Small-scale character piece about a large-scale character: a great teacher (of piano), a great fanatic, a great eccentric, a great "character" in short, and at times -- thanks to Shirley MacLaine's great appetite for ham -- a great bore. The life around her, when it can crowd in, is lifelike and full: the ongoing redevelopment of her London neighborhood (symbol of the Changing Times), the old landlady born in the very house, the would-be pop singer upstairs, the homosexual osteopath downstairs, her star pupil -- a fifteen-year-old Indian prodigy -- and, most vividly real of all, the boy's ungraciously self-sacrificing mother who can't wait to start living off his concert earnings. Lots of good music; a few awful soft-focus flashbacks. With Navin Chowdhry, Shabana Azmi, Peggy Ashcroft, Leigh Lawson, and Twiggy; directed by John Schlesinger. (1988) — Duncan Shepherd
This movie is not currently in theaters.