Overview
A haunting exploration of music and mortality, where the strings of life intertwine with the notes of Beethoven.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- None
- intimate
- melancholic
- serious
- quiet evening
- classical music night
What critics said
Critics broadly found the film emotionally satisfying and musically informed, with its outstanding ensemble cast lending depth to a melodramatic script.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Beethoven's String Quartet No. 14, opus 131, is repeatedly performed and continues despite the quartet's personal crisis.
Peter's Parkinson's diagnosis forces him to confront retirement after twenty-five years as the quartet's cellist.
Peter's retirement announcement brings the other musicians' hidden grievances and rivalries to the surface.
The quartet's rehearsals, performances, marriages, and family relationships keep the emotional action tightly concentrated around a small ensemble.
Films like A Late Quartet, and why
The Piano Teacher
music-centered ensemble drama exploring artistic collaboration, aging, and intimate resentment
Shine
emotionally layered drama about musicians whose professional lives expose private conflicts
The Deep Blue Sea
adult relationship drama combining artistic ambition, marriage, and painful emotional entanglements
The Master Builder
chamber-scale ensemble drama where creative work intensifies interpersonal strain
Movie Details
- Director
- Yaron Zilberman
- Release Date
- 2012-11-02
- Runtime
- 106 min
- Rating
- 6.7 / 10 (261)
Cast
- Christopher Walken
- Philip Seymour Hoffman
- Mark Ivanir
- Catherine Keener
- Imogen Poots
- Liraz Charhi
- Madhur Jaffrey
- Anne Sofie von Otter
- Wallace Shawn
- Pamela Quinn
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Starz Apple TV channel
- Rent
- Apple TV Store
- Buy
- Apple TV Store
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is A Late Quartet about?
- A celebrated string quartet confronts illness, desire, and decades of concealed resentment when its eldest musician prepares to retire.
- What is A Late Quartet like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of A Late Quartet as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is A Late Quartet violent?
- No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in A Late Quartet.
- What did critics think of A Late Quartet?
- Critics broadly found the film emotionally satisfying and musically informed, with its outstanding ensemble cast lending depth to a melodramatic script.
- Which films are like A Late Quartet?
- Films with a similar feel include The Piano Teacher, Shine, The Deep Blue Sea, and The Master Builder.
- How long is A Late Quartet?
- A Late Quartet runs 106 minutes.
- Where can I watch A Late Quartet?
- In United States, A Late Quartet streams on Starz Apple TV channel.
