Months of Meryl: Music of the Heart (1999)
Thursday, July 5, 2018 at 1:00PM John and Matthew are watching every single live-action film starring Meryl Streep.
#27 — Roberta Guaspari, a real-life violinist and instructor who brought music education to the classrooms of Harlem.
MATTHEW: One of the pitfalls that tends to come with occupying such a prominent position in the highly public realm of moviemaking is a gradual inability to disappear into the most straightforward of roles. I’m not talking about the magical acts of self-vanishing that allow Daniel Day-Lewis to seemingly become figures as disparate as Bill the Butcher and Abraham Lincoln nor the larger-than-life personas achieved through virtuosic, full-scale deglamorizations by the likes of Elizabeth Taylor and Charlize Theron, but rather the everyday characters who may achieve great things but whose lives are decisively rooted in reality, their appearances neither remarkable nor particularly conspicuous. No matter how hard a performer tries to shed her star persona and immerse herself in distinctly un-Hollywood settings, it is often up to us, the viewers, to forget everything we know about a star in order to actually believe her as, more or less, one of us...
Meryl Streep has been frequently lauded for her preternatural ability to wear her characters like a second skin, submerging herself in the identities of women from all walks of life to the point of unrecognizability. This may be true to an extent, but it can also register as a slight exaggeration, one that occasionally glosses over and even mythologizes Streep’s meticulous construction of her assorted characters; as with any great movie star who has graced our screen for numerous decades, there are tics and trademarks that pop up even in the most selfless of Streep’s screen turns, not as detriments to a given performance but as signature touches that illuminate certain aspects of a character that a different performer might not have located.
I mention all of this as prelude to our discussion of Wes Craven’s Music of the Heart, which dramatizes the life and work of Roberta Guaspari (played, of course, by Streep), a well-respected violinist who never went professional but found her true calling in music education, teaching her instrument of choice to thousands of students in some of New York City’s most neglected schools and neighborhoods since the 1980s. We’ve seen this “White Lady Enlightens Students of Color” narrative countless times before; Pamela Gray’s script even includes an exchange with a skeptical parent who refers to Roberta as “Michelle Pfeiffer,” explicitly alluding to 1995’s Dangerous Minds. But Music of the Heart doesn’t really valorize our protagonist beyond the scope of her achievements, which are many and meaningful, and remains equally concerned with the ups-and-downs of Roberta’s not-always-joyous personal life as it is with the lessons and triumphs of the classroom. And I think a lot of this is made possible by Streep.
We first meet Roberta as a mascara-stained mess, reeling from the end of her marriage to a never-seen Navy officer and faced with practical concerns (like feeding her two children and moving out of her mom’s house), all while refusing to accept that the life she knew has been ripped out from underneath her, never to return. It isn’t long before a serendipitous run-in with a childhood acquaintance-turned-successful and attractive writer (Aidan Quinn) connects her with a substitute teaching job in a Harlem middle school, overseen by none other than Principal Angela Bassett. These progressions move at a clip that beggars belief, but Streep makes these developments credible by reacting to them in the ways we might expect of a busy, broken-hearted woman with a plate that’s increasingly full. There is seldom a moment where Streep isn’t extending her focus and giving even the most expositional moments multiple loaded meanings, whether she’s listening to Quinn’s job pitch while also palpably telegraphing arousal or straining to impress Bassett while slyly expressing disdain for Josh Pais’ disagreeable, tenured music teacher. Roberta will ultimately remove herself from her state of grief and find a far greater purpose in the profession she only half-heartedly takes up, but Music of the Heart unmistakably begins as a movie about a woman craving stability, intimacy, and respect in her life. Even as Roberta encourages her students to explore their full musical potential, Streep never takes her eye off of the character’s domestic and romantic situations, keeping the film balanced by keeping her performance embedded in a place of lived and familiar experience. What stands out for you about Streep’s rendering of Roberta Guaspari, a role, I might add, that Madonna (!) was initially attached to?!
JOHN: I’ll admit that “white savior” was a term initially floating around my head upon revisiting Music of the Heart, but, as Streep nimbly shows, Roberta never set out to save anything other than her own ass and the roof over her son’s heads. The film avoids such offensive clichés by foregrounding Roberta’s frenzied foray into music education as the coincidence it ostensibly was; she needs these kids to pluck those strings and put on a show for Principal Bassett more than her students seemingly need the violin to brighten their dreary lives. The violin doesn’t lift her students out of poverty nor does the film ever purport such a scenario to be on the horizon. In Streep’s taut exchange with the exasperated mother (Rosalyn Coleman) of Naeem (Justin ‘DJ’ Spaulding), the issue is addressed directly. “How many black classical composers can you name? How many black classical violinists?” his mom rightfully asks, explaining why her son doesn’t have time to learn the music of dead white men, to which Roberta counters, “That doesn’t mean it’s the way it should be. Naeem’s learning to play music — and that makes him feel good about himself. Why should it matter who wrote it?” Later on, Roberta pleads her case once more: “Look, I didn’t come up here to rescue anybody. I’m a single mother and I needed a job. And I know you think you’re protecting your son, but you’re not… The important thing is that when Naeem plays music, his whole face lights up. You should see that.” The film succeeds in this very regard, showing how the extreme diligence that learning an instrument requires can produce, after months of effort, an exquisite sonic reward. When an older Naeem appears, violin-in-hand, nearly ten years later to help Roberta coach another young group of kids, both actors glow with pride.
Streep’s Roberta is not a chameleonic performance, and that’s just fine. Yes, Streep transforms like few other actresses of her generation, but there is also the naturalistic, comedic Streep whose mere presence in contemporary films offers pleasures beyond compare, supplying this biopic with a truly fresh and lively performance. Streep’s creation of Roberta is indeed meticulous, from that slightly flat voice and mascara-stained eyes, the nervous imbalance of her gait, to the insane fact of her actually learning to play the violin for the movie. But, rather than sealing the character off, these qualities offer Streep tactile ways of making her spontaneous and unguarded Roberta into a flesh and blood woman. Whether begging for a job, attempting to wrangle her student’s attention, hoodwinked into a dating advertisement, battling parents and teachers for respect, or fighting for her program’s funding, Streep is constantly kept on her toes in both her professional and personal lives, scheming and strategizing amid the multiple surprises that life tosses her way.
In a scene from last week’s film, One True Thing, Streep and Renée Zellweger stop to admire some ornate halloween decorations in their provincial neighborhood. Streep’s Kate uses this opportunity to admit a key difference between herself and her erudite husband: “More is more,” she explains, “Your dad always says less is more. To me, more is more.” Streep’s Roberta is a more creation: more expressions, more vocal tics, more energy, more volume, more hair; her dogged pursuit to teach children violin forces Streep to be just as resourceful and eclectic in her approach. Every possible facet of Roberta’s personality is put on the line, each shade of her tenacity, compassion, and foolishness colored with a particular hue that adds up to a generously full portrait. But while Streep’s performance is undoubtedly frazzled and loose, Roberta also gets taken to task for the exacting demands she hurls toward her pupils, professing the virtues of discipline, practice, and precision when it comes to learning their instruments. In Music of the Heart, as in so many of her films, Streep shows first-hand the rewards of such discipline.
MATTHEW: Looking back at Music of the Heart after having spent ample time with Streep’s Sister Aloysius Beauvier and Julia Child and Florence Foster Jenkins, I’m not sure I agree with the “More is more” assertion. Yes, there are certainly a fair share of outsized Streep moments; my favorite of these finds her whooping with infectious delight at landing Carnegie Hall for a program-saving fundraiser and then, only seconds later, cringing with concern over her pupils’ ability to actually play a performance worthy of this space. The actress energizes this scene with that beaming, bellowing, arm-waving Streepian vigor that should be familiar to anyone who has ever watched her at an awards show. But she also shakes up many a prescriptively, similarly feel-good scene by keeping her reactions to scene partners, professional and amateur alike, playful and unpredictable, and thus keeping the movie open to the possibility of human surprise.
In this way, I understand the “More is more” takeaway. But when I think about Music of the Heart, I think of the deeply affecting late-night exchange in which Roberta’s eldest son (played by adorable Michael Angarano) forces his mother to face the hard truth about her husband’s departure. The scene is comprised mostly of an extended single shot that captures Streep and Angarano huddled by a window, rarely raising their voices above a hushed whisper, as seven-year-old Nick quietly begs his mother for a straightforward explanation of his father’s whereabouts. As perfectly scripted by Pamela Gray, this is the type of emotionally-conflicted intramural interaction that precious few American films, dramatic or otherwise, make time for anymore, and Streep and her pint-sized costar foreground the truth of the matter by tempering their own performances, opting for tender yet dry-eyed vulnerability when most actors (and directors) might insist on tears and fireworks. There’s a similarly honest if somewhat louder scene not long after in which Nick accuses Roberta of driving his dad away that summons up all the gnawing resentment both mother and son have been suppressing. As Roberta finally comes clean with the ugly details of her husband’s selfish abandonment, Streep invites pity but she also grounds the film by speaking to these kids like she would any other person, without condescension, mirroring her own repartee with her many students.
I wouldn’t count Music of the Heart among Streep’s most understated efforts, but there’s a tactful delicacy to her work here, especially around the children, who keep drawing Streep outside of herself, whether she’s corralling the wandering attentions of a new class or comforting a single student (Jean-Luke Figueroa) over the drive-by death of a classmate. In that latter scenario, Streep steers clear of sentimentalizing her students’ plights by maintaining the sense of candor that suffuses the entire performance. She may be working in a genre that’s eager to mythologize its central subjects, but Streep is overwhelmingly interested in the quotidian. Roberta isn’t a magician or even a virtuoso, and so the actress, like the film, wholly absorbs herself within an educational process and all its quirks and intricacies, while sometimes suggesting a lack of fulfillment that prevents the film from feeling too snug or complacent in its triumphs. The character doesn’t regard her students as blank slates to fill up with her wisdom, but as specific and fully-formed personalities who pass in and out of her life. Like all of them, she’s just trying to make it day-by-day, and her conversations with them feel as authentically casual as the moment in which Roberta’s eldest son jokingly thwacks her youngest one, causing her to toss off the perfect reprimand, “Don’t hit him again or I’ll smack you,” a line that definitely made its way around my childhood home.
Do I ever forget I’m watching Meryl Streep in Music of the Heart? No, of course not. At this particular stage in her career, I’m not sure there’s a chance anyone could. Yet the joy and insight of Streep’s Roberta Guaspari comes not from forgetfulness but recognition. We detect Streep’s immutable star presence but it never stands as a barrier between perceiving and appreciating the very real person she has been tasked with inhabiting. The actress’ preparation — again, she learned the violin in just two months — is formidable, but the final interpretation isn’t concerned with uncanny chameleonism or any of the other forms of character-creating wizardry that have become hallmarks of Streep’s definitive turns. Music of the Heart may not be top-tier Streep, but her craftsmanship and concern endure no matter the comparative modesty of the project. It’s a performance whose simple pleasures emanate from Streep’s singular ability to illuminate what’s familiar and true about a life that feels at once more ordinary and extraordinary than those that regularly brighten our screens.
a promo shot with her co-stars Gloria Estefan and Angela Bassett
Reader Comments (36)
I certainly enjoyed this performance and movie for what it was. It is one of the roles I would not have nominated Streep for an Oscar.
I am not sure how heavy the competition was that year.
She is delightful in this,not sure about a Nomination but I see why Oscar went there,she's so nice and warm and giving she loves music and her sons,something we don't see on screen a lot now.
As usual Streep is the reason to see this probably with your mum.
Reese Wotherspoon in Election heads up the list of actresses more deserving of a nomination that year.
Competition was fairly thin Sigourney Weaver got a Globe Nod,Nicole Kidman was a critics fave but no one liked her filn,Diane Lane was an Indie Spirit nominee,Witherspoon should have been nominated but Teen Comedy was a big no no back the,Winona RYder lost her chance with Angelina stealing all the heat and Kate Winslet was overlooked for a really courageous turn one we don't often see from her anymore since she won her Oscar.
I have to agree that I would have nominated Reese in Election over this, but the movie itself is fine, maybe a little pedestrian but an inspiring film about the kids and the power of music.
While Music of the Heart is wonderful for what it is, for me this is my least favorite Streep Oscar nomination. I feel that this performance would not have been nominated in a stonger year.
Love when she returns from blind date and scares both of the kids and herself when she returns.
Love her and Cloris Leachman’s aceens together so much, especially the kitchen argument
Classroom scenes feel real- Roberta not a perfect teacher
Leaning the violin and committing to the craft
Believe this is the only performance Wes Craven directed to an oscar
I went with friends to Music of the Heart in the cinema, and we were all pleasantly surprised for different reasons. We didn't expect this film to be "Great", but it's got some nice moments. Your review captures the heart of the appeal. Streep excels at playing the kind of teacher who can inspire a class. She isn't playing a paragon, but a flawed, occasionally impatient person who transmits a love for music, and love for the violin. The cameo appearances of the great violinists were a bit clunky, but otherwise it told a story that moved us, and lifted our spirits.
This is the Oscar nomination that a lot of people criticize as being unworthy, but I feel that we take it for granted just how good Streep is. She learned the violin, and made every scene with those kids come alive. Maybe someone else should have been nominated, but this is a very good performance. I still like this little film, and Streep made it into both a critical and financial success. She's a class act, no mistake.
LadyEdith I agree I think time has been kinder to this nomination esp since many believe she has had to many in the last 20 years and we entering the decade now when Streep's nomination become divisive and some turn on her.
In 1999 I think better performances were overlooked but compared to some recent performances she is extremely natural in MOTH something she has only been in The Post recently.
YOU TAUGHT ME TO RUN
YOU TAUGHT ME TO FLY
HELPED ME TO FREE THE ME INSIDE
HELPED ME SHAPE THE MUSIC OF MY HEART
Those probably aren't even the words. Whatever.
I always found it so interesting that *this* was the only non-horror film Wes Craven directed.
This performance is definitely underrated in the Meryl filmography.
That said, the nomination was egregious - the following is my line-up (all of whom were seen by voters but inexplicably ignored in three cases!!!)
1) Hilary Swank - Boys Don't Cry
2) Cecilia Roth - Todo Sobre Mi Madre
3) Annette Bening - American Beauty
4) Reese Witherspoon - Election
5) Winona Ryder - Girl, Interrupted
Streep is nowhere near the Top 10...
And it's not a bad effort,not a horror moment in sight unless you count Meryl's wig.
This is one of six nominations she definitely did not deserve.
Nice to see that even Wes Craven(!?) of Nightmare on Elm Street (!?) can direct Meryl to an Oscar nom. lol
I enjoyed the movie and her performance is still in way better shape than Julianne Moore's and Annette Bening's.
Kermit - agreed. I think she's good in this film but the nomination was ridiculous when REESE WITHERSPOON and CECILIA ROTH and KATE WINSLET were all right there doing some of their best work ever.
I love Streep but the nominations can be exasperating because she gets nominated for just her good work as well as her great work while other actors can easily be passed over for their best performance ever if she's in the mix that year (see Annette Bening two years ago)
@brookesboy what are the other 5 ( In Your Opinion )??
This was my 1st ‘why was Meryl nominated for that?!? Oh, it’s Miramax, reactions.
Performance was solid. I too think Reese Witherspoon should have been nominated for 'Election.'
Let's not forget that Streep has been overlooked for Oscar nominations. I can think of 'The Hours' and 'Marvin's Room' off the top of my head, probably others.
Trivia : I'm surprised nobody bring up tt Madonna was Craven's initial choice for the role! Wonder how wld it turn out w a deglam Maddie at the violin 😂
It's a perfectly pleasant performance but, in my humble opinion, only above INTO THE WOODS and THE FRENCH LIEUTENANT'S WOMAN, among her nominated turns.
Jakey: "I always found it so interesting that *this* was the only non-horror film Wes Craven directed." Well, "Red Eye" is more of a thriller than an outright horror film.
I can't believe I'm saying this: I wish the Material Girl had played the role. I found Meryl to be serviceable; Madonna might have brought a little more snap or crackle to what is a rather predictably boring film. And while the plot doesn't exactly fall into the White Woman Saves The Coloreds category, Black lives still end up being affirmed through a white gaze—as if there aren't Black music instructors in Harlem who have inspired their students. Yuck.
They nominated her because she learned to play the violin. Reese was robbed.
Given that she has been uniformly awful in most of her acting forays, I think it's fairly safe to say that it was a blessing that Madonna was fired.
Who was on y'all's best actress (and supporting actress) ballots this year?
Best Actress-2000 , Meryl was not even close to the top 10 that year:
1- SWANK (Boys Don't Cry)
2-BENING (American Beauty)
3-MOORE (The End of the Affair)
4-WITHERSPOON (Election)
5-WINSLET (Holy Smoke)
6- ROTH (All About My Mother)
7-ROBERTS Notting Hill)
8- WEAVER (A Map of the World)
9- RYDER (Girl, Interrupted)
10- MCTEER (Tumbleweeds)
Supporting Actress:
1- JOLIE (Girl, Interrupted)
2-KIDMAN (Eyes Wide Shut)
3- MORTON (Sweet and Lowdown)
4- STONE (Simpatico)
5- SEVIGNY Boys Don't Cry)
6- DIAZ (Being John Malchovich)
7- CRUZ (All About My Mother)
8- MOORE (Magnolia)
9- BLANCHETT (The Talented Mr. Ripley)
10- PALTROW (The Talented Mr. Ripley)
If the role wasn't based on real person, Madonna might just be able to handle it but this was not the case. I think the movie and Meryl performance were good enough. The reason for her nomination I think because the actors branch appreciated how she save the project for taken the role from the original choice at the last minute, learned to play violin in short period of time, and believable in the role of someone who was admired and respected. (Not to mention in a prestige drama directed by Wes Craven which turned out to be good.) Yes, this performance was not one of the best of Meryl but the back story for the whole project at the time was so inspired. Anyway, that year Reese Witherspoon (the performance that made me absolutely sure she would win an Oscar someday) deserved to be in Meryl place.
hi rdf,
1981--I think her performance in The French Lieutenant's Woman is good, but it's the least impressive in a strong Oscar lineup that year. I would replace her with Kathleen Turner in Body Heat. Also, Jessica Lange offered a more complex character in The Postman Always Rings Twice.
1999--She did good work here in Music of the Heart, but it's nothing exceptional. This should have been Reese's.
2013--She has good moments in the quieter spaces of August: Osage County. But she also goes way overboard in the big scenes. And it's a damn shame she took Emma Thompson's spot that year.
2014--What she does in Into the Woods is not acting, but musical shtick. Jessica Chastain should have gotten the nom for A Most Violent Year.
2016--She's just not that great in Florence Foster Jenkins. Hugh Grant was the best in show and didn't even get a nomination. Annette Benning should have been here--and should have won.
2017--I think she's really good in The Post, just not good enough to get a nomination. Jessica Chastain crushed it in Molly's Game and should have gotten in here.
I'd have to rewatch Doubt, but I have a feeling that is another nomination that could be removed. Just my opinion.
Streep did not prevent Thompson's nomination. It was Adams who had no business being there.
Jessica Chastain does not resonate with Oscar voters. Often she is the same boring personae in every role.
Well, it's not my favorite nomination either, but I can see why she's been nominated. I can see it all the time tbh. The most "odd" Nomination imo is still Into The Woods, but I love it. A (dark) Disney Musical!
Pluspoints also for her 90's run in case of quite real lead performances nominated. Only One True Thing is borderline Supporting.
@brookesboy
I agree with all of your choices except I thought she was excellent in AOC ( I saw the play on Broadway and in San Francisco and the actresses both were over the top ( in a good way ).
I did not like Doubt all that much ... the playwright should not have directed his own play. It was so heavy-handed.
I also thought she was excellent in FFJ.
Thanks for the feedback.
@rdf,
I might judge the performance in AOC differently if I had seen the play. I have read that this is a very larger than life role that requires a big reach. Thanks for the comments!
I sometimes wonder what would happen if actresses other than Meryl took her roles, especially the one in this film.
STFU, I always thought that Jessica Lange should have played Violet in AOC. She would have been extraordinary.
This nomination is just so badddd for Streep. #SorryNotSorry. Kinda curious about Mads in the lead role too. And yes, Reese was robbed something fierce for "Election" (her shining role that she still hasn't eclipsed yet).
A watershed week for this column, and a pivotal film in Streep’s career. Not since her portrayal of Lindy Chamberlain in A Cry in the Dark had we seen Streep characterise a real person, and at the time it was a firm reminder of her greatest powers. There’s something light about Streep’s portraiture when it comes to inhabiting real people, particularly if they are still alive, which is something she’s often mentioned in interviews. She stays a heavy hand, sketching the woman in three dimensions, relying on visual aids provided by J. Roy Helland and very often an accent, then she just lets herself loose within the material. It’s a risk. We can always see Streep in there, but she always gives herself a supposition to guide her (‘I was just Julie’s image of Julia Child’, she said of that characterisation). From Karen Silkwood to Margaret Thatcher, these are Streep’s major onscreen achievements. Roberta Guaspari was the precursor to every major real-life role she took on in its wake, even those with a once-removed quality, like the Anna Wintour-based lead in Prada.