The Soloist

I arrived at the theater very tired and - as often happens - I fought against falling asleep in the first part of the movie. I was doing my best to understand the thing, I was missing some scenes - and suddenly it was this image - a homeless receiving a cello - and starting to pet the case, then the wood of the instrument, then the strings, then taking the bow and beginning to play Beethoven. Tears came to my eyes, without any shame, and they kept coming all the rest of the movie.

It is a real story. A journalist from LA Times (Steve Lopez) in search of a subject for an article, found a homeless playing Beethoven at his violin.

The subject was good for the first article; Mr. Lopez came the following days to find more, and befriended the homeless: who was a gifted musician (Nathaniel Ayers), with studies at the Julliard. A man with schizophrenia, unable to stand against real world, and living on the street alone in his imaginary universe, he and Beethoven.

What followed was a series of desperate attempts of Steve Lopez to help Nathaniel to recover from his misery. It was a continuous fight, with little results: at least now Mr. Ayers lives in a small apartment and spends his days in an organized community for poor people, playing there his cello.

Eventualy Steve Lopez wrote a book about this. The movie (The Soloist, directed by Joe Wright) is based on the book. Jamie Foxx plays the musician. Robert Downey Jr. plays the journalist.

A movie telling just the story, nothing more, in full honesty, in a simple and moving way: a sad story of hope and despair, of human failure and implacable destiny. And of friendship: risks (you cannot play it safely), limits (you are not god, not even an angel), and yes, holiness of friendship.


(Filmofilia)