The Kindness Of Strangers - A Portrait Of Andre Previn DVD

Director Tony Palmer's appreciation of André Previn, The Kindness of Strangers, takes its title from Previn's biggest work to date, A Streetcar Named Desire, an opera based on the play by Tennessee Williams. Blanche Dubois, the leading character, speaks of her reliance on the kindness of strangers to see her through her troubles. The preparation for the opera cuts between Previn's other activities and forms the riveting climax to the film as opening night approaches, though it remains a moot point why these sequences should be accompanied by the 'Romanza' from Vaughan... Williams' Fifth Symphony? Despite struggling to hear his singers in a hopelessly inadequate orchestra pit, Previn's common sense and humour win through. The film has many instances of this, as when reporting an anecdote to an orchestra of young musicians, Previn tells them that conducting is not an exalted calling of limousines and mistresses but more often a case of knowing where to get your underwear laundered. Previn always has enjoyed the thrill of hearing his music performed fresh off the printed page from his first MGM title, The Sun Comes Up (starring Jeanette Macdonald and Lassie) to the San Francisco premiere of Streetcar. This beautifully shot film runs the gamut of his versatility, taking us to Germany to hear him conducting Ravel, advising a young conductor at Tanglewood on the complexity of a Richard Strauss score, playing Gershwin with bass player David Finck, and then at a haunt of yesteryear, a jazz club in New York: the nomadic life of an itinerant musician lives with him still it seems. This is an affectionate portrayal of a fine musician, sensitively directed. --Adrian Edwards [show more]

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