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Dirty old musicians need love too
In the comic Peanuts, Lucy used to say, after being blown off by Schroeder, "Musicians aren't real people." She might not have thought that if she'd seen Music from the Inside Out, Daniel Anker's documentary that shows the human side of several of the 105 members of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Their varied musical tastes—including jazz, Latin, bluegrass, opera and world music—will give you hope for a classical concert career for that youngster who's being fed a steady stream of rap through his iPod. Although some musicians mention being teased when they were kids, the net effect of the movie may be to encourage your child to practice. Be careful about pushing them, though. Two Asians who might be viewed as stereotypical prodigies had opposite reactions. David learned to play because his mother forced him to, but Hirono started playing out of rebellion when her mother told her she shouldn't. While they work in one of the world's best orchestras playing some of the most beautiful music ever written, Nitzan jams in a Latin band in a club after concerts. Adam, whose degree is in jazz, runs in marathons in his off hours. Zack and his brother Jason fiddle in a bluegrass band. Israel-born Udi initiated a musical collaboration—they don't discuss politics—with Arab Simon Shaheen to bring Jews and Arabs together through cultural exchange. Then there's Judy, who must be the Philadelphia's answer to Shirley MacLaine. In addition to relating colors to feelings to an extreme degree, she says she time-trips when she plays, experiencing the lives of the composers. Everything about Music from the Inside Out screams, "Tonight on PBS...," right down to the arbitrary division into three parts— "Finding a Voice," "Between the Notes," "The Sum of the Parts"—(plus an introduction) to allow for pledge breaks. The film's educational value is diminished because the orchestral music we hear isn't identified, even when it's discussed and analyzed. Perhaps I'm just jealous, but I got the feeling Anker was using the film as an excuse to write off some unnecessary travels when he shows snapshots of the orchestra in Poland, France, England, Switzerland, Germany, Japan and China. The only thing worth including is composer Tan Dun rehearsing with the orchestra in Shanghai. A German street musician playing "The Four Seasons" on an accordion is no more deserving of screen time than a street musician in Philadelphia with a glass harmonica. Most of the comments, some delivered conversationally in what looks like a therapy group, are about the impact of music on those who play it and those who hear it. They will affect different listeners differently, but I felt like too often the people with the least to say are given the most time to say it. The transcendent beauty of the orchestra's playing, though often relegated to the background, overcomes all my quibbles about how the film is put together; and if you can't express how it makes you feel, somewhere in all the chatter someone will say it exactly the way you wish you could. Steve Warren is a local actor and film reviewer. His reviews can also be seen weekly in the Sunday Paper. |
Music from the Inside Out
Directed by: Daniel Anker 
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(2½ out of 4)