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Yehudi Menuhin |  | Director: Tony Palmer
Actor: Yehudi Menuhin
Studio: Image Entertainment
Category: DVD
List Price: $24.99
Buy New: $5.90
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Seller: bigkeithjr
Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 181832
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 105 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.6
UPC: 014381926927
EAN: 0014381926927
ASIN: B00005IB9B
Theatrical Release Date: 1990
Release Date: June 19, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 6
 An intimate portrait and documentary of the man February 11, 2008
Anthony J. Lomenzo (Fort Ann, New York)
A few comments on this one: I'm not quite quite sure why some reviewers become "disappointed" that there is more talk versus play in this DVD because it is, after all, a portrait documentary of the man versus so many other DVD's where his playing becomes the highlight with a miniumum of talk or indeed, and in this documentary, multiple family input about the man spanning a long period of time.
One reviewer made comment of Sir Yehudi being "cut off too many times" although I must comment that this was not the fault of Tony Palmer but more so, IMO, Lady Diana Menuhin, who often prevented Sir Yehudi from getting a word in edge-wise without a series of protracted rebukes and almost motherly scoldings a la mode. There is such a thing as being 'protective' of someone and quite another of being patently over-bearing! Judge for yourself from what you see! It seemed that the man couldn't say anything without his wife demanding a 'qualification' of what he meant or, indeed, 'why' he said what he did! Or that his comment was 'silly' or 'misguided' -- one thing, Sir Yehudi did a lot of smiling quite possibly knowing that further comment or argument or reaction(s) to a veritable laundry list of alleged faults would be quite fruitless.
So too, this DVD is no white-wash and family member input can be quite revealing ranging from the parents and their alleged faults [as viewed by the original Menuhin children] right down to the last years of Sir Yehudi's life and his own relationships with his children by two marriages. If anything, it's a rather intimate portrait of the man's life and the 'problems' contained therein where one is "overly sheltered from reality in his youth" or, in subsequent "bark on" Menuhin biographies, how it is charged that Sir Yehudi "seemed to have time and attention for collective humanity per se but when it came to individualized attention, specifically of family and their own 'individual' needs, that was another matter." This J'accuse is then defended and/or mitigated [depending on who is speaking] by those family members so involved. In effect, the roses AND the thorns are discussed but the focus remains Menuhin as the the boy prodigy and Menuhin the subsequent man but with carry-over problems albeit along side his long-term playing career and his other life achievements.
Doc Tony
 A One Sided View November 11, 2005
J. Kelman (Shelburne VT USA)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
This series of interviews provides an interesting contrast to much of what we know of Yehudi Menuhin. At the time it was produced, I believe as a television program, Menuhin was a strong presence in Great Britain and his remarkable life was fairly well known. Mr. Palmer's work would seem to color his life with some disturbing psychological issues. One problem with the film is that Mr. Menuhin is continually being interrupted and cut-off. He can barely get a word in. Meanwhile discontented family members are interviewed at length and offer fairly negative views of Yehudi Menuhin's character. If this is the only place to learn about Yehudi Menuhin it would be a one-sided view. His rich life and accomplishments can be learned in his autobiography and a biography by Humphrey Burton. While this film is an interesting contrast to the full biographies, it would appear to be a distorted view if taken alone. Yes, and I'd love to have heard more music as well.
MENUHIN - A Family Portrait October 17, 2005
R. Raniga (Vancouver B.C.)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
I wanted to try and say a few words in defence of this film.
Writer/director Tony Palmer's work may already be familiar to you through some of his other musical documentaries ... like his profile of William Walton ("At The Haunted End of The Day") and documentaries on Callas, Benjamin Britten, Stravinsky ("Once, at a border"), Shostakovich and the eight or nine hour biopic "WAGNER" starring Richard Burton, among many others. He's been working in this field a long time.
Researched over a period of three years, This film "MENUHIN - A Family Portrait" was released with a companion book of the same title from 1991. For those looking for a concert or performance video, some of the other films that are no doubt listed or linked to on the same page as this review would be better recommended - I've found Bruno Monsaingeon's "YEHUDI MENUHIN: The Violin of the Century" to be particularly definitive.
What we have here is a psychological profile of some scope, giving the viewer a little-seen look into what it was like to grow up Menuhin; although Yehudi is the primary subject, it is really a study of how the parts all relate to the whole. In the preface to the book, Palmer says that it (like this film) has no one particular viewpoint to the exclusion of all others, even though we are certainly left with the impression that a 'golden childhood' is definitely not what was experienced by Yehudi and his sisters Hephzibah and Yaltah ... who were in effect the subject of a decades-long 'project' at the hands of their parents Moshe and Marutha, to hermetically raise a family of cultured, well-read, multi-lingual musical prodigies.
Family life was tense and troubled, even while Yehudi's incredible talents astounded the musical world. But with the disillusion of his first marriage in the 1940's, and a trip to Belsen with Benjamin Britten, his playing began to suffer and the violin was " ... no longer his friend." His claustrophobically protected upbringing had not prepared him for events which came to profoundly affect his playing, even as he had to continually wake up every morning and be "Yehudi Menuhin."
Throughout the course of the film we see interviews with Menuhin's children and other relatives that honestly deal with what was technically a family, yet remained dysfunctional in the extreme. Yet it is perhaps Yaltah that speaks most candidly by laying the primary bulk of the blame at the feet of mother Marutha ... and the film does in fact seem to almost require its climax of Yehudi's visit to her California home, where she was still living at the time the film was made.
Over the years family members have tried to come to terms with their own story; Yaltah's son Lionel Menuhin Rolfe in his book "THE MENUHINS - A Family Odyssey" and family patriarch Moshe's effort from 1984 "THE MENUHIN SAGA." Yehudi's own elegant book "UNFINISHED JOURNEY" addresses these issues somewhat of course, although not with the objective eye of the outsider that is provided here by Mr. Palmer.
It is hard to explain the inner workings of what makes an enormous talent like Yehudi Menuhin. His second wife Diana refers to him in the film not only as an institution, but as a 'bodhisattva'. Perhaps a more accurate classification (and one that would not be unfamiliar to Yehudi through his own practice of yoga) may even be that of a 'gandharva' ... an Indian term defined as that of a celestial singer and musician among the demigods ... because it is a truth that personalities like Yehudi don't just happen.
I'm personally giving the film five stars because I like these kinds of in-depth documentaries about artists that I enjoy. I like the insight into what makes them the finished product they are. As a sort of study guide that fleshes out this material a bit more fully, I would also recommend Mr. Palmer's companion book "MENUHIN: A Family Portrait" as well.
 Do not buy this March 13, 2003
Anton Dam (San Jose, CA)
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
When I bought this DVD, I thought I was buying a video of Menuhin playing the violin, but what I got was a story about Menuhin as a person and not a very good documentary at that. This focuses too much on Menuhin as a father, don't buy it.
Disappointing for its lack of performance content March 12, 2002
Bay Area music fan (San Francisco, CA. USA)
24 out of 24 found this review helpful
If you're looking for a video of Menuhin with any substantial amount of performance footage you'll be very disappointed in this video. Theres never more than a few seconds of Yehudi in performance. If you're looking for an in depth documentary on the life of this great violinist you'll also be sorely disappointed. There is no continuity and flow to the video. Yehudi's life story isn't really told in a cohesive and compelling way. It left me feeling as if I just saw a mish mash of music snippets with rambling commentary interspersed in between (or more accurately visversa) with no real sense of the whole story. I'd recommend the video "The Art of the Violin" as a far better produced alternative.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 6
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