Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageMadame Sousatzka (1988)
Director: John Schlesinger
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Schubert, Chopin, Beethoven, Schumann - the music moves the emotions, though nothing else does in this pedestrian version of Bernice Rubens' novel. Let's hear it again for the faded rooming-house full of types: the ageing osteopath queen (Bayldon), the ageing no-hope pop singer pushover in the attic (Twiggy), the aged, distracted, aristocratic owner in the basement (Ashcroft). And, in cloak and comic walk, severe but mush underneath, the ageing, imperious piano teacher of the title (MacLaine). Into this overworked literary armature arrives 14-year-old Manek (Chowdhry), a talented Indian lad with a domineering mother in back, for lessons. Madame soon has him in her grip, reining him in from concert exposure - though he is obviously mustard - before heading him off from the inevitable rite-of-passage in the attic. Probably conceived as more dislikeably monomaniacal than MacLaine plays her, this teacher has to get used to the painful fact that her chicks will fly the coop. Who could blame them? Fusty stuff.Author: BC
Cast & crew
Director: John Schlesinger
Producer: Robin Dalton
Cast: Shirley MacLaine, Peggy Ashcroft, Twiggy, Shabana Azmi, Leigh Lawson, Geoffrey Bayldon, Lee Montague, Navin Chowdhry full cast
Duration: 122 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Ang Lee talks 'Taking Woodstock'
Ang Lee talks to Tom Huddleston about his tale of the men behind history’s greatest music festival
Hippies who work for The Man
To celebrate George Clooney comedy 'The Men who Stare at Goats', we look back at six memorable onscreen hippies who fought the system from within
Roland Emmerich's guide to disaster movies
Ahead of the release of '2012', Roland Emmerich offers his ten tips on creating the perfect global catastrophe
Grant Heslov: interview
Grant Heslov, director of 'The Men who Stare at Goats' talks about his old pal George Clooney, his interest in the paranormal, and his fond memories of working on 'Happy Days'
The Coen brothers discuss 'A Serious Man'
Masters of contrary comedy, Joel and Ethan Coen have struck gold again with their latest, ‘A Serious Man’
Ten inspirations behind 'Avatar'?
Time Out ponders the influences behind James Cameron's anticipated space-opera on the basis of the trailer
Michael Haneke: The man behind the menace
From Cannes to Munich to London, Dave Calhoun tours Michael Haneke's Palme d'Or winner, 'The White Ribbon'
How Jane Campion brought John Keats back to life
Time Out gets Romantic with the ‘difficult’ New Zealander about her new film, 'Bright Star'
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations
What do you think?
Post your review now