THE MAN BEHIND THE MAESTRO.
John Williams, the king of film music composers, gets the golden Hollywood treatment in this elegant, adoring documentary.
Don’t look for any revelations of a thrilling personal life, aside from the tragic loss of his first wife in 1974. But this deep dive into Williams’s astonishing career is enough to make time fly as we follow his journey from jazzy beginnings to Williams’s life-changing first encounter with Steven Spielberg, through his rise as a popular composer behind unforgettable scores to some of the greatest blockbusters of the past 50 years.
His versatility and genius is on full display, with the friendly maestro behind his piano, his talent and impact engagingly explored.
2024-U.S. 105 min. Color-B/W. Directed by Laurent Bouzereau.
Trivia: Co-produced by Spielberg, Ron Howard and Frank Marshall. Among those interviewed are Spielberg, Howard, J.J. Abrams, Ke Huy Quan, Seth MacFarlane, Kate Capshaw, James Mangold, Chris Columbus, George Lucas, Lawrence Kasdan, Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma and Branford Marsalis.
Last word: “[Williams] told me, ‘I’m not sure about the documentary.’ I said, ‘Why? Everybody loves you!’ And he said, ‘Nobody cares about my life story.’ I told him, ‘This is really about your music and your musicians.’ I think it helped him to understand that I was approaching this through music. He realized that the goal was to show the musical journey first and foremost. Then I could ask him about anything as long as it was through the lens of music.” (Bouzereau, Fantha Tracks)
