Ethan Hawke Movies: Actor's Documentary Debuts To Glowing Reviews At Telluride; Critics Love 'Seymour: An Introduction' Find Out Why!
The Telluride Film Festival is known for premiering some of the most anticipated movies of the year, at least those that are awards night hopefuls. For example, the Weinstein company has premiered two films here that have gone on to win the Best Picture trophy at the Academy Awards: The Artist, and The King's Speech.
This year's premieres of possible awards contenders were plenty. We had the Michael Keaton starrer Birdman, Benedict Cumberbatch's The Imitation Game, and we also had Reese Witherspoon's possible second Oscar award vehicle , Wild.
But the biggest surprise at Telluride this year was a documentary by actor Ethan Hawke (Boyhood). His film, Seymour: An Introduction is about a man named Seymour Bernstein, who used to be a piano prodigy. At 50 years of age, he decided to retire from playing the piano for performance' sake, in order to share his talent in another way: by teaching.
Ethan Hawke's new movie documents the now 80-year old piano teacher, who is very charismatic on screen, without trying hard to be. Reviews have been positively glowing for this documentary. And most of the praise goes to the man himself, Seymour Bernstein. Variety's review reads:
"But from the opening shot of him practicing a piece in his cozy, book-lined Upper West Side apartment to the touching self-reflection that closes the film, the man is a fount of eloquent wisdom and self-effacing humor ("You're not allowed to play better than I do," he tells a student who has just mastered a tricky bit of phrasing)."
Hawke explains in the documentary that he met Seymour at a dinner party in New York, and was immediately won over by his charm, gentleness and lack of airs. The two developed a close relationship, and the veteran performer helped the actor through some of the worst stage anxieties he had.
Expect the viewership for Ethan Hawke's new movie Seymour: An Introduction to expand as the positive reviews to roll in, and there may be even an Oscar award in store.
