Music of the Heart
Encyclopedia
Music of the Heart is a 1999 dramatic film. This film was produced by Craven-Maddalena Films
and Miramax Films
, and distributed by Buena Vista Distribution.
The film stars Meryl Streep
, Aidan Quinn
, Gloria Estefan
, and Angela Bassett
. It was director
Wes Craven
's only foray outside of the horror/thriller genre aside from his contribution to the multifaceted and directorially diverse Paris, je t'aime
. It was also his only film to get nominated at the Academy Awards. Wes Craven
is known for directing the horror films A Nightmare on Elm Street
, The Hills Have Eyes
and the Scream
series.
was originally signed to play the role of Roberta Guaspari
, but left the project before filming began, citing "creative differences" with Wes Craven. She had already studied for many months to play the violin.
Streep learned to play Double Violin Concerto (Bach)
for the film.
. Encouraged by her mother, she attempts to rebuild her life and a friend from student days recommends her to the head teacher of a school in the tough New York
area of East Harlem. Despite a degree in music education, she has little experience in actual music teaching, but she's taken on as a substitute violin teacher. With a combination of toughness and determination, she inspires a group of kids, and their initially skeptical parents. The program slowly develops and attracts publicity.
Ten years later, the string program is still running successfully at three schools, but suddenly the school budget is cut and Roberta is out of a job. Determined to fight the cuts, she enlists the support of former pupils, parents and teachers and plans a grand fund-raising concert, 'Fiddlefest', to raise money so that the program can continue. But with a few weeks to go and all participants furiously rehearsing, they lose the venue. Fortunately, the husband of a publicist friend is a violinist in the Guarneri Quartet
, and he enlists the support of other well-known musicians, including Isaac Stern
and Itzhak Perlman
. They arrange for the concert to be mounted at Carnegie Hall
.
Other famous musicians join in the performance, which is a resounding success.
The film's end credits declare that the Opus 118 program is still running successfully. They also report that the school's funding was restored during the making of the film.
The film's theme song, "Music Of My Heart
", scored songwriter Diane Warren
a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Original Song, and a Grammy Award
nomination for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.
The film marked the screen debut of singer Gloria Estefan
.
. The film had a 62% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes
. Critic Eleanor Ringel Gillespie of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution concluded that "There are more challenging movies around. More original ones, too. But "Music of the Heart" gets the job done, efficiently and entertainingly." Roger Ebert
gave the film three stars out of four and wrote that "Meryl Streep is known for her mastery of accents; she may be the most versatile speaker in the movies. Here you might think she has no accent, unless you've heard her real speaking voice; then you realize that Guaspari's speaking style is no less a particular achievement than Streep's other accents. This is not Streep's voice, but someone else's - with a certain flat quality, as if later education and refinement came after a somewhat unsophisticated childhood." Steve Rosen said that "The key to Meryl Streep's fine performance is that she makes Guaspari unheroically ordinary. Ultimately that makes her even more extraordinary."
Craven-Maddalena Films
Craven-Maddalena Films is a Hollywood movie studio, founded in 1996 by Wes Craven and Marianne Maddalena. It was best-known for producing horror films, many of which are Craven's films and his remakes.- Films by release :* Scream 2...
and Miramax Films
Miramax Films
Miramax Films is an American entertainment company known for distributing independent and foreign films. For its first 14 years the company was privately owned by its founders, Bob and Harvey Weinstein...
, and distributed by Buena Vista Distribution.
The film stars Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep
Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep is an American actress who has worked in theatre, television and film.Streep made her professional stage debut in 1971's The Playboy of Seville, before her screen debut in the television movie The Deadliest Season in 1977. In that same year, she made her film debut with...
, Aidan Quinn
Aidan Quinn
-Early life:Quinn was born in Chicago, Illinois to Irish parents. He was brought up as a Roman Catholic and raised in Chicago and Rockford, Illinois, as well as in Dublin and Birr, County Offaly in Ireland. His mother, Teresa, was a homemaker, and his father, Michael Quinn, was a professor of...
, Gloria Estefan
Gloria Estefan
Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García de Estefan; known professionally as Gloria Estefan is a Cuban-born American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known as the "Queen Of Latin Pop", she is in the top 100 best selling music artists with over 100 million albums sold worldwide, 31.5 million of those...
, and Angela Bassett
Angela Bassett
Angela Evelyn Bassett is an American actress. She has become well known for her biographical film roles portraying real life women in African American culture, including singer Tina Turner in the motion picture What's Love Got to Do with It, as well as Betty Shabazz in the films Malcolm X and...
. It was director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
Wes Craven
Wes Craven
Wesley Earl "Wes" Craven is an American actor, film director, writer, producer, perhaps best known as the director of many horror films, particularly slasher films, including the famed A Nightmare on Elm Street and Wes Craven's New Nightmare, featuring the iconic Freddy Krueger character, the...
's only foray outside of the horror/thriller genre aside from his contribution to the multifaceted and directorially diverse Paris, je t'aime
Paris, je t'aime
Paris, Je t'aime is a 2006 anthology film starring an ensemble cast of actors of various nationalities. The two-hour film consists of eighteen short films set in different arrondissements...
. It was also his only film to get nominated at the Academy Awards. Wes Craven
Wes Craven
Wesley Earl "Wes" Craven is an American actor, film director, writer, producer, perhaps best known as the director of many horror films, particularly slasher films, including the famed A Nightmare on Elm Street and Wes Craven's New Nightmare, featuring the iconic Freddy Krueger character, the...
is known for directing the horror films A Nightmare on Elm Street
A Nightmare on Elm Street
A Nightmare on Elm Street is a 1984 American slasher film directed and written by Wes Craven, and the first film of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. The film features Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, Ronee Blakley, Amanda Wyss, Jsu Garcia, Robert Englund, and Johnny Depp in his feature film...
, The Hills Have Eyes
The Hills Have Eyes (1977 film)
The Hills Have Eyes is a 1977 American horror film directed by Wes Craven and starring Susan Lanier, Michael Berryman, and Dee Wallace. It is about a family on a road trip who become stranded in the Nevada desert, and are hunted by a clan of deformed cannibals in the surrounding hills...
and the Scream
Scream (film series)
Scream is a series of American horror slasher films created by Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven. The films star Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette. The series has grossed over $600 million in worldwide box-office receipts and consists, to date, of four motion pictures...
series.
Background
MadonnaMadonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
was originally signed to play the role of Roberta Guaspari
Roberta Guaspari
Roberta Guaspari is an American violinist and music teacher in Harlem, New York.-Early life:Roberta grew up in a working-class family in Rome, New York. She graduated with a music education degree from the State University of New York at Fredonia in 1969...
, but left the project before filming began, citing "creative differences" with Wes Craven. She had already studied for many months to play the violin.
Streep learned to play Double Violin Concerto (Bach)
Double Violin Concerto (Bach)
The Concerto for 2 Violins, Strings and Continuo in D Minor, BWV 1043, also known as the Double Violin Concerto or "Bach Double", is perhaps one of the most famous works by J. S. Bach and considered among the best examples of the work of the late Baroque period. Bach wrote it between 1730 and 1731...
for the film.
Storyline
Inspired by the true story of the Opus 118 Harlem School of Music and 'Small Wonders', a 1996 documentary about the school, the film opens with violinist Roberta having been deserted by her US Navy husband and feeling devastated, almost suicidalSuicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
. Encouraged by her mother, she attempts to rebuild her life and a friend from student days recommends her to the head teacher of a school in the tough New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
area of East Harlem. Despite a degree in music education, she has little experience in actual music teaching, but she's taken on as a substitute violin teacher. With a combination of toughness and determination, she inspires a group of kids, and their initially skeptical parents. The program slowly develops and attracts publicity.
Ten years later, the string program is still running successfully at three schools, but suddenly the school budget is cut and Roberta is out of a job. Determined to fight the cuts, she enlists the support of former pupils, parents and teachers and plans a grand fund-raising concert, 'Fiddlefest', to raise money so that the program can continue. But with a few weeks to go and all participants furiously rehearsing, they lose the venue. Fortunately, the husband of a publicist friend is a violinist in the Guarneri Quartet
Guarneri Quartet
The Guarneri Quartet was an American string quartet founded in 1964 at the Marlboro Music School and Festival. During the quartet's early years the members were in residence at Harpur College in upstate New York....
, and he enlists the support of other well-known musicians, including Isaac Stern
Isaac Stern
Isaac Stern was a Ukrainian-born violinist. He was renowned for his recordings and for discovering new musical talent.-Biography:Isaac Stern was born into a Jewish family in Kremenets, Ukraine. He was fourteen months old when his family moved to San Francisco...
and Itzhak Perlman
Itzhak Perlman
Itzhak Perlman is an Israeli-born violinist, conductor, and instructor of master classes. He is regarded as one of the pre-eminent violinists of the 20th and early-21st centuries.-Early life:...
. They arrange for the concert to be mounted at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
.
Other famous musicians join in the performance, which is a resounding success.
The film's end credits declare that the Opus 118 program is still running successfully. They also report that the school's funding was restored during the making of the film.
Awards and nominations
Streep received nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award for her lead performance.The film's theme song, "Music Of My Heart
Music of My Heart
"Music of My Heart" is a song by Cuban American recording artist Gloria Estefan featuring American pop band 'N Sync. The teen pop song was written by Dianne Warren and produced by David Foster, for the Wes Craven directed movie "Music of the Heart" . It was released as the first single from the...
", scored songwriter Diane Warren
Diane Warren
Diane Eve Warren , is a US songwriter. Her songs have received six Academy Award nominations, five Golden Globe nominations, including one win and seven Grammy Award nominations, including one win. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001...
a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Original Song, and a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nomination for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.
The film marked the screen debut of singer Gloria Estefan
Gloria Estefan
Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García de Estefan; known professionally as Gloria Estefan is a Cuban-born American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known as the "Queen Of Latin Pop", she is in the top 100 best selling music artists with over 100 million albums sold worldwide, 31.5 million of those...
.
Critical reception
The film got mixed reviews but with a positive trend. Most critics applauded Meryl Streep's portrayal of Roberta GuaspariRoberta Guaspari
Roberta Guaspari is an American violinist and music teacher in Harlem, New York.-Early life:Roberta grew up in a working-class family in Rome, New York. She graduated with a music education degree from the State University of New York at Fredonia in 1969...
. The film had a 62% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
. Critic Eleanor Ringel Gillespie of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution concluded that "There are more challenging movies around. More original ones, too. But "Music of the Heart" gets the job done, efficiently and entertainingly." Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
gave the film three stars out of four and wrote that "Meryl Streep is known for her mastery of accents; she may be the most versatile speaker in the movies. Here you might think she has no accent, unless you've heard her real speaking voice; then you realize that Guaspari's speaking style is no less a particular achievement than Streep's other accents. This is not Streep's voice, but someone else's - with a certain flat quality, as if later education and refinement came after a somewhat unsophisticated childhood." Steve Rosen said that "The key to Meryl Streep's fine performance is that she makes Guaspari unheroically ordinary. Ultimately that makes her even more extraordinary."
Soundtrack album track listing
- "Music of My HeartMusic of My Heart"Music of My Heart" is a song by Cuban American recording artist Gloria Estefan featuring American pop band 'N Sync. The teen pop song was written by Dianne Warren and produced by David Foster, for the Wes Craven directed movie "Music of the Heart" . It was released as the first single from the...
" - Gloria EstefanGloria EstefanGloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García de Estefan; known professionally as Gloria Estefan is a Cuban-born American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known as the "Queen Of Latin Pop", she is in the top 100 best selling music artists with over 100 million albums sold worldwide, 31.5 million of those...
and *NSYNC (4:32) - "Baila" - Jennifer LopezJennifer LopezJennifer Lynn Lopez is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, and fashion designer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller...
(3:54) - "Turn the Page" - AaliyahAaliyahAaliyah Dana Haughton , who performed under the mononym Aaliyah , was an American R&B recording artist, actress and model. She was born in Brooklyn, New York, and was raised in Detroit, Michigan. At the age of 10, she appeared on the television show Star Search and performed in concert alongside...
(4:16) - "Groove With Me Tonight (Pablo FloresPablo FloresPablo Flores is a Latin remixer, DJ, music producer and arranger; most known for being Gloria Estefan's personal remixer.Pablo Flores was in charge of mixing one of the signature songs of Estefan, "Conga" and first started his career mixing the album Primitive Love, of the band of Estefan, Miami...
English Radio Version)" - MenudoMenudo (band)Menudo was a Puerto Rican boy band that was formed in the 1970s by producer Edgardo Díaz, releasing their first album in 1977. The band achieved much success, especially during the 1980s, becoming the most popular Latin American teen musical group of the era....
(4:37) - "Seventeen" - Tre O (3:48)
- "One Night with You" - C Note (5:04)
- "Do Something (Organized NoizeOrganized NoizeOrganized Noize is an Atlanta-based American hip hop production company made up of Rico Wade, Ray Murray and Sleepy Brown.-History:Among the hit records they have worked on include TLC's "Waterfalls", En Vogue's "Don't Let Go ", and Ludacris' "Saturday "...
Mix)" - Macy GrayMacy GrayMacy Gray is a Grammy Award-winning American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress, famed for her distinctive raspy voice, and a singing style heavily influenced by Billie Holiday and Betty Davis.Gray has released five studio albums, with her fifth studio album, The Sellout,...
(3:53) - "Revancha de Amor" - Gizelle d'Cole (4:06)
- "Nothing Else" - Julio Iglesias, Jr. (4:23)
- "Love Will Find You" - Jaci VelasquezJaci VelasquezJacquelyn Davette Velasquez is an American Contemporary Christian and Latin Pop singer—in both English and Spanish languages....
(4:34) - "Music of My HeartMusic of My Heart"Music of My Heart" is a song by Cuban American recording artist Gloria Estefan featuring American pop band 'N Sync. The teen pop song was written by Dianne Warren and produced by David Foster, for the Wes Craven directed movie "Music of the Heart" . It was released as the first single from the...
" (Pablo Flores Remix) - Gloria EstefanGloria EstefanGloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García de Estefan; known professionally as Gloria Estefan is a Cuban-born American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known as the "Queen Of Latin Pop", she is in the top 100 best selling music artists with over 100 million albums sold worldwide, 31.5 million of those...
and *NSYNC (4:23) - "Concerto in D Minor for Two Violins" - Itzhak PerlmanItzhak PerlmanItzhak Perlman is an Israeli-born violinist, conductor, and instructor of master classes. He is regarded as one of the pre-eminent violinists of the 20th and early-21st centuries.-Early life:...
and Joshua BellJoshua BellJoshua David Bell is an American Grammy Award-winning violinist.-Childhood:Bell was born in Bloomington, Indiana, United States, the son of a psychologist and a therapist. Bell's father is the late Alan P...
(3:56)