Fred Ballinger (Michael Caine) is a retired orchestral conductor and composer taking a holiday at a five star retreat spa hotel in the Swiss Alps. Accompanying him is his daughter Lena (Rachel Weisz) who is also his personal assistant. Among the other guests, who include a retired football legend, a young Hollywood actor and a Buddhist monk, is Fred’s lifelong friend Mick Boyle (Harvey Keitel)…
Mick is a film director whose best work is behind him but he has brought a young team of scriptwriters to Switzerland to help him complete his latest script. He believes that this script in the hands of aging actress and long time collaborator Brenda Morel (Jane Fonda) will prove to be his testament.
An emissary from The Queen arrives and asks Fred if he will conduct a one-off royal gala performance of his best known work, Simple Songs. The performance will be in honour of Prince Phillip’s birthday as we are told that this piece of music is all the Prince listens to at the moment. This royal request is the catalyst for the movie and Fred is challenged to shed his pall of apathy, return to the UK and do the one thing that by his own admission is the only thing he really understands, music.
Sir Michael Caine, CBE.
Fred and Mick spend much time together in the movie reflecting on their past lives and loves, their age and their health. But it is the future and the decisions that must be made that test the main characters in this story. Mick needs this new movie he is writing… His life depends on it. Lena is dealt a blow but gets the whiff of freedom. The young Hollywood actor Jimmy Tree (Paul Dano) has some past work he’d rather forget, so his next movie choice must be the right one. The bile-spitting Brenda Morel has a choice to make. However it is the decision that Fred has to make that is the main subject of this film… The question posed by The Queen’s emissary right at the beginning of the film forces Fred to account for his past and to try come to terms with it for the good of himself and his family.
The whole enterprise is visually beautiful and the film’s director Paulo Sorrentino effortlessly switches the movie narrative from a conversation, to an opulent daydream, or from a music performance to the just plain surreal. The main storyline is punctuated with movie snapshots of the guests in the hotel as they perform the daily rituals of the sauna, the massage and hydrotherapy. The overall effect of these elements when brought together is that of an exhibition of all the arts. Sorrentino brings us the visual arts, architecture, music and video, language and poetry, the beauty of nature and the human form, all together in one flamboyant spectacle.
Rachel Weisz is excellent. Her soliloquy filmed in extreme close up shows great skill. I found Paul Dano’s portrayal of a young actor seeking to be taken seriously completely believable and particularly enjoyed his banter with Michael Caine. Jane Fonda cussed through her cameo admirably. Harvey Keitel was a suitable foil for Michael Caine, but this movie was not Harvey Keitel’s testament. A young actress called Luna Zimic Mijovic played the masseuse in the film and her brief moments onscreen were captivating.
The other star of the movie is the original music composed by David Lang. Simple Song #3 has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. It is achingly sublime, combining orchestra with violin soloist and solo soprano. However it is Lang’s Just (After Song of Songs) that is the fitting soundtrack to this film.
Stripped of its visual splendour this film feels more like a theatre play as there is little action to drive the story forward and the location is essentially static. However it is Paulo Sorrentino’s artistry in filling the canvas with such striking colours from so many different brushes that makes the film irresistible.
Author – Simon, Norwich store
