group me together with all those professional critics who favorably reviewed this movie. Count me in, ladies and gentlemen. Seymour Bernstein is a man well worth meeting and I'm glad Ethan Hawke made the introduction.