Bach Cello Suite #4: Sarabande (1997) Reviews

• Touched by Bach

  ochichornye2007-07-26

  I'm a great admirer of both Yo Yo Ma and Atom Egoyan, so was naturally excited to learn what a combination of their artistic forces would look and sound like. 'Sarabande', like the other episodes in Ma's TV series 'Inspired by Bach' had to fit in a 1-hour format, and Egoyan's solution to that restriction was to come up with a loosely cut collage of scenes from the lives of five people that intersect around the performance of Bach's cello suite #4 in Toronto. The fly-on-the-wall feeling this generates will be familiar to admirers of Robert Altman's films, which are often about randomly intersecting lives that can sometimes have a profound influence on each other. In fact there is another connection, since Lori Singer plays a cellist in both 'Sarabande' and Altman's 'Short Cuts'. The different angles on music & life of the main characters are matched by the very different 'angles' from which you hear Bach's music: in concert, in a masterclass, on the radio, in the back of a limousine, in a doctor's office. Mr. Ma plays himself, and delivers his lines just as convincingly as the professional actors around him. There was a very curious dichotomy in votes at time I made this comment: a roughly equal percentage of voters gave it 8 or more as gave it 1. I'm at a loss to see what people in the latter category expected from this film that made them so bitterly disappointed.

• Excellent Short Movie - Highly Recommended

  jjohnson8732006-02-02

  This short movie featuring Yo-Yo Ma is overshadowed by the outstanding performance of Arsinée Khanjian, the wife of director Atom Egoyan. The subtle mixing of Ma's cello suite performances in a limo and in a small audience format was a great vehicle of Egoyan's. Ms. Khanjian's emotions weave their way through the movie, carrying the viewer as if they were on a flowing river. The story was beautifully told and the music of Yo-Yo Ma completes the story with passion, emotion and brilliance. The real surprise was the very downplayed role of Lori Singer as Dr. Angela France. She played her role with a subtle quality of mixing into the movie without using her presence to dominate the scene. Her passion of playing the cello played very well into the story and added a nice dimension to the movie. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

• A masterpiece. Lori Singer is outstanding.

  christian-mascheroni2018-07-30

  Sarabande is pure joy. It opens your mind. It melt your heart. Atom Egoyan is one of the most incredible storyteller of our time. This short movie is no short in emotions. The cast is wonderful. Yo-Yo Ma is a genius. But it's Lori Singer (Fame, Short Cuts, Footloose) who really shines here. She is so talented. She is beautiful, she is a great cello player, but here, in particular, she demonstrates that she is a terrific actress. Her performance is subtle, genuine, intimate. It's a magnetic piece of art.

• Music gem

  besherat2018-06-27

  Another one from the great Atom Egoyan with a lot of good music of course. In all his movies, we may hear a great songs, that's one of the reasons why I adore his films.