Friday, August 14, 2015

Mock Squid Soup: Mr. Holland's Opus

MOCK! and The Armchair Squid are proud to welcome you to Mock Squid Soup: A Film Society, meetings on the second Friday of each month.  Last week, society members posted three clues as to their chosen film for the month.  Today is the big reveal.  A reminder on my clues:

- He says, "I love you."  She says, "I know."  But it's not the one you think.  No Wookiees in this movie.

- A huge variety of music courses through this film.  The most important tributaries are the rivers Beethoven, Gershwin and Lennon.

- One character has hair like the sunset.

Drum roll, please...

Title: Mr. Holland's Opus
Director: Stephen Herek
Original Release: 1995
My Overall Rating: 5 stars out of 5
via Wikipedia
Gene Holland is a professional musician.  In 1965, he becomes a teacher, hoping it will allow him free time to compose.  The job is a lot more difficult than he expects but he toughs it out to support his family and, after a rocky start, becomes a master educator.  The film follows the next thirty years of his career.  In addition to the challenges of the job, he has to find a balance between work and his relationships with his wife and their deaf son. 

I love this movie but at times, it can be difficult to watch as a lot of it hits awfully close to home.  As many of you already know, I am a music teacher by profession.  I am by no means a Mr. Holland but it's easy enough to relate to his experiences.  It had been many years since I'd last watched the movie and one thing that struck me this time was the fact that so many of the touchstones of his career are his relationships with individual students.  They, even more than his colleagues, were the ones who challenged his perceptions and forced him to grow as a teacher.  That has certainly been the case for me as well.

I've met a lot of the kids we see in the story: the good-hearted kid who just can't get her head around the notes and the "genius" whose ego is his own undoing.  The girl with a voice that could set the world on fire?  Yup, I know her, too.  For a teacher, your students are the reason you show up everyday.  Sometimes they break your heart.  But every once in a while, if you are lucky, one comes along and changes your life.

It was fun sharing the film with my daughter for the first time.  She is going into sixth grade next year and she's already a devoted band kid.  Plus, she lives with me so she knows a thing or two about the challenges of balancing a teaching career with parenting.  Near the movie's glorious end, she said "I wish this were based on a true story."

As for the clues, you're going to have to watch to understand.  I hope you will.  Keep a box of tissues handy.

Next meeting is Friday, September 11th.  I'll post September's blog list tomorrow.  For September, pick another society member's choice from our ever increasing library to review.  Today, please visit my fellow cinephiles, listed below:


28 comments:

  1. My mom loves this movie and I quite like it too. It is hard to watch especially from a teacher's point of view, but so worth it. After seeing your choice, the clues totally make sense. Good one.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think I did guess it, but I've never seen the movie in its entirety! I'm going to have to rent it! It sounds like a beautiful movie.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think I did guess it, but I've never seen the movie in its entirety! I'm going to have to rent it! It sounds like a beautiful movie.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great pick. I haven't seen it in a long time, possibly not since it came out. I remember it being teary.

    ReplyDelete
  5. It's been a long time since I watched this, probably since it first came out. I love Dreyfuss, and he was really great in this.

    I didn't realize you taught music. I'm going to have some posts coming up that you might be interested in.

    (Oh, and bah, I just saw that I said almost the same thing about the movie as the previous commenter.)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Mr. Holland's Opus was/is one of the best movies I have ever seen, and for so many reasons. When, at the end when he is ready to retire,some of his old students return and play for him. Students had become successful adults because he cared so much. Now you have me crying...
    I didn't know you taught music. This must be so close to your heart.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think most people don't appreciate how important students are to teachers. They are the job. A lot more teachers than Mr. Holland deserve that kind of send off, too.

      Delete
  7. I did not know you were a Music teacher, thought a English teacher !
    Think I had seen too many Richard Dreyfuss movies at one time and passed on this one.
    Now must zoom over to Netflix and check it out.
    Reminds me of "Goodbye Mr. Chips".

    cheers, parsnip

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad to know I've managed to keep a few of the personal details under wraps!

      I've never seen Goodbye Mr. Chips. I know I should.

      Delete
  8. Christian was just saying he wants to watch this again. We'll have to have our boy join us since he's a band kid too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We've gotta find some saxophone/trombone duets for the two of them to learn.

      Delete
    2. They could play at the Smoke-Off tomorrow!

      Delete
  9. Oh I saw this in the theatre and now get the questions. I still remember the girl singing that beautiful song

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She darn near steals the whole movie with that song.

      Delete
  10. I saw the film years ago, but should watch it with my daughter who is more into music than me.

    ReplyDelete
  11. "They, even more than his colleagues, were the ones who challenged his perceptions and forced him to grow as a teacher."

    Yup...all the time!

    This was our "back to school" movie for quite a few years...perhaps it is time for me to revive that tradition!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was mine briefly, too. In college, it was Field of Dreams - Iowa, you know.

      Delete
  12. This movie is one of my favors of all time. Richard Dreyfus was just perfect for this role and reminded me of why I loved him in the first place, gush gush. What a great choice, Squid!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This was my second Dreyfuss movie - didn't even plan it that way.

      Delete