Drama starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christopher Walken and Catherine Keener as members of a New York-based, world-renowned four-piece string quartet struggling to keep the group together in the face of competing egos, lust and a debilitating illness. Find movie times and read more.
As a cultural philistine I needed a push to watch a film about classical musicians. But once lured in by a solid cast that includes Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christopher Walken and Catherine Keener I found Performance to be impressive, superior drama. The film’s leads are good across the board, most notably Walken as cellist Peter Mitchell, recently diagnosed with career-blighting Parkinson’s Disease. Walken thankfully seems to have moved on from his scenery-chewing schtick of bygone years, and here he offers up a nuanced and delicately devastating portrayal of a widower losing another love of his life – playing music.
While some of the events that unfold in Performance may veer towards the predictable (especially in romantic subplots), the film’s real pleasures lie in seeing its characters brought to life, particularly when it explores the dynamic between four musicians who have performed together for 25 years. The ease with which they relate to each other, as well as the long-buried tensions that arise when Mitchell moots the idea of his retirement, feel like they’re true of any artistic group together for an extended period of time. And when marital strife rears its head between Hoffman and Keener, the married members of the quartet, you could almost swap the violins for oddly-tuned electric guitars and be watching a film about Sonic Youth.
The world of classical music is critical to making the film tick though, its specifics being crucial to Performance’s characters and their circumstances as well as the music itself providing moving accompaniment. But don’t fret if you’re an ignoramus like myself, there’s no need to study up in order to enjoy.
