Duet for One | Blu-ray Review
Julie Andrews in Duet for One
Random Acts of Violins: Konchalovsky Plucks Heartstrings in Disease Drama
By Nicholas Bell | Published on July 3, 2023
The 1980s were not only exceptionally fertile for Russian auteur Andrey Konchalovsky, but they also reflected a singular period of arthouse commingling as evidenced by his handful of Hollywood films, which defined this decade. Famously having penned Tarkovsky’s Andrei Rublev (1966), Konchalovsky closed out the 1970s with his celebrated epic Siberiade (1979), leading him to the US, where he’d lead Eric Roberts to an Academy Award nomination in Runaway Train (1985) and Barbara Hershey to one of her two Best Actress wins at the Cannes Film Festival with Shy People (1987). Sandwiched between the celebrated Maria’s Lover’s (1984) and the heavily compromised Tango & Cash (1989), which ended his American streak, was a quiet, unassuming drama headlined by Julie Andrews, Duet for One. Supported by a stellar ensemble, Andrews excels as an assured woman whose life crumbles away almost overnight. Though she received a Golden Globe nomination and the film reflects a significant pedigree (despite being produced by Yoram Globus and Menahem Globus’ Cannon Films in an obvious attempt to elevate their prolific, if sometimes risible cachet), this musical disease drama lapsed into something of a forgotten 80s gem.
Internationally renowned violinist Stephanie Anderson (Andrews) finds herself suddenly afflicted with multiple sclerosis, her quickly advancing symptoms forcing her to end her ongoing tour performing Bach. As fate would have it, her conductor/composer husband David (Alan Bates) has decided to end their marriage, so he can be with his mistress/secretary Penny (Cathryn Harrison). Adding insult to injury, her prized student Constantine (Rupert Everett) has decided to take a stateside position, which likely means she will never see him again, at least not in any functional capacity as a mentor. While her therapist, Dr. Feldman (Max von Sydow) can’t quite navigate Stephanie away from suicide, a chance encounter with a local garbage man, Totter (Liam Neeson), is a sensual escape from the misery of her present condition.
As Stephanie, Andrews feels like a kissing cousin to someone like Cate Blanchett’s Lydia Tar, an omnipotent, powerful creature who’s chosen to bask in her significant professional acclaim at the risk of neglecting everyone else around her. Case in point is her husband, an unassuming Alan Bates who she characterizes as something of a parasite, leaving Stephanie for his assistant, the mousy Penny (Cathryn Harrison, daughter of Rex). Her diminishment is complete when abandoned by her star student, the bristling Constantine, taking off for an extended gig in Las Vegas. With Margaret Courtenay as her exasperated agent and the esteemed Macha Meril as her empathetic (and somewhat maligned) housemaid, she’s resigned herself to fate until she jumps on a chance sexual encounter with Liam Neeson’s hulking scrap collector. Their affair, which sounds unbelievable on paper, somehow works whenever Andrews and Neeson are together on screen, though the film insists on further complicating their connection when it appears his wife is well aware of and even condones his extramarital activities. The odd outlier is Max Von Sydow as a bemused psychotherapist Stephanie eventually sharpens her talons upon, though their relationship ends up feeling the least necessary considering he’s a super fan of her work, complicating his approach.
An earlier television adaptation of Tom Kempinski’s play was released only a year prior, with Frances de la Tour nabbing a BAFTA TV nomination for Best Actress, but it would be over another decade before the real life inspirations for the material would be tackled in 1998’s Hilary and Jackie, exploring conductor Daniel Barenboim’s relationship with his wife, cellist Jacqueline de Pre. As for Konchalovsky’s Duet for One, it’s a prime example of Andrews’ prowess (a bitter argument with Bates just prior to their dissolution is painfully convincing) even if it’s ultimately a familiarly staged tragedy in the disease/chronic disorder sub-genre of soapy melodrama.
Disc Review:
Kino Lorber presents Duet for One as a new 2K scan of the 35mm interpositive in 1.85:1. An audio commentary track from film historian and filmmaker Daniel Kremer is the only bonus feature. The brand new HD Master is a must for fans of DP Alex Thomson, Academy Award nominated for his work on John Boorman’s Excalibur, and whose filmography includes a bounty of exceptional cinematography from auteurs such as Michael Mann, Michael Cimino, Kenneth Branagh and Peter Medak (not to mention B-side bests from Nicolas Roeg like Eureka, 1983 and Track 29, 1988), plus his underrated work on David Fincher’s beautifully gloomy franchise spasm, Alien 3 (1992).
★★★1/2☆☆ (Movie)
★★★☆☆ (Disc)