Michael Neumann
A reclusive, enigmatic French musician rejects invitations to play at the court of Louis VIII, preferring a life of solitude and study after the death of his wife, emerging only to teach (reluctantly) the pursuit of pure music to a brash, ambitious pupil. The student is portrayed, in old age, by Gérard Depardieu, who gets top billing for a relatively small role. Most of the film, exploring the conviction, dedication, and loneliness of his mentor, unfolds in flashback, with Depardieu's character played by the actor's son Guillaume, making his big-screen debut.Of course few things are likely to be more pretentious than an art film about Art, but there's enough plot here to suggest an austere 17th century soap opera (a seduction, a suicide), plus an integrity altogether lacking from other, similar costume dramas (most of it was shot using only natural sound and available light, often only candlelight). The result is as beautiful, if also occasionally just as exciting, as a still life on canvas, evoking the luminous paintings of George de La Tour and held together by the somber, melancholy music of the viol de gamba.
frocca
The real value of this movie is that it defines the art of music. Specifically, young Marin Marais comes to St. Colombe because he wants the great, renown virtuoso to teach him to be the greatest violist/virtuoso in the world. St. Colombe is disgusted at this because he has learned that a musician's greatest achievement is not to impress an audience with his flashy virtuosity, but to play so beautifully that his playing will "wake the dead". So it is with St. Colombe, when his own dead wife appears to him through the medium of his own playing. This to St. Colombe is the only reason for making music and is very much a reality. He even destroys young Marin Marais viol in a fit of anger that this point is not understood by the younger man. Later, we see that, in maturity, after having lost his own true love (St. Colombe's daughter) Marin Marais has become a truly great musician. The movie is superbly clear on this point.
ManyShallowFilms
This film goes where no film has never gone before. The film is really philosophical and deals with many key questions of the 17th century philosophy. In the movie music is being used to reach the non existing world (the world that is beyond our senses) and this is how Sainte-Colombe communicates with his dead wife.In the 17th century philosophers believed that with the help of music man could break the boundaries of the world that our senses show us. The music had to be played and listened correctly. It has something to do with music being played slowly but it's really hard to explain it.(Because English is not one of my strongest languages, which you've may have noticed). The question (can you understand what music is all about?) is one of the key elements of this film. For Marais it takes a long time to understand what music is about, but at the end of the film he realizes what Sainte-Colombe has been trying to teach him. If you watch the film really carefully you will notice that a very famous still life (painting) is shown on the screen multiple times. This painting is part of the mystery which the film tries to uncover...All the mornings of the world is a really well made film and probably one of the most intellectual films I've seen in a while. It's great to see a film which has clearly been made with great respect and knowledge towards the 17th century philosophy. This truly is a beautiful and well thought piece of cinema. The more you know about the subject the more you get out of this film. (10/10)
maleesh
First things first, this is a film very much about music, so if you do not like "classical" music, then find something else. It is something like a short philosophy of music according to M. de St. Colombe and Marin Marais, two very different composers---how close the movie is to the "real" St. Colombe and Marias, confessedly, I do not know, but this is not a documentary, so it really does not matter. There is also a very beautiful exploration of love and its various manifestations in friendship, parenthood, and sexual relations. The movie is heavy, burdened by sadness and melancholy; but it is a beautiful film and worth viewing so long as you are prepared for its weight. Its tones are elegiac, autumnal, meditative, and inward, as is the haunting music given us by Jordi Savall and co. The acting, sets, and cinematography are all excellent (hence the 10 rating). If you want something light then this is not the film for you; if you are, however, in a mood for a film that mourns with dignity, then you have found the right one.
AD
