From Mao to Mozart - Isaac Stern in China on DVD

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World / Independent Film

From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China

Oscar-Winning Documentary Still Shines 20 Years Later

"The best way to learn about another culture," violinist Isaac Stern says, "is to and meet practitioners of one's own profession." And so, in 1979, he undertook a trip to China as an official guest of the government to give concerts, travel the countryside, and "say hello with music." Filmmaker Murray Lerner documented the events of this trip on celluloid, and the resulting movie won the 1981 Academy Award for Best Documentary. The film is now available on DVD in a lavish 20th anniversary edition.

Stern is vaguely reminiscent of Burt Lahr, the comedian forever known as the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz, a round, jolly-faced man with a generous smile. The more surprising to see him act with serious determination. When Stern gives lessons to young Chinese violinists and corrects the Peking Symphony Orchestra, the nice chubby uncle from America image is gone. Stern, by now a legendary violinist and considered one of the 20th Century masters of the violin, is an artist taking his art very, very seriously.

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I wouldn't know how to hold a violin, and I'm not even much of a connoisseur of the music, but I was still fascinated by Stern's advice to the Chinese prodigies because of the intensity of his convictions. China had just recently been opened up to Western music, and the ways in which the virtuouso tries to make them understand the passion and sensibility of the music -- as opposed to the mere technical aspects -- is truly enlightening.

There's also beautiful footage of the Chinese countryside and stunning little snippets of the Peking Opera that are worth seeing, but the focus here is clearly on Stern, not on China. At first, this disappointed me somewhat because I had hoped for a more balanced give-and-take, but given the amazing craftsmanship and soul Stern puts into his music, this is just as it should be.

The DVD, just released by Docurama, also includes the worthwhile bonus film Musical Encounters about Stern's recent return to China, which features many of the child musicians seen in the original film. Other background materials include a second short film and a biography of Stern round off the package. A must-have for any fan of the music, and a fascinating documentary for just about anybody.