“Quartet” – Dustin Hoffman’s first film as director

Older people's eyes light up when the film "The Graduate" is mentioned; the day of many a young man in the 1970s was essentially determined by emulating the title character.

These generations experienced their first critical engagement with uncomfortable history through "Marathon Man" , their first idea of ​​an inconsistency of gender roles with "Tootsie" , the possible failure of the almost equal relationship in "Kramer vs. Kramer" , the certain failure of the actually exploited pseudo-careerist in "Death of a Salesman" , and their first encounter with the loneliness that comes with being different, sick, or disabled in "Rain Man" .

Dustin Hoffman shines in all these films, delivering a remarkably strong performance as a shy lover, a morally and physically unassailable marathon runner, a goofy Tootsie, a career-obsessed and insensitive father, a frustrated salesman, and a brilliant yet sensitive portrayal of an autistic character. You certainly wouldn't want to miss him.

Even younger generations are familiar with Hoffman as an actor; with films like “Sleepers”, “Confidence”, “The Verdict”, “Meet the Parents”, “Perfume: The Story of a Murderer”, “Barney’s Version” and many more, he was a frequent guest on the cinema screen in the past decade.

Dustin Hoffman's debut as a film director

However, on Sunday, January 20, 2013, at 11 a.m. in the Deutsche Oper Berlin, a new era began for Dustin Hoffman and for his fans: the German premiere of “Quartett” , Dustin Hoffman’s directorial debut .

This also marked the first time a feature film premiered at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, and there is a reason why this premiere took place in a large opera house: “Quartett” is a film that celebrates classical music and life (with music).

The story focuses on the far from tranquil goings-on at a retirement home for former opera singers. This residence for these singers was founded by the opera composer Giuseppe Verdi , and naturally, a concert is held there every year to commemorate Verdi's birthday.

A concert featuring the inmates, singers of a very mature age who do not always want to acknowledge their already noticeable limitations.

The cast is as brilliant as it is far removed from Hollywood: Maggie Smith , the British acting legend with over 50 awards, plays the perpetually temperamental opera star Jean; visiting and immediately chosen as the star of the planned concert, but whose egocentricity also puts everything at risk.

She also nearly drives her once-spurned ex-husband Reginald to the brink of collapse—a reassuringly normal role, sensitively portrayed by Tom Courtenay . The couple also have other long-time acquaintances at the residence: Cecily and Wilfred; the four of them were formerly a famous opera quartet.

Cedric Livingstone, the director of the Verdi gala, couldn't pass up such a publicity opportunity. He is played by Irish actor Michael Gambon , whom most of us know better as Professor Albus Dumbledore; here, he is just as delightful as a headstrong and tireless perfectionist.

But Cecily ( Pauline Collins ) is already a bit too scatterbrained for her age, and Wilfred ( Billy Connolly ) can only be described as too old for his constant flirting... one can imagine that there's quite a lot going on during the preparations for this gala.

Naturally, there is much talk of Verdi (who is indeed celebrating his 200th birthday this year), and the whole story goes back to the fact that Verdi really did create a retirement home for aging opera singers: the Casa di Riposo per Musicisti in Milan, also known as Casa Verdi, which became world-famous through the internationally acclaimed documentary film "Il Bacio di Tosca" (Daniel Schmid, 1984).

The story for “Quartett” was also inspired by the documentary film, and in the film Hoffmann was able to convey his reverence for the aging singers and the magnificent music so well that tears flowed in the audience at the premiere.

Aging and the anger about it provide plenty of material for touching scenes, but also for pithy sayings, such as when Reginald says, “Opera is when a man gets a knife in his back and doesn’t die, but sings,” or when Cecily quotes Bette Davis, who said, “Aging is not for wimps.”.

As a pleasant side effect, it should be noted that in “Quartett” we mainly hear the Rigoletto quartet “Bella figlia dell'amore” and the drinking song from La Traviata, while we are spared the prisoners' chorus from Nabucco, which is not very suitable for older voices and thus leads to rather embarrassing scenes in “Il Bacio di Tosca”.

Dustin Hoffman's long and thorny road to directing

In interviews surrounding the film premieres, Dustin Hoffman explained why he is only now, at the age of 75, making his directorial debut. We learn about his decades-long struggle, the constant question he posed to himself: Do I have the talent to be a director?

Dustin Hoffman describes his path to directing as quite traumatic: “Like everyone, I have my demons that I have to fight. One of these demons was directing,” but comes to the reassuring conclusion: “And now that I’ve finally done it, I ask myself: Why did I wait so long?” ( www.zeit.de/2013/02/Dustin-Hoffman-Quartett-Kinofilm ).

We ask ourselves that too, or perhaps not, if we belong to the age group that knows about Hoffman's first directorial attempt in 1978. In "Hour of Parole," Hoffman had thrown himself into every aspect of the production, as director, lead actor, and in every detail from script revisions with the writers to casting, only to hand over the directorial reins, uncertain and exasperated, to his friend Ulu Grosbard midway through filming and forbid being credited as co-director in the end credits.

That was 35 years ago; for that long, Hoffman was considered in Hollywood to be "the guy who couldn't make it," or at least felt that way. This is by no means to suggest that he wasn't repeatedly approached about directing, that he wasn't repeatedly on the verge of trying his hand at it, but even with projects he co-wrote, like Tootsie, he couldn't bring himself to do it.

Hoffman would probably have been better off if he had dared to do so sooner; his directorial disputes with Sidney Pollock during the filming of Tootsie are legendary and, in addition to the label of “failing director”, have also earned him the reputation of being complicated.

His wife also noticed that the actor was becoming increasingly difficult: In the past four years, Hoffman had accepted almost no roles because he didn't like the script, the director, or the cast. His wife pressed him, Hoffman even started therapy, and his agent simply refused to accept his rejection of directing Quartet.

Perhaps he only took on the directing role for “Quartet” because his wife annoyed him enough, or perhaps he seized the opportunity to be in the limelight again after the age-related decline in major roles in Hollywood (which even the always younger-looking Hoffman had to accept from the age of 60 onwards)?

Even if he wasn't driven by any vanity, the talented enthusiast surely still wanted to work, and if he was now mainly to appear as a supporting actor, he may have had little desire to breathe life and sophistication into these Hollywood roles, which, based on experience, tend to be rather rudimentary, without adequate appreciation and payment.

We probably come closest to solving the mystery of Hoffman's conversion to directing if we assume that he has finally ventured into directing in order to continue delivering high-quality work.

And that's exactly what he did: The entire production is witty, British, and fast-paced ; the convincingly conveyed love of music gives the elderly characters a sense of purpose and provides structure to the sometimes somewhat joke-laden plot; and if you read in other reviews about too much "romantic idealization" or find it criticized that the impending death isn't addressed in its full harshness, don't let it bother you – the respective critic probably still possesses all the ignorance of youth, and if you've already outgrown your teenage years, you'll find this film intelligent and entertaining, even if the opera singers don't wallow in blood or death throes before your eyes.

Hoffman said in an interview about his directorial debut: “It took me a long time to understand how important the things we enjoy doing are to us. And that it's not just about the end result.” ( www.zeit.de )

One might wish that the aforementioned critics would come to such an understanding sooner than he did.

“Quartett” was released in German cinemas on January 24, 2013. More information about this film and excerpts from this worthwhile film can be found at www.quartett-derfilm.de .