Testimony - Tony Palmer's film about Shostakovich - Ben Kingsley (1988)Actors: Ben Kingsley, Sherry Baines, Magdalen Asquith, Mark Asquith, Terence Rigby
Directors: Tony Palmer
Music by the London Symphony Orchestra with Rudolf Barschai
Include excerpts from:
Symphonies 1,4,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14
Violin Concerto No.1
Lady MacBeth of Mtsensk
Michelangelo Sonnets
Jazz Suites 1&2
Piano Concerto No.2
String Quartets Nos. 8&10
Testimony is one of those comparatively rare events nowadays – a real piece of cinema. Tony Palmer’s prowess as an editor, his knack of juxtaposing image and music – something which has remained his forte since he first caused a stir back in the Sixties with Buddhist monks burning to The Beatles – has a field day in Testimony. Most importantly for a movie about a composer, there is always the feeling that Palmer understands the music. For a start he puts to rest the hoary old cliché that the private Shostakovich is only to be found in his chamber music – try listening to the Seventh, Eighth, Ninth and Fourteenth symphonies – but he also brings vividly alive musical details (like the composer’s use of unison scoring) in colour sequences showing the orchestra, as in the climax of the Fifth..... a truly remarkable film. Starring Ben Kingsley.
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