Madame Sousatzka

Film Description

Sushila Sen moves with husband and son Manek from Bengal to England. When her husband passes away, she has to struggle by herself to support her son, who is beginning to excel at playing the piano and is given tuition by Russian immigrant Madame Sousatzka. Then Sushila loses her job, and Manek is under pressure to use his piano skills to make some money.

Adapted by Schlesinger and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala from the novel by Bernice Rubens, the film stars a Golden Globe winning Shirley MacLaine as the red-haired, black-cloaked, jewellery-encrusted Madame Sousatzka, a Russian-American piano teacher whose concern for her students goes far beyond scales and arpeggios. 'I don’t just teach piano', she proclaims, 'I teach how to live.' Devoted to the cultivation of the artistic spirit, Madame Sousatzka attempts to mould her students into embodiments of European culture, hiding a deep need to vicariously fulfil her own dashed dreams through her students’ success.

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Related Genres

• Contemporary Film / Drama
• Contemporary Film / British