Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageThe Loves of Liszt (1970)
Director: Márton Keleti
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
A film with all the grace of a dinosaur and the liveliness of a dodo. For two and a half hours (mercifully, 32 minutes were cut for British release) we're treated to a childishly reverential biography that outdoes even Hollywood biopics in its horde of clichés and name-dropping. The settings, both interior and exterior, are attractive in their holiday-brochure way, yet they are never treated with any imagination (the director's main trick is to make the camera pirouette round the piano during Liszt's recitals, which only makes it seem as though he's performing on ice). And while the dollops of music are finely performed (mostly by György Cziffra and Sviatoslav Richter), the selection signally fails to support the script's claim that Liszt is a key figure in the development of modern music.Author: GB
Cast & crew
Director: Márton Keleti
Cast: Imre Sinkovits, Ariadne Shengelaya, Klara Lutchko, Igor Dmitriev, Sándor Pécsi, Irina Gubanova, Larissa Trembovelskaya, Támas Major full cast
Duration: 185 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade
Ten years, thousands of movies and millions of dollars in international box office, and it all boils down to this
Martin Provost discusses 'Séraphine'
Trevor Johnston talks to the director of 'Séraphine' about bringing a little known French painter back to life
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Stephen Poliakoff discusses 'Glorious 39'
Stephen Poliakoff’s ‘Glorious 39’ is his first film for cinema since ‘Food of Love’ in 1997. Dave Calhoun met him
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
Steven Soderbergh on 'The Informant!' and 'The Girlfriend Experience'
We talk to Steven Soderbergh about his two forthcoming films: one featuring a porn star, the other a chubby Matt Damon
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
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