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Quartet by Dustin Hoffman is the film that will open on November 23 the 30^th edition of the Turin Film Festival. At the age of 75, the Hollywood iconic star is taking his first step as a director with a British comedy filled with humour and tenderness. The film mixes rap and Mozart, and shows the ways in which music can heal the fears and disasters that come with old age. Ronald Harwood (The Dresser, The Pianist, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) wrote the screenplay based on his own play. Filming took place in Buckinghamshire and the cast is includes renowned British actors Maggie Smith, Tom Courtenay, Billy Connelly, Pauline Collins and Michael Gambon.

Quartet was critically acclaimed in London. The story is curious. Beecham House is a retirement home for singers and musicians hidden deep in the English countryside. Every year, a large performance is prepared in honour of Giuseppe Verdi's birth. All artists residing in the house return to the stage to raise money to keep Beecham going. As preparations get under way, capricious performers are reborn. Some feel faint, some secretly have a drink and others refuse to sing altogether.

Adding to the confusion, a new retiree penetrates the Beecham circle: lyrical diva Jean Horton, who is reunited with the other components of her legendary quartet Reggie, Wilf and Cissy. Reggie is her ex-husband, and the quartet disintegrated at the same time as their marriage.

Alessandro Zoppo